Tuesday, Aug. 7, 1917
The first day of physical examinations for draftees in Saratoga Springs sees the county perform better than the national average for fitness despite an apparent outbreak of hypochondria among the men.
The exams determine the fitness for military service of men selected by lottery on July 20 from Saratoga County’s first draft district, including Saratoga Springs. The county is expected to contribute 316 men to the U.S. Army for the war against Germany.
“Long before 9 o’clock had arrived, the lobby of the Armory was filled with the draft eligible, who were on the whole a pretty sturdy looking lot, with the sunburned, muscular young farmer type very much in evidence,” The Saratogian reports.
Draftees have to fill out a form explaining “whether the men had any habit or disability that had ever interfered with their success in civil life.” A reporter notes “a wide variety of answers.
“Some of them evidently became suddenly afflicted with hypochondria in its most acute stage, for they found ailments lying concealed about their system that, when catalogued on paper, made on wonder how it was their last breath hadn’t been gasped forth many moons ago.
“The blank space wasn’t large enough to contain the recital of their disabilities, which ranged from insomnia to addiction to the use of cigarettes.”
While this might not reflect well on the young men of Saratoga County, the exams themselves tell a different story. Out of 100 men examined by 4 p.m., as The Saratogian goes to press, fifty are determined to be physically fit. That confirms predictions made before the exams – twice the number of men needed have been called in for this reason – but it’s a much better showing than much of the country so far.
“The high percentage of men passed was a surprise, when it is considered that as many as four out of five men in some districts of the country have been rejected,” the reporter notes, “The only reason ascribed for the condition was the prevalence in this district of hardy young men from the rural districts, whose chance of passing would naturally be far greater than the average youth dwelling in the city.”
Draftees who pass their physicals don’t automatically join the Army. They can apply for exemptions if they’re the sole means of financial support for their families. At least 25 men claim exemptions today.
To the reporter’s amusement, the exam includes running back and forth in the Armory drill shed “attired like Mercury,” i.e., not attired at all. “Those of the candidates who were modest were in an unfortunate position,” he writes.