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1917

January/February 1917 - The Lull Before the Storm

“The announcement by Germany of a new policy in the conduct of her submarine warfare is practically a challenge to the government of the United States to protect its citizens on the high seas. The situation appears to be fraught with more danger than at any time since the beginning of the European war.”

—- Penn Yan Democrat, February 2, 1917

The firm belief that the United States would stay out of the European war was dissipated almost as soon as the new year began. In January, British intelligence intercepted a coded cable from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the government of Mexico promising them the southwestern United States if they attacked our country across the border. Hoping to capitalize on the ill will between Mexico and the U.S., the Germans hoped that would distract us and prevent us from entering the war in Europe. Before it reached the Mexican government, the decoded cable landed on the desk of President Wilson who informed the nation’s newspapers. The outrage that followed intensified on February 1st when Germany announced that they would resume unrestricted submarine warfare against neutral shipping on the Atlantic, violating the Sussex Pledge that they had made to President Wilson eight months earlier. Germany had been fighting a two-front war and they knew that the Eastern Front was about to collapse because of the revolution in Russia. They sensed that England and France could then be defeated on the Western Front before the United States could mobilize and get involved.

President Wilson’s response was to go before a joint session of Congress to announce that we would sever diplomatic relations with Germany. He urged all neutral nations to do the same. At the same time, plans were made to prepare this nation for war. The defense budget was increased, the size of the Navy was expanded dramatically, the government took actions such as taking over the Remington Arms plant in Ilion NY and increasing the guard on it. Following through on a recommendation from the Office of Naval Operations (a Planning Division headed by Yates County’s Captain Frank Schofield), President Wilson issued an executive order allowing merchant vessels to arm themselves with antisubmarine guns. War was then seen as inevitable. The Yates County Chronicle editorialized on February 7th: “We have broken with Germany and have announced ourselves as determined to defend at all hazards the freedom of the seas. There will be no further compromise, no more efforts at conciliation. As Germany has announced its intention of reversing the ruling she accepted in the case of the Sussex, so we have pronounced our unalterable determination to stand by our assertion made at the time of the controversy over the sinking of that ship. No such crisis has come before this country in the present generation and none that will affect it more genuinely as a world power has ever arisen since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”

Locally, the newspapers increased their coverage of the war in Europe, but life in Yates County went on as usual as most people’s lives were untouched for the time being. There was a small handful of local men who were already involved in the war as members of the Canadian or English armies. A Penn Yan man, William J. Johnson, wrote a letter to the Penn Yan Democrat from London in mid-January. He was attached to the English army in a Canadian branch of the Scottish Argyll and Sutherland Regiment. “I have had some time over here and it has made a real man out of me and V. C. (Victoria Cross) medals are won often, but in most cases you don’t live to get it. I see another note that Wilson is in again. I am dreaming of a good smoke of Bull Durham when I get back to America and home. I will close now saying goodbye to the citizens of Penn Yan.”

Other than the war in Europe, local newspapers gave wide coverage to mid-winter entertainment in Penn Yan. The town basketball team, Beach’s Imperials, was still playing at a torrid pace bringing crowds to their home games in Beach’s Rolling Palace. They played a game against the Kodak Park team in January to determine the state championship. They earned the championship because the Kodak team had beaten a Buffalo team, which was last year’s champions. The Imperials won the game 22 to 21. In February, they played the Pennsylvania Athletic Association team promoted as “The fastest team on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.” The Imperials beat them 65 to 6 in a game described as “a farce.” However, the Imperials suffered their first loss up in Rochester in mid-February 25-20. One of their key players was injured, their star had a bad game, and “The game was lost through the inability of the players to shoot fouls successfully.” (Penn Yan Democrat, 2-16-17) They quickly resumed their winning ways with a win over Tonawanda the next week, 53-23. Another highlight that winter was when a theatrical group brought Uncle Tom’s Cabin to the Cornwell Opera House on Main Street in early February. The trolley company announced that they would run a special schedule with additional cars to get people to and from the play.

Another big story that winter had to do with a serious “wolf scare” (real or imagined) across the county. “The wolf scare has been taken very seriously by persons in distant parts who read the Penn Yan papers. ‘Don’t go out after dark.’ ‘Do take care of yourself.’ ‘Better get a revolver.’ and many more admonitions of safety have been sent to people here, when, in fact, no Penn Yan person has ever seen a wolf outside of a show tent.” Seven wolves were spotted in Middlesex and Naples - sheep were killed. The county legislature put a $50 bounty on any wolf killed. Wolves were spotted in Barrington (Warsaw and Crosby.) The Penn Yan Democrat speculated on February 2nd: “If all of the wolves reported to have been seen in the past two weeks should suddenly materialize, it would take an army of hunters all winter to rid the county of them. No doubt a few wolves have been prowling around, but we have reason to suspect that some of the stories published about them have been considerably exaggerated.”

As February came to an end, concern about the war increased considerably in Yates County. Local men began to enlist in the army or navy and trains loaded with recruits going to training camps passed through Penn Yan. There were faint hopes that President Wilson would yet find a way to maintain our neutrality, but they were fading. It was generally accepted that the President’s second term, which would begin with inauguration on March 5th, would indeed be a troubled one.