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. So, check back often for new editions. To share your family or neighborhood stories, please email PhillyWWIyears@gmail.com

TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA – TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 1918

The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies today with the high reaching 73° and the low this evening about 53°.

The convicts at Eastern State Penitentiary have raised $1500.00 for the purchase of an ambulance for the Red Cross. The idea came from Warden McKenty when his daughter and her friend visited the prison in their Red Cross uniforms on Saturday. Warden McKenty addressed the inmates who were exercising in the yard at the time and told them of the wonderful work the Red Cross was doing and how proud he was of his daughter. He also told them that $1500.00 would buy and equip an ambulance to be sent to France. Within an hour the money had been raised and the inmates gathered in the yard, joined by the Warden and the young ladies for the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.

Managers of the Delaware River Shipyards met yesterday afternoon to discuss ways to prevent the spread of the grip to their workers. The yards represented included Traylor, New York Shipbuilding, Chester, Sun, Harlan & Hollingsworth, Pusey & Jones, Cramps, Merchants and Hog Island.  The number of infected men at the Navy Yard is now down to 600. Doctors at League Island believe the sick men will soon recover. Authorities believe the decrease in the illness among the sailors at the Navy Yard and in the civilian population of South Philadelphia is due to the prompt actions taken by officials to quarantine the sick men.

However, nine soldiers stationed at the Hero Manufacturing Company plant at Adams and Gaul Streets have been struck down with the Spanish Flu. The men have been taken to University Hospital for treatment. These are the first soldiers known to have been infected in this city. Eighty soldiers work at the company assisting with the manufacture of gas masks.

WAR NEWS

In the Middle East British troops have taken the ancient cities of Haifa and Acre from the Turks. The capture of these cities was accomplished after thrilling cavalry charges by British and Indian mounted troops. The British troops included the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry while the Indian troops were from the Jodhpur and Mysore Lancers.

Indian Cavalry Entering Haifa

Prior to this victory British and Indian cavalry units also captured Nazareth, Nablus and Jenin. That assault included a cavalry charge on the Plain of Armageddon which put a Turkish division to rout. The British are claiming that the Turkish army in Palestine has been, for all practical purposes, destroyed. The remnants of the Turkish army is said to be withdrawing east of the Jordan River toward Amman and is being pursued by Australian, New Zealand and Jewish troops.

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