The Great War: June 25, 1918

The front page of the Columbia Republican for June 25, 1918, includes several items of interest: a report about a patriotic meeting at The Playhouse, during which all twelve reels of "the famous Donald Thompson films were thrown on the screen"; the account of a patriotic meeting in the Public Square, where the speakers "addressed the big audience from an automobile," urging thrift and asserting that "the waste of this country in one year would feed France for the same period"; and an article predicting the defeat of Germany was in sight and quoting Lloyd George as saying, "The number of Americans who have come since March is sufficient to satisfy the allies and ultimately defeat Germany." But the item that reveals most about the local impact of the war at the beginning of that summer is this one, which outlines a plan to ensure the crops of the nearby farms would be harvested.   

Of the men attending the meeting, A. Frank Bogardus was a principal in Downing & Bogardus, wholesale and retail dealers in flour, feed, hay, and grain--"the largest business of its kind in the city," located in Franklin Square; Charles S. Rogers owned "the oldest and largest wholesale grocery house in Hudson," located at 745 Columbia Street; C. H. Evans was, with his brother Robert, the owner of C. H. Evans & Sons Brewery; Dr. Yeisley was the minister of the First Presbyterian Church. The research at Ancestry.com indicates that L. C. Bashford may have been a farmer from Chatham.
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