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 – WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 1918
There is a possibility of rain or even snow tonight and into tomorrow. Today’s high will reach near 64° with the low about 42°. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is looking for dogs to help beat the Kaiser. The Society is training dogs as dispatch carriers, sentinels, guards for convoys of small vehicles and for ammunition dumps. They will also be trained as rodent killers in the trenches. The dogs will be sent to various centers throughout the country for war training. Philadelphians with patriotic dogs for enlistment can contact Mrs. Elphinstone Maitland, 55 East 93rd Street, New York City. Dachshunds need not apply.
Last Friday Victor J. Dewees of 6712 Ridge Avenue in Roxborough married Miss Mary Metzler of 4229 Manayunk Avenue. On Monday he left for training at Camp Meade, kissing his new bride goodbye. Today he is dead. Mr. Dewees was killed this morning in a boxing match at the Camp against a giant Indian named Charles Swann. Mr. Dewees was a strong young man weighing over 180 lbs. but just as the fight started the big Indian leveled a punch on Dewees’ jaw which knocked him out. He never regained consciousness and died a short time later.
In sports, at Sol Allinger’s Billiard Academy, 1307 Market Street, World Champion Willie Hoppe completed his three days of exhibition matches by defeating Charlie Peterson 200 to 73. Hoppe started slow but picked up the pace in the 3rd and 4th inning and then at the end of the match had a straight run of 82.
Willie Hoppe
In baseball Eppa Rixey had been studying the use of poison gas at Camp Bowie, Texas but now he is to be detailed to a camp in California where he will direct the camp’s athletic program. And the Phillies announced their training schedule today. The team will leave for Florida on March 15th and play their first game in Miami against the Braves on March 27th. The Phillies will host the A’s at National League Park, Broad & Huntingdon Streets on April 13th.
WAR NEWS
There are reports from Copenhagen that the Kingdom of Rumania has signed a peace treaty with the Central Powers. The treaty was supposedly signed in Bucharest at 7:00pm last evening. There are also reports that the Russians are evacuating Petrograd. It is also reported that the Bolshevik Government intends to declare Moscow the capital of the Country. German forces are apparently continuing their march to Petrograd with the intent of stripping it of all military stores and anything else of value.
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