04 Sep 1918
Page 1
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Newspaper
The Mobile News Item
Location
Mobile, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Sep 04, 1918
Page
1
A Mobile aviator, Lieutenant Paul Baer, describes in a letter to his father the May 22 downing by three enemy aircraft while leading a four plane patrol. He reports slight leg wounds, a destroyed aircraft, and plans to be moved to a British POW camp in southern Germany.
British patrols reach the western outskirts of Nourjouval and occupy areas near Mouvres Cambrai. Haig’s forces advance behind the canal, cross Canal du Nord, hold Marancourt and Demi court, and press toward Vres and Moislaing as German retreat accelerates.
Several thousand cans of pears are being put up daily at the Peoples Canning Company plant in Prichard. The plant is running at full capacity since the fall opening last Wednesday. About seven hundred pears are cut by women operators. General manager Mr. B. Ovaitohs says farmers have a ready market and many bushels are received, including about two hundred bushels from Semmes and Wilmer areas Tuesday.
Charles J. Carmichael, longtime editor at the News Item and The Register, will report Saturday to Gulfport Naval Training Station for service. He enlisted earlier and awaits orders, entering as a landsman electrician in the radio service, the thirty first star on the paper's service flag.
The Mobile labor office reports 839 people placed in August the best bureau result in the state. Details include 4574 applications received 223 firms applying 914 referred 83 dollars paid per person with 818 men 21 women placed. The weekly snapshot shows 54 firms seeking workers 228 applicants 202 sent and 193 reported placed.
Mary Parker was fined ten dollars or ten days for permitting gaming at her residence on Tree Conception Street. The complaint by Mrs Zack Chambliss claimed her husband gambled there. Parker initially appealed but then paid the fine.
Fire damaged a frame dwelling at 512 South Hamilton Street Tuesday afternoon about 4 20. The owner is J Ler and occupant Siartha Niaterastti. Fire companies responded from 310 St Emanuel Street, but property reported as not damaged beyond the fire event.
William Capps, injured in a Tuesday afternoon crash, was taken from the Inge Bondurant Sanatorium to his home on Item Avenue near Spring Hill Avenue. A small bone in his ankle was broken and he was treated for shock. Police report notes the other vehicle’s involvement.
The Alabama Public Service Commission fixed Monday September 16 as the hearing day on Mobile Gas Company petition for higher rates. City officials said no contract exists with the gas company, so the city may not send a representative. T M Stevens in Montgomery represents the gas company.
Eleven of Mobile's seventeen union barber shops have accepted a raise to 65 percent of gross receipts, per H M Childs, secretary of the Mobile Local Barbers' Union. J D Nicholas and the Athelstan Club are among those agreeing. Six shops remain noncommittal as owners say profits will be affected. One proprietor says women barbers will be brought in to staff chairs.
London reports from the battlefield on September 4 describe Haig's fast Anglo Allied advance pushing back German lines near the Wotan sector. Prisoners speak of a possible Mackensen reserve as Berlin eyes defenses behind the front while French and American forces push on the southern front and the growing American army is noted.
Sept 4. A bomb blast at the Adams street entrance of a federal building kills three and injures seventy five. Windows shatter across nearby blocks as police cordon the area and civilians flee in fear. The blast injuries occur inside and in surrounding structures.
City commission heard J Howard Wilson of Mobile Light and Railroad Co confirm a government backed concrete shipyard will employ ten thousand workers. Studley of Fred Ley & Co will operate the plant and coordinate a street railway franchise to move thousands to and from the site on Choctaw Point and nearby yards.
Father J J Wallace announces more than 300 student officers will be trained at Spring Hill College under at least two US Army officers. Quinlan Hall will be converted to barracks at a cost about 2000 dollars after a Chicago meeting with war department officials and college representatives. General Barry and Colonel Rees outlined the training program and requirements.
An official Berlin dispatch cited by Tageblatt quotes General de Montgelas urging Germany to avoid economic isolation by joining the proposed confederation of nations. He warns economic war fears are real and says Germany must enter the league and make sacrifices to preserve its interests.
John M. Clark former general chairman of the Labor Day celebration convenes all committee chairmen at Central Trades Council hall Monday at 8 PM to hear reports and wind up affairs. Financial reports will be received to total funds raised for the Red Cross and make them public.
A Cassel dispatch reports the German empress has increasing weakness and heart affection plus arteriosclerosis. Physicians advise her to remain in bed and avoid worry. Emperor William appears fit while the empress has aged noticeably in recent weeks.
William McGrath faced a recorder's court charge for violating prohibition law after police found a small quantity of prohibited liquors in a house on State Street near Warren. The case arose from the arrest and subsequent investigation by local law enforcement.
The article notes all boys must be 18 and have completed high school, with Spring Hill opening September 11 for officer training program entrants. They will register and then qualify with draft boards for induction on October 1. Plans to modify Quinlan hall and senior quarters begin immediately. Over 600 army cots and supplies ordered. hospital full operation by October 1. Spring Hill aims to accommodate 664 male candidates in the student officers corps with rapid quota recruitment.
Plans outlined at Pythian Castle hall for Ramalah Temple Dramatic Order calchia of Khorassan. Secretary reports 441 candidates to be initiated and a parade precedes the ceremonial. Committee members listed include C L Smith chairman and William L Cahall among others.
Draft board reports indicate 34 young mobilian registrants with mechanical aptitude are to entrain September 19 to the University of Alabama for a special course in technical mechanics. Ibbie county will supply 34 men, 22 from the County Board and 12 from Local Board No. 1.
The federal rent adjustment board resumed sessions Wednesday morning taking up the Morrill-Doyle Realty and Jance Company cases. Mr Henri Bernhard of Mobile Shipbuilding Company testified regarding cases involving his company employees.
Spot cotton middling in Mobile was quoted at 34.50 Thursday by the Mobile Cotton Exchange, down 25 points from Wednesday’s high for the season. Market activity was nominal with receipts totaling 207 bales.
The weather page reports chances of showers tonight for Alabama with cooler air expected Thursday. Forecasters indicate a cooldown across the region and cooler conditions remain possible into the latter part of the week.
First Lieutenant Cecil F. Bates of Mobile has been wounded in action in France. His wife Mrs. Bates received the news via cablin. Bates was slightly injured in face and side after being transferred to a line and preparing to go into the trenches. He belonged to the First Alabama regiment and served on the Mexican border before France.
Washington reports Major General William B Graves and staff arrive at Vladivostok to command all American forces on the eastern front. Graves brings 42 officers and 1,388 men joining Philippines regiments already there as total American embarkations near 1.6 million by August 31 across all fronts.
The World Series game in Chicago was postponed to tomorrow due to rain. A forecast of rain and cooler weather for the afternoon gave way to fair and warmer conditions for the next day. Eleven mounted police in rubber gear patrolled the South Side grounds to keep crowds in order as vendors prepared.
London report says Lens has been definitively evacuated by German forces. British patrols, protected against gas fumes, entered the city and found it clear of the enemy. Since joint Franco-British operations began, 97 German divisions have been on the battle front.
Reports from the battlefront note French cavalry pursuing Germans east of the Canal du Nord and nearing Guiscard. Indications from the Vesle front suggest a possible general retirement as Franco American gains prompt strategic withdrawals. Western Front length shortened since major offensives began, freeing divisions for Entente use.
Constantinople faced four consecutive nightly bombardments in late August. Targets hit included the arsenal, dockyard, Turkish war office, Galata air drome, Gallipoli seaplane base, Chanak, and other strategic sites. The report notes British advances near Cambrai and Douai, with gains along the canal line and in the Cambrai sector as the war-front news continued to unfold.
London reports a British official statement detailing battles on multiple fronts. It notes actions near the Canal du Nord Arras Cambral road Ecourt St Quentin Lys sector and gains near Sailly Sur Lally Nieppe Romarin with troops advancing north and south of rivers.
French troops pressed the enemy east of the Canal du Nord and north of the Allette. They captured Crisolles and advanced near Coucy le Chateau and Clamecy. More than 1,500 prisoners were reported in the region. On the Vesle front the French crossed the river at several points.
British forces move within five to six miles of Douai and near Cambrai as Byng drives toward the city. French troops under General Maïn push toward Gobain and Laon area while Teutons conduct a Macedonian front diversion with limited impact.
A terse, garbled OCR item mentions a crook breaking free near the Bay area and a road in Georgia, with scant readable context. The fragment hints at a local incident but lacks clear names, dates, or outcomes to outline a full event.
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