USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Tercentenary history of Newton, 1630-1930 > Part 34
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The Boy Scouts of the Norumbega Council proved their usefulness in the time of preparedness before the war and during the months of the conflict. They went from house to house delivering circulars which described the work of the Red Cross and the Belgian relief, working sys- tematically by troops and patrols. In the big prepared- ness parade in 1916 four hundred Newton scouts were in the line, and the Scout Bugle and Drum Corps led the entire Greater Boston Scout organization with conspicu- ous credit. At the time General Joffre visited Boston and in other events where crowds collected, the Newton scouts with those of other communities assisted the police in holding the crowds in line. In every Liberty Loan drive the scouts took part in the canvass, and sold several hun- dred thousand dollars' worth of bonds after the men had completed their work. Many of the older scouts entered the Army and Navy as soon as war was declared, and were especially valuable on account of their training in first aid, pioneering and signalling.
One of the grave problems which war produced was a sufficient supply of food for the fighting forces, for the people of the Allies, and for America. The Government encouraged war gardens and the conservation of food by every possible means. A shortage of wheat and of potatoes was soon observed. The Committee of Public Safety ap-
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pointed a subcommittee on food production and conserva- tion, and with the aid of the improvement societies cata- logued all available land in the city. Advice was given on conserving food in the home, and the time came when citizens were under compulsion to use war bread and war cake, and certain articles were rationed. Classes in cook- ing and canning were formed. "Economical Cook Books" were sold for a quarter each, and the newspapers contained agricultural hints.
More than three thousand gardens were planted by their owners, and other men vied with one another in cul- tivating allotted pieces of land, comparing their several yields of potatoes and other vegetables, and finding with their usefulness physical rewards in better health, even if with sore muscles. Some of the city parks were made avail- able for school and children's gardens. Certain industrial corporations allowed their employees to use Company land. In Waban a community garden was organized. The Auburndale Woman's Club was responsible for an agricul- tural fair at Norumbega Park. More than one thousand acres of land were cultivated in 1917, with an estimated product valued at two hundred thousand dollars. Very appreciable additions were made to private stores of pro- visions, thus releasing public supplies for wider need. While Girl Scouts enlisted at the high school for winding yarn, boys enlisted for home garden service. In the summer Camp Newton was opened for school boys at Walpole in southwestern New Hampshire, where they could engage in agriculture for increasing the food supply, and other high school boys were enlisted nearer home. Four minute men were sent out to make speeches on food conservation. A Food Facts Centre was opened for exhibitions and dem- onstrations at Newton, and nine other offices were opened where seed potatoes and fertilizer could be obtained.
Another matter that drew public attention early in
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the summer was the proposal to legislate prohibition of liquor as a war measure. At the Congregational church, Newton Centre, the minister summoned his people to join him in a pledge of total abstinence during the war, and nearly all the audience responded. Newton had long voted no license in city elections, and the city acquiesced in the national decision to adopt the policy of prohibition as a war measure. The principle of personal sacrifice for the common good was accepted willingly by those at home as by those who were about to risk their lives in battle.
With the coming of the month of May Newton men were leaving for the officers' reserve training camp at Plattsburg. Trained men, many of them accustomed to executive positions in business, could hope for an opportu- nity of leadership in war. If a large American army was to be raised, a large force of officers would be necessary. There was also the charm of novelty about it, of escape from the routine of business. Plattsburg became the goal of those who were brimming with patriotism and eager for a chance of promotion. In August eight Newton men were commissioned as captains after three months at Platts- burg. Instead of relying on volunteers, as during most of the Civil War, the principle was adopted that the virile young manhood of the nation should be universally liable to military service, and the plan of the selective draft pres- ently went into operation. According to that plan Newton would be expected to furnish about thirty-two hundred men. On the twenty-fifth of May all between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one were summoned to register for possible war service, and the board of registration com- menced the task of sifting out the unfit.
Already certain men had entered the Army as vol- unteers. Sinclair Weeks organized Battery B Ist Mass. F. A. (later 101 U. S. Field Artillery) of Newton and Brook- line men. Adventurous youths were learning how to fly in
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anticipation of airplane service at the front. The Newton Young Men's Christian Association appealed for ten thou- sand dollars for huts in the war zone in France. Theologi- cal students at Newton Centre were leaving their classes for "Y" service or to enter the military ranks. Flag rais- ings continued at churches, factories, and elsewhere. By the middle of May eight hundred of the home guard were commissioned as the Newton Constabulary.
By the last of July four hundred names of men ac- cepted for draft were printed in the Newton Graphic, and early in August a second call was made by the local board for young men to come forward for examination. Com- pany C, the Claflin Guard, mobilized at the Armory late in August and camped temporarily on Claflin Field. The men expected soon to be sent for training to a Southern camp preliminary to being despatched overseas. Battery B of the First Massachusetts Field Artillery mobilized at the Commonwealth Armory at Allston. Company C hoped to maintain its identity as a unit, but it was not to be. The military authorities combined most of the force with Company C of the Ninth Regiment, and constituted them Company C of the IOIst Infantry of the National Guard. The Newton boys made a farewell parade through the south side of the city before their departure, led by the Fifth Regiment Band and accompanied by the Constabu- lary and the men of the State Guard. More than seven hundred men were in line. Then the Company went to Framingham for an indefinite stay. The Newton men in the State Guard made up Company A. It was the first company in the state to be ready for service, and in Octo- ber it enjoyed a week-end camp at Sudbury.
In preparation for the army of drafted men a per- manent camp was being prepared at Ayer, a place suitable for a large camp and convenient of access by rail. It was the objective of many automobile drives, for people were
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curious to see a military camp and to watch the prepara- tions. As hundreds went to Framingham when the militia companies were preparing for Mexican service, so thou- sands swarmed to Ayer, the numbers increasing as the military forces expanded. The annual summer outing of the Claflin Guard Veterans was held at Camp Ayer. The Newton Constabulary had a field day at Riverside in the autumn when three hundred men from seven units par- ticipated. The first ten Newton men accepted for the draft were sent to camp at Ayer late in August. Three weeks later fifty-nine more men followed them, after being ad- dressed by Mayor Childs and General James G. White, while three of the force who had been in the police depart- ment were presented with wrist watches. Within another three weeks fifty-eight others went as a third quota. The Newton Graphic started a fund to provide the soldiers with tobacco.
Popular enthusiasm for the war was kindled by band concerts on the parks and playgrounds. People gathered by hundreds and listened to patriotic music, and joined in singing such popular songs as "Tipperary" and "Keep the Home Fires Burning," while red fire burned and crackers popped. Occasional community sings were held indoors. Numerous war announcements were read from the pulpits of the churches, and sermons were preached with reference to the war. Former President Taft spoke on the war in December at Channing Church.
Next to service in the field the most universal test of patriotism was contribution to supply the sinews of war. The First Liberty Loan was announced, and a local com- mittee was organized to sell one million dollars' worth of bonds in Newton. The citizens subscribed nearly four times as much. The Second Loan was asked five months later, but it brought in half as much again. The Third Loan was almost equally successful. The figures were:
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First Liberty Loan $3,986,850 from 5,868 subscribers
Second Liberty Loan 6,090,600 from 6,696 subscribers
Third Liberty Loan 5,012,450 from 7,996 subscribers
Among incidents pleasant to recall in those first months of the war was the present of a sword to Lieut. James C. Irwin, Jr., of the 302d Machine Gun Battalion at Camp Devens by Troop I of Boy Scouts. He had been their scout master, and they honored him with the present at the Cen- tral Congregational Church, Newtonville. Everybody vied with others in rendering service. In the Christmas drive for members of the Red Cross II,268 members en- rolled, making a total up to that time for Newton of 16,626. Nor did Newton women forget the needs of the Allies in providing patriotically for the Americans. The Newton Centre Allies Relief Association continued its operations in their behalf.
The year 1918 opened January fourth with a military ball in the Armory at West Newton, arranged by the coop- eration of the 30Ist Field Artillery headquarters company, composed largely of Newton men, and Company A of the Eleventh Regiment of the State Guard, made up entirely of Newton men. The assembly was held for the benefit of the fund of the headquarters company. Dinners were given at the Braeburn Club and elsewhere, when American and English officers from Camp Devens at Ayer were guests. An officers' training camp was established at Ayer, to which men could be promoted from the ranks, and six Newton men enjoyed that honor. Newton women con- tinued to maintain their leadership in furnishing supplies to the soldiers. During the preceding month they had turned out nearly one hundred thousand surgical dressings and five thousand two hundred and twenty-five other articles. Newton was given a quota of ten thousand dol- lars to provide books for soldiers' camps.
Various activities were rounded up by the Committee
"
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of Public Safety. That committee appointed subcom- mittees on transportation, on public meetings, on recruit- ing, and others. In March the whole committee sent out an appeal for twenty-five thousand dollars to enable it to continue its work. Its recruiting committee labored to recruit Company C to war strength, equipped it with motor truck, motor cycle, and other articles not furnished by Government, and supplied nine hundred dollars to the Company fund. Food and tobacco were furnished to the soldiers. The committee helped to recruit Battery F, the first company for the State Guard, and the eight com- panies of the Newton Constabulary with eventually more than a thousand men. All Newton men entering service were provided with sweaters, socks, and other comforts, amounting to four thousand articles. Dependents of men in service were not forgotten.
With the war machine in full running order the Draft Board put men through their physical examinations, and they speedily departed for Camp Devens to be drilled and sent abroad as fast as transports could be provided. It was a crucial summer at the front. The Central Powers were making their last desperate drive in an effort to win the war before the Americans should arrive in force. No one in Europe believed that Americans could get there in numbers sufficient to turn the tide of war, but the Govern- ment was working feverishly, transports were carrying many thousands of troops, and they were swarming in France behind the line that autumn. The earliest arrivals occupied a sector of the battle front and distinguished themselves at Château-Thierry and in the Argonne. The men of the IOIst Regiment of Volunteers fought alongside the regular regiments of the United States Army. They were on their mettle and covered themselves with glory. Once more in history a citizen soldiery proved its military valor and upheld the honor of the American nation though
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at the cost of many lives. Later recruits chafed over the period of preparation, and hoped to get overseas before the war was over. In spite of the horrors of the fighting the pugnacious instinct and the glamour of war fired their blood and made them long to go.
The war took heavy toll of the young men. None were more honored than David Putnam, who while resi- dent of Waban had gone through the Newton High School and at the age of twenty was flying above the German lines. American ace as he was he had an enviable record of downing enemy planes, when with a single companion he was set upon by seven German aviators and met his death while fighting valorously. Other names scarcely less illus- trious were added rapidly to the same roll of honor. At home the young men were joining the Students Army Training Corps.
Meantime the food conservation continued. It was needed then more than ever with the ever-increasing de- mand for supplies as the fighting forces grew greater. Re- strictions were placed on the amount of sugar that could be purchased at any one time, and cards were issued to house- holders as permits. Coal was limited in amount so that the churches in some instances combined for Sunday services, and in others the people worshipped in chapels and ves- tries. Factories were forced to shut down for a time on Mondays. Then came the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign. Newton's quota was always large, because it was well known that the city had large financial resources. It took time to raise such huge sums of money, but the commit- tees were efficient and little by little each campaign went over the top. The total of the Fourth Liberty Loan was $8,801,500, contributed by 13,088 participants. At the same time Newton people were buying war savings stamps, the schools alone taking nearly one hundred thousand dollars' worth. Three hundred and twenty-five thousand
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dollars was raised in the United War Work campaign.
Suddenly in the midst of the feverish activity to push the war came the epidemic of influenza. America was not immune, though across many leagues of sea. The disease struck down soldiers in camp, raging with violence at Camp Devens, and many a man who was looking forward to dangers in France was called upon to make his sacrifice while still in camp. Men and women alike were sudden victims in their homes and their places of work. Hospitals were overcrowded and emergency provisions had to be made. One of these was the appropriation of the old Wood- land Park Hotel at Auburndale. Early in October twenty- one deaths occurred there in three days. Physicians and nurses were short-handed on account of the absence of many in France. Soon the number of cases of sickness was estimated at two thousand, and before the middle of Octo- ber one hundred and seventy-seven deaths had occurred. A pall hung over the community. People went about their occupations with gravity. The sorrow which extended from family to family, as the news of battle casualties recurred more and more often, was intensified by the casu- alties of the epidemic. Death stalked hideously across the continents in that fall of 1918.
On the memorable eleventh of November the wel- come news of the Armistice crossed the sea and flew from mouth to mouth. Anxious parents, wives and sweethearts sighed with relief, for they were weary of watching the mails and the newspaper headlines. Men met on the street to shake hands in mutual congratulation. Bells rang, chimes played, and horns and whistles rent the air. Nine- teen locomotives at the Riverside roundhouse blew a deaf- ening broadside. Little work was done for two days. Nonantum workingmen commenced an impromptu parade. At Auburndale fifteen hundred persons joined in line, war workers, scouts, school children and Lasell girls, with
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torches and red fire. The Constabulary band furnished music and Congressman Robert A. Luce made a patriotic address. Similar celebrations occurred in other villages, and special exercises were held in the schools. Those who did not get enough of celebration at home went into Bos- ton to join in the excitement there and participated in an evening never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
During the war the churches were a powerful force in sustaining the morale of the people. Fifty years had passed since the nation had been caught in the grip of a great war. The patriotism of its people sent out its first troops, most of whom were volunteers, and sent those at home into war work. When the call came to contribute to the expenses of the war, citizens responded generously. But to keep going week after week, to answer call after call for money and men, to face the world smiling even when hearts were stricken, required a courage and consecration which the churches alone could supply. It was not that the churches were militant. They hung flags in conspicu- ous places. They found places in their programs for ad- dresses on the war, and numerous announcements about a variety of non-ecclesiastical matters were made from the pulpits. Women, and men too, rolled bandages before and after prayer meeting. The churches put permanent me- morial tablets bearing the names of their own soldiers on their walls. Their ministers prayed for victory in what seemed a righteous cause. All this was because the con- cern of the people was the concern of the churches, for the churches were the people organized for high ideals of service.
Protestants and Catholics alike entered wholeheart- edly into the task. The activities of Grace Church, New- ton, illustrated the place which the churches took in the war. Union services were held there, notably a Memorial Day service in May, 1918, and the Armistice Thanksgiving
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service on the day after the signing of the Armistice in November. The church sent sixty-seven of its number into war service, eight of whom were nurses in France. Two of them never came back, and two others were per- manently maimed. At the church the women of Newton village carried on French relief work for more than a year before America was drawn into the war. Afterward they reorganized the work of relief to provide for the needs of Americans as well.
The churches willingly released their ministers for weeks that they might aid more directly, some of them going as chaplains to Camp Devens. And one will never know how much consolation and hope the religion of the churches brought to those who were in anxiety and sorrow, for the intangible assets of the churches never can be meas- ured accurately.
From the time of the Armistice the people eagerly anticipated the return of the troops from France, but it required weeks and even months before demobilization could be completed. The prompt return of Capt. Henry D. Cormerais, former commander of the Claflin Guards, gave Newton an opportunity to show a welcome to the boys, and two thousand persons crowded into the Armory at West Newton to join in a reception. Plans were made for the home-coming in order that the whole city might share in giving its greetings. Separate villages had their own celebrations, and churches welcomed the return of their own particular quotas. The Newton Centre Improve- ment Association made a victory night of its annual meet- ing. Meantime soldiers still in camp at Camp Devens were entertained on occasion in the homes of citizens.
By June, 1919, it was practicable to carry out the cele- bration that was planned. A parade started from the Bos- ton line at Lake Street, preceded by a car bearing a me- morial service flag for the more than eighty who had died.
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About one thousand service men rode in motor cars. Enthusiasm was at a high pitch as the line moved. In imagination those who watched saw battle scenes where these men fought, stood with them in their dugouts, and tried to visualize No Man's Land and to catch the roar of the mighty guns. Joy over the return of the large majority unscathed overcame the feeling of sadness for those who had not come back, and cheers and handclapping punc- tuated the course of the parade. Refreshments were served to the men at the Young Men's Christian Association building and at the headquarters of the Red Cross, and the line was reviewed at City Hall by the Mayor and invited guests, who included veterans of the Civil and Spanish wars. At Norumbega where the parade ended there were addresses and a banquet. The boys enjoyed a vaudeville entertainment, and the evening ended with a grand ball.
Before the time had come for the celebration Newton was challenged with a fifth war loan. This time it bore the name of the Victory Loan. Nothing daunted by the quota of $4,335,000 which it was asked to provide, the city promptly went over the top with a total of $6,310,150 from 6,478 persons. The Draft Board and the Red Cross were ready to cast up accounts and make their reports. The report of the Draft Board showed 9,054 registrations in Newton. Six hundred and seventy-two men went into the naval and military services of the United States as volunteers, and 779 were summoned to camp. The Red Cross surprised people with its report because of the amount of work that had been done. Newton Centre, which was the first village to get organized and to establish head- quarters, had an attendance of 10,116 persons in the first year, and in that time made 222,809 surgical dressings and thousands of other articles. This was an indication of what was done throughout the city. The Junior depart-
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ment of the Red Cross made a successful drive for mem- bers in the schools. Thousands of articles were made and socks and sweaters were knitted. Even the primary schools were glad to do their bit. Two years after the war was over high school alumni contributed tablets for both Class- ical and Technical schools in memory of the Newton High School boys who had given their lives in the service. As late as 1922 a memorial flagpole was erected and a bronze tablet bearing the names of thirty Newton Centre men was unveiled on the Common. The expense was popularly subscribed.
A month after the return and the celebration Post 48 of the American Legion was organized in Newton, and in the fall celebrated the first anniversary of Armistice Day with a victory ball. The Legion was presented with flags by the Newton Order of Elks and by the Grand Army of the Republic. The purpose of the Legion, like associations of veterans of other wars, was to cement the friendships formed during war days, to conserve the spirit of patri- otism, and to give aid to needy comrades. It established headquarters at West Newton, and took its place among the civic organizations of the city as a force for order and loyalty. The Legion has maintained a free bed at the New- ton Hospital, aids disabled veterans in cooperation with other organizations, and keeps alive the spirit of the camp- fire and the patriotism of the nation. Like the Grand Army Post in its early history, the Legion has a Woman's Auxiliary. In 1928 the Auxiliary gave a reception to the gold star mothers.
The State Guard and the Newton Constabulary both proved their usefulness during the Police Strike in Boston. Company A of the Eleventh Regiment took up its duties in Roxbury in a manner which disarmed those who were threatening an outbreak, and in other parts of the city the millionaire guards, as they were called, kept order, some-
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times at great odds. In the fall of 1920 the Claflin Guards celebrated their fiftieth anniversary as an organization with a banquet at the Braeburn Country Club, and the Veterans' Association observed its twenty-fifth anniver- sary. In that year Company H of the IOIst Regiment, with John A. McClellan as captain, superseded the old Company C of the Fifth Regiment as Newton's represent- ative in the state militia.
At last the tumult and the shouting died. But tears kept springing to the eyes of those whose sons and brothers had not come back, and for those who maimed and suffer- ing were doomed to a life of endurance. For the living Government must provide places of refuge and tender care. For the dead there were memorial tablets here and perhaps a cross over there, but their memory remained green in the homes from which they had gone. History records their names, and a grateful nation might well call the roll on Armistice Day in city and village all over the land.
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