Blast from the Past: 1918 (Part 2)

by Shannon Forbes
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 2:27 PM MDT

On April 6, 1917, after years of watching foreign armies in Europe slaughter each other, the United States Congress finally declared war on the German government ("but not on the German people," although it's a fine line, there).

While war raged overseas, Americans at home joined the war effort and dealt with government policies, such as rationing and censorship. Resources of all kinds were being diverted to support national needs.

Americans were asked to help in every way that they could. People dutifully funded the war by purchasing war bonds. They conserved raw materials; they recycled; they rallied behind the troops; they helped their neighbors; they planted gardens for victory and a great number of them gave their lives.

At the same time, women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers. In July of 1918, Congress passed a "Work or Fight" law. It decreed that "ballplayers, waiters, bartenders, ushers, elevator operators, hotel and store clerks, and all domestics" were henceforth positions "to be filled by women." This freed the men to fight, and every able-bodied man over 21 either had to work in a war-related job or be drafted.

The war effort was served not just by soldiers overseas and workers at home. Civilian volunteers manned many relief and aid positions in Europe. Red Cross volunteer nurses and YMCA personnel, ambulance drivers, entertainers -- all contributed to the well-being of the troops.

The International Red Cross filled many needs, both locally and "over there." Created in 1864 by Jean-Henri Dunant as a strictly neutral entity, it was meant to serve as an intermediary between wartime belligerents and to visit prisoner-of-war camps, where it provided relief supplies, delivered mail and transmitted information between prisoners and their relatives.

Its principles were humanity, impartiality and neutrality. A red cross on a white background (a reversal of the Swiss flag) was the original protection symbol declared at the 1864 Geneva Convention. Its motto was "Inter Arma Caritas" ("In War, Charity"), and the organization received the 1917 Nobel Peace Prize, the only one awarded during the period from 1914-1918.

The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton, a former Civil War nurse, in 1881. Local chapters were instrumental in raising contributions for aid to troops overseas and giving help to the families of soldiers at home.

Casper's Red Cross chapter routinely affected the daily lives of most residents. Bandage-rolling parties were held, with tea and cookies served along with friendly gossip. Wool socks, scarves and mittens were knitted at home and by ladies' knitting circles, with wool donated by private citizens and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Care packages were filled with writing supplies, toiletries, a pair of socks, a sewing kit, playing cards and chewing gum and given to local boys before they boarded special trains leaving for Army training camps.

Donated items regularly were offered at well-attended public auctions. According to the Casper Daily Press, a "tatted yoke" sold for $12.50, and "two items have not been disposed of yet -- one cow and her heifer calf will probably be sold for $200."

A ranch couple from Badwater pledged "one horse per month for 12 months or all 12 at once." A birthday cake, baked especially for General Pershing's birthday on Sept. 13, sold at the County Fair in Douglas for $60, with "total bake proceeds of $600 given to the Red Cross."

Labor Day festivities at the Natrona County Fairgrounds included a baseball game, boxing matches, a "Free-for-all Cow Pony Race," wild horse races, a fat men's race and a tug-of-war between Standard Oil Refinery workers and their Midwest Refinery rivals, with "all receipts from the fair divided by the Red Cross, the Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army and the Mothers' League War Fund."

The Natrona County Red Cross chapter noted 2,300 annual memberships and 40 subscribing memberships, with "$14,000 received from all sources and disbursed in the last year." Expenses for the month of August included "$60 for salary of nurse" and "$530 for the relief of dependents of soldiers."

Humans were not the only beings to serve in the "War to End All Wars." Eight million horses, donkeys and mules gave their lives to the cause.

There were many positions in the service for stock-handlers, since horses and mules were still the Army's main means of transportation. One young man, answering his draft call, walked 20 miles from his home to Arminto to catch the train to Casper, hoping to be assigned to wrangling horses in France. Many of Wyoming's horses -- both tame and wild -- went to France, too. More than 8 million horses, donkeys and mules were killed during the course of the war.

According to a U.S Cavalry publication, "Horse training is necessary in wartime in order to perform the amazing feats of a Cavalry horse. A good war horse will always face barbed wire -- even rush the wire, risking entanglement and laceration of its legs and flanks. It must be trained for rapid mounting, kneeling with a rider aboard, and be able to stop from a gallop in his own length.

"It must allow its rider to fire from its back and lie still on the ground to be used for cover while his rider shoots from over his back. He must become familiar by experience with the pain a flashing enemy sword might bring, yet face swords again willingly."

There would be a lot of work for a boy like our Arminto youngster, if he weren't sent to the trenches despite his wrangler's skills. One Cavalry officer noted, "When the enemy finally begins his big retreat, it is the Allies' horses that will keep the Germans on the run."

Elephants, camels, dogs, cats, canaries, glow-worms and 100,000 carrier pigeons also served in the Great War, many giving their lives.

Pigeons served both sides of the conflict, as homing messengers with speeds up to 30 mph over short distances. A bird with a very long message could beat the new telegraphy in speed of delivery.

One pigeon was even an accidental double-agent. Confused and stunned by shellfire, it landed in the window of a YMCA shelter-hut with a red triangle displayed over its door. This was one of thousands of YMCA shelter-huts located just to the r rear of every battle-zone.

A YMCA secretary found the pigeon, removed the aluminum capsule from its leg-band and read a message, in German, which read, "We are being hard-pressed by the French. Send reinforcements or we cannot hold out."

Allied guns soon concentrated fire and the Germans retreated. One Red Triangle worker commented, "Perhaps the Boche are as tired of war as we are." After the bird was fed, watered and finally released, it headed back toward enemy lines.

On the home-front, many things were cancelled or changed due to the war.

Daylight Saving Time (first dreamed up by Benjamin Franklin in 1784) was instituted nationwide in March of 1918 in order to make better use of daylight and provide standard time for the country.

The 1918 World Series was won by the Boston Red Sox. Proceeds from the gate of the final game generated $20,000, "which was divided equally among all team members, including those already gone to the service of their country."

The haunting notes of "Taps" then rang out over Fenway Park to mark the ending of all professional baseball "for the duration." College football games involving travel also were cancelled.

The making of beer "from foodstuffs necessary to the war-effort" was forbidden after Oct. 1 by proclamation of President Wilson. The City of Casper held scrap drives for iron, copper and tin and newspapers urged people to recycle, retread and reuse everything under the sun.

Although rationing was voluntary, future President Herbert Hoover was appointed head of the United States Food Administration. Citizens' efforts to conserve food were known as "Hooverizing."

Peach, prune, apricot, cherry and olive pits were collected for the making of high-quality charcoal for gasmasks. A request to "bring your own sugar when you visit" was considered proper etiquette.

Victory garden jokes became as corny as the produce they poked fun at: "Say, did you know I got a dozen steaks today?" would make the rounds.

"You did! Where? Tell me! How much did they cost?"

Only then would the prankster reveal that he had just bought "stakes" for his tomato plants.

Casper was a bustling little boom town, with burgeoning oilfields, a busy railroad and a rapidly growing population. All things considered, 1918 started off as a pretty good year.

There was just the one tiny squib in an August edition of the Casper Daily Press to catch anyone's eye, about a village in Spain where most of the population had died of "la grippe," which was a really bad cold.

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