On this page we will look back at life in the city during the war years. Here we will provide the visitor with the stories making the news, what was happening in sports and entertainment, city politics, the social scene and the prominent people at the time. We will also recount the events occurring in the war on that day. So, check back often for new updates.

To share your family or neighborhood stories, please email PhillyWWIyears@gmail.com

TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA – TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1915

The protracted rain last night with 20 mph winds finally brought an end to the heatwave this city has suffered through the last week. The Coroner’s office puts the death toll from the heat at 47. The youngest was Sophie Roystogy, 7 months old of 4726 Melrose Street. Today’s forecast calls for overcast skies and occasional rain throughout the afternoon and this evening. The high will be about 84° with the low tonight around 64°.

An explosion at the Frankford Arsenal today took one man’s life and injured 3 soldiers. The dead man is James F. Harkins, 23 years old of 2343 North 2^nd Street. The accident occurred at the artillery testing ground where the men were working with a box of fuses. They were attaching a fuse to a shell when it went off. The explosion caused the entire box of 200 fuses to also explode.

The Philadelphia police have a cowboy in their ranks and the people of Allen’s Lane in Mt. Airy are happy for it. Before dawn this morning the residents there began hearing an annoying bovine bellowing which awakened everyone. The police were called and Sergeant Sanderson, who spent his youth out west lassoing steers, was dispatched. In no time at all he returned to the station with a Jersey cow in tow. The animal was tied up out back until Mr. J.A. Harris of West Chestnut Avenue, Chestnut Hill came to retrieve his lost livestock. Suppodedly before the cow was released it provided rent in the form of fresh milk for the station.

From Washington, D.C. it is reported that President Wilson advised the warring factions in Mexico that they have 60 days to reestablish a constitutional government or the United States would be forced to take action. President Wilson has outlined a plan to accomplish this restoration and has submitted it to representatives of Argentina, Brazil and Chile for their consideration.

WAR NEWS

On the eastern front, German artillery is now shelling Warsaw. The city is being surrounded by Austro-German armies from the northeast and the southeast. The question now is whether the Russian army, which is retreating from Warsaw and out of Galicia, will be able to avoid being cut off before reaching its new lines of defense. Some military experts say it is the greatest race in military history.

In the west, in Calais, France, British and French political and military officials met to discuss a new campaign plan. The meeting was attended by French Minister of War Alexandre Millerand, Minister of Marine Jean Augagneur and General Joseph Joffre. British representatives included Alfred Balfour, First Lord of the Admiralty and General Sir John French (shown below), Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force.

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