106 Years Ago
On May 30th, 1918, the country had entered World War I, and Golden was on war-time footing. The Colorado Transcript of that date was encouraging people to buy their coal for next winter, because of an anticipated shortage. By general order, eating houses were only allowed to serve two sugar lumps with meals and women were being urged to preserve eggs.
The United States was sending wheat to help feed its allies in Europe. Americans were encouraged to eat wheat sparingly, with Monday and Wednesdays being “wheatless” days, and eating wheat at only one meal a day on the other five days. It was OK to eat potatoes, as illustrated by the ad above (lower left-hand corner) showing a fighting potato.
An auction was held at the Gem Theater (now the Starbucks, at 13th and Washington), selling livestock to raise $80 for the Red Cross. All Jefferson County boys who were 21 or about to turn 21 were required to come to the Golden post office to register for the draft.
In other news, the Welch Ditch broke. “With a roar that could be heard in many parts of the city, the Welch ditch broke at eight o’clock this morning, just back of the Turpie residence on East street. A huge volume of water is still pouring through the big gap in the ditch bank at the time of going to press, and much damage is being done the city streets and to residence properties in the vicinity of East Street.”
May 30th 1918 was also Memorial Day. The few remaining Civil War veterans decorated graves in the Veterans section of the cemetery, then met at the Armory Building and marched down to Clear Creek, where they tossed flowers into the rushing waters in memory of dead sailors.
The Golden Transcript (originally called the Colorado Transcript) has been publishing since 1866. The Golden History Museum has been working on digitizing the historic issues. You’ll find old Transcripts online at coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
