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This newspaper page contains 18 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Bath Independent
Location
Bath, Maine, United States of America
Date
Oct 05, 1918
Page
8
Editor The Independent argues for new hose wagons in the South End ward room. The piece recalls aged equipment and risky delays that could cost lives and property, urging quicker modern gear to protect the city and its citizens.
Lieutenant Herman B Oliver U S N writes from England to his Bath mother detailing naval life in foreign waters. He compares duty to hunting stressing constant alertness and occasional hard work with long periods of leisure ashore and sports aboard await submarines. He praises treatment as “princes,” notes boxing baseball and tennis among crew and a carnival night with magistrate in a small town.
Henry Kingsbury son of Alexander Kingsbury of 854 High Street writes to his sister Alice Middleton describing service life in the navy. He recalls rifle training ten days of heat and bathing, hard shooting, and hot guns while noting he feels healthy and will be 30 on September 25, hoping to return home soon.
Public awareness lags on steel needle scarcity as buyers report limited supplies. Traveling salesmen offer only small quantities at distant dates while government and Red Cross have commandeered full factory output to meet demand.
Alfred Sweeney, general manager of the Lewiston Augusta and Waterville Street Railway, promises six new double-truck passenger cars and a large snow plow for Bath Brunswick service. He cites Emergency Fleet Corporation funding, outlines line work, turnout installation, and Bath car-house upgrades, and asks Mayor Drake to withhold criticism while noting progress and challenges.
A letter from Me chanic Charles A. Wakefield of A company 301st infantry to his uncle describes France in mourning and the welcome Americans receive. He recounts travel from Camp Devens to England and France, parades, scarce tobacco, and the contrast between American meals and local living conditions while noting French helpers in his unit.
Corporal Harold Cressey son of Mr and Mrs Benjamin Cressey of lower Middle street is stationed at Camp Abraham Eustis Branch Virginia. He reports good health but loneliness due to distance from the nearest city with only one daily train. He recalls travel from Portland to Virginia as pretty with many sights and praises canteen workers who provided lunches and cigarettes. He notes abundant water and mud since leaving Bath and mentions past service with the 4th Company C A C and transfers to Water Town Arsenal and Fort Williams with a July 29 promotion to the 48th Artillery Regulars. He invites letters from home and gives his Camp Abraham address.
Private Ernest J. Couture of Bath and the 649th Aero squadron sends letters home from France describing German soldiers begging for mercy after being cornered. He notes strong resolve to defeat the Huns, compares Kaiser Wilhelm, mentions a furlough to Italy, and describes life with an English officer as he learns French.
The writer describes resting in an English rest camp with American Expeditionary Forces. He notes baths and clean clothes, hikes toward Winchester, new officer gear, a long train ride, saloon-filled stores, and learning local slang including the word bloody. He mentions Y M C A facilities and plans to go to France soon.
A report notes students struggle to express needs when not fluent in French. The school encourages speaking the native tongue to improve communication and learning, highlighting inclusive language support for boys unfamiliar with French.
A World War I letter from Ross Chase, serving with battery D, 54th c. A. G. in France, describes the cheer Christmas in Hell Heaven or Hoboken as troops go over the top. He recounts bombing and shelling, near misses, and a pal wounded, with resolve to help free Europe.
The three master Lizzie J Call sails from Portland toward Harpswell to be grounded for bottom repairs. After inspection she will return toward the Kennebec with rigging unchanged, and may sail again soon.
Arthur B. Bishop of the Telephone Company warns about transmitting equipment as a disease risk during an epidemic. Public phones are disinfected multiple times daily. Operators face extra workload and emergency calls rise, yet service remains steady despite higher demand.
Duck hunters report very few ducks on Merrymeeting bay with birds mostly absent at dawn and returning at dusk. Arthur Thistle found no ducks all day while Hubert H. McCarty shot three woodcock. A bay shore hunter bagged a single biddy but missed. Cold weather hints divers’ advance flight may start next week.
Private funeral services were held for Mrs Isabelle P Wakefield at her Front street home with Rev Edward Earle Sanderson. Burial followed in Oak Grove. The funeral for Mrs Susan Tibbetts was moved to Chabourne's undertaking rooms at 2 20 pm due to quarantine with Rev E Hilton Post officiating. Francis A King Jr died with private services at his parents home 670 Middle street with burial in Oak Grove.
Ex Alderman Charles H Cahill offered the New Meadows Inn for a convalescent or isolation hospital if the emergency health committee deems its location advisable. Cahill seeks to use the historic inn, once famed for shore dinners, to combat the spreading illness.
John H. Tucker aged 70 years 2 months 9 days died at City hospital after a long illness. Native of Bath he was a machinist who worked 30 years in Holyoke Mass. He moved to Bath four years ago with his sister Mrs E B Whitlock, a hospital patient. He was a daily hospital visitor until paralysis struck. He belonged to First Baptist Church Bath and was an honorary Mason in Holyoke. He is survived by his sister Eliza E. Whitlock and niece Rosa H. Brown.
Women at both Red Cross rooms pressed hospital garments and masks on Tuesday. The local chapter handles large city work and fulfills emergency orders for divisional headquarters in Boston. William Mann visited Jamaica Plain and learned a family member died of influenza as the area faced many funerals and many graves were dug simultaneously.
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