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 each day for new editions.
To share your family or neighborhood stories, please email PhillyWWIyears@gmail.com
TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA – WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1915
There will be fair skies over the city with cooler temperatures this afternoon and this evening. The lower temperatures are a welcome relief to the heat and humidity over the last few weeks. The high will be about 72° with the low tonight around 50°.
Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie (shown below), sculptor, anatomist, authority on gymnastics and Director of Physical Education at the University of Pennsylvania has advised the school that he will not be returning to teach next semester. Dr. McKenzie was born in Canada but has been teaching at Penn since 1904. Earlier this year Dr. McKenzie went to England and enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps where he now holds the rank of Lieutenant. The terms of his enlistment require him to remain in the service for at least a full year.
Men of this city’s Italian Colony reported today to the Italian Consulate, 717 Spruce Street, to register for the army. The Consulate has issued a notice that the last day to register is tomorrow and any Italian citizen not registered will be considered a deserter. Registration is required even though the Consulate had announced that it had no funds to pay for passage back to Italy. Also, the Italian War Relief Committee will meet today at Immigration Hall, 10th & Bainbridge Streets, to plan a campaign for the families of those going off to war.
On the sports scene in baseball, the Phillies lost the 1st game of their 3 game series with the Pirates at National League Park, 8 to 4. Shortstop Honus Wagner got 3 hits including a home run and knocked in 2 runs for the Corsairs. The A’s are out in Detroit for a 3 game meeting and lost their first game 4 to 1.
WAR NEWS
In the western theatre, 10 people, including women and children, were killed last night during a zeppelin raid on England’s east coast. The government did not release the specific location of the attack. On the Adriatic front the Italian army has launched a concerted assault on the Austrian fortress of Tolmino on the Upper Isonzo River. And Vienna and Berlin are today celebrating the 85th birthday of Emperor Francis Joseph.
On the eastern front, the fortress city of Kovno in Lithuania has fallen to the German army. It occurred last night as troops under the command of Field Marshal von Hindenburg stormed the city. Kovno had been under siege for a week and even with fierce Russian resistance the German artillery was too much for its defenders. Now the entire Russian line from Kovno to Brest Litovsk is retreating. The next objective of the Germans will probably be Vilna (Vilnius) the ancient capital of Lithuania which is 57 miles away.
GET YOUR COPY OF PHILADELPHIA: THE WORLD WAR I YEARS BY JUST CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW OR STOP IN AT YOUR NEAREST BARNES & NOBLE OR OTHER BOOK STORES.
TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA – THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1915
The city will again have clear and cloudless skies today with gentle northerly winds. The temperature will again be most pleasant with a high of 74° and a low of 61°.
It appears that operators of jitneys in this city will be going out of business tomorrow. City Solicitor Ryan has informed Director Porter that police must enforce the new regulations passed by City Councils requiring all operators to obtain a license and post a bond. As of today only 1 jitney owner has done so. Some jitney operators say that the enforcement may be a good thing by showing the riding public what an inconvenience losing the service will be. They are hoping the public comes to their support to repeal the ordinance.
A Cinderella story which started in Atlantic City will now continue there. It all began last year when Miss Edith Mervine, 828 North 45th Street, lost her shoe while running to catch an elevator in one of the Atlantic City hotels. She caught the elevator but lost the shoe. Mr. Paul Kimmins of Charleroi, Pa. found the shoe and searched the hotel until he found its owner. The acquaintance became a friendship which then developed into love. Today the couple were married at the bride’s home and then left for their honeymoon. And where else would they go but to the very hotel where they met in Atlantic City.
The White Star liner Arabic (shown below) a passenger ship was sunk this morning by a German submarine. The ship carried 435 persons and was sailing for America. The ship left Liverpool last night. The Arabic is the largest passenger ship sunk by the Germans since the Lusitania. As of yet there is no information on causalities.
Arabic
On the international scene in Haiti, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave has been elected President by the Haitian Congress. Some are saying that Mr. Dartiguenave was the personal choice of Admiral Caperton. Mr. Dartiguenave is a lawyer by profession and a Mulatto by race. Also in Haiti, United States Marines have now taken control of a 3rd city. Martial law was declared today in St. Marc. There was some Haitian resistance by armed citizens but that was quickly overcome with no loss of life.
WAR NEWS
London was bombed last night by German zeppelins. Factories and other buildings along the River Thames suffered heavy damage. On the continent, north of Arras the French have announced that they have broken through the German lines and captured an important crossroads along the highway. The Germans had held the area since last winter. In the Middle East, reports from the Dardanelles are that the British troops which yesterday landed on Gallipoli at Suvla Bay have suffered heavy losses and their progress has been checked. The Australian troops have taken the brunt of the attacks and the casualties.
GET YOUR COPY OF PHILADELPHIA: THE WORLD WAR I YEARS BY JUST CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW OR STOP IN AT YOUR NEAREST BARNES & NOBLE OR OTHER BOOK STORES.
TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA – FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1915
Today’s forecast calls for increasing cloudiness with rain tonight and probably Saturday. The high will reach a pleasant 80° and the low about 60°.
Accusations have been made in the Philadelphia North American newspaper that the entire Republican organization has fixed the mayoralty nomination and Governor Brumbaugh is involved. The deal is that former Postmaster Thomas Smith, who the Governor recently appointed as Public Service Commissioner, has already been chosen by the various Republican factions to run for mayor. According to the newspaper Senator Penrose, the Vare brothers, State Senator McNichol and other party leaders concluded that there was too much money at stake in city contracts to engage in a factional fight which could result in an “unfriendly” Mayor.
To cover their intent the conspirators pretended there was an inter-party conflict. Governor Brumbaugh was approached to appoint Smith to the Public Service Commission which provided him with a “certificate of character”. The “deal” also includes Vare and McNichol backed candidates running for office unopposed and other Vare and McNichol men being placed in Mr. Smith’s cabinet.
President Wilson arose early this morning and left Washington, D.C. by automobile for this city. Mr. Wilson came to Philadelphia to consult with an eye specialist. After the appointment the President took a stroll on Chestnut Street where he was eventually recognized by passersby and followed by a crowd (shown below). The President stopped for lunch at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel and returned by train to Washington this evening.
On the sports scene, three young women will attempt to swim from Ocean City to Atlantic City tomorrow. The route is 12 miles and has never before been completed by a woman. The girls are all instructors at the Germantown Y.W.C.A. They are Elizabeth Upton Meehan, Anna Kean and Emily Ertle. Mr. Charles D. Durborow, an accomplished swimmer, has asserted no woman can complete the course. The ladies have requested that he attend and witness the event.
WAR NEWS
The German army has captured the mightiest fortress of the Czar in Poland, Novo Georgievsk located on the junction of the Vistula and the Narew Rivers has fallen. Six Russian generals and 85,000 troops have been taken prisoner. The siege lasted 12 days as the mighty German guns rained shells upon the defenders. This is the last Russian fortress on the Vistula River. The seemingly inexorable advance of the Germans has forced the Czar to begin planning on moving the seat of government from Petrograd to Moscow.
In the western theatre the Germans have suffered very heavy losses in a failed attempt to break the French lines in the Vosges near Linge. From the Middle East there are reports that in Turkey near the city of Van, 1,000 Christian Armenian women and children were locked in a wooden building and burned alive by Kurdish tribesmen.
GET YOUR COPY OF PHILADELPHIA: THE WORLD WAR I YEARS BY JUST CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW OR STOP IN AT YOUR NEAREST BARNES & NOBLE OR OTHER BOOK STORES.