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.
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TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA – TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1916
There will be fair, clear and sunny skies over the city today with gentle winds from the west. The high will reach 62° with the low tonight near 42°. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia has acquired title to property located at the corner of 49th & Chestnut Streets. Archbishop Prendergast took title today to the land which cost $47,500.00. The site is to be used for the construction of a new Catholic high school in West Philadelphia and is promised to be modern in every detail. The school will open in the fall.
Miss Frances Bitterlich (shown below), a nurse, will wed John Carline Shedland of 1942 Wolf Street today. The nuptials are the result of illness that turned to love. Last April Mr. Shedland was stricken with typhoid fever. His condition was critical when Miss Bitterlich, a recent graduate of Hahnemann Hospital Training School was called to nurse him. The physician on the case has said it was due to her care that Mr. Shedland recovered. Miss Bitterlich resides at 520 Tasker Street. The couple will honeymoon in the south.
Many Philadelphia suffragists are considering canceling their orders for new Easter hats and some are even thinking of foregoing new Easter suits and shoes. The idea came from Mrs. George Dunning, chairman of the Woman Suffrage Party of Philadelphia, who believes the money for such things should instead be donated to send representatives to educate delegates at the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
On the sports scene, at National League Park Pete Alexander threw a complete game shutout today against the Boston Braves while the Phillies scored 4 runs on 8 hits. Up in New York the A’s dropped their 4th in a row losing to the Yankees 4 to 2. In high school baseball today Central meets Northeast at 29th & Cambria Streets, Philadelphia Trades School vs. Frankford High at Frankford, Germantown High vs. Catholic High at 67th & Woodland Avenue and South Philadelphia faces West Philadelphia at Kingsessing Grounds.
WAR NEWS
Reports from Verdun detail a terrible carnage. The Germans are said to have lost upwards of 10,000 men in an enormous attack yesterday. The Crown Prince led 5 divisions of over 100,000 against French lines gaining little more than a few trenches. The attack began at dawn with an artillery barrage which continued until 2:00pm. Then the German infantry charged. There is no reported infantry activity today but German artillery is bombarding French positions on Le Morte Homme (Dead Man’s Hill). In Anatolia, Russian forces are now only 11 miles east of Trebizond, the Turkish stronghold on the Black Sea. The Russians have advanced steadily but the taking of Trebizond may prove very difficult. Reportedly the city is now defended by 3 complete divisions comprising over 60,000 men.
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