Vol 38 • No. 5
War begins
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April 1917
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By Ken Stephens In the first week of April 1917, the streets of Wichita and other Kansas towns were aflame with patriotism. In anticipation that the United States would enter World War I within days, the Stars and Stripes flew, it seemed, from every business and home. One Wichita merchant reported that he had sold more flags in the last 48 hours than in the previous 48 years. On April 6, thousands of people in Hutchinson paraded to its Convention Hall for a patriotic rally. As the main speaker was about to begin his oration, a messenger from The Hutchinson News handed Lt. Gov. William Morgan a bulletin. Morgan glanced at the piece of paper, stepped to the front of the stage and announced: “The declaration of war was signed at 1:11 this afternoon.” Wichitans were similarly enthusiastic about the war, but the city had
Wichitaphotos.org
1917 war bond parade marching south on Water heading for the Wichita Forum in the 200 block of south Wichita. put off its great patriotic rally until Wichita’s convention hall at the time. April 10 in hopes that former Presi“Dozens” of bands led the parade, dent William Howard Taft, who was followed by 12,000 members of fraterthen touring in Oklahoma, would nal and military organizations, womattend. en’s clubs, groups of businessmen and Taft didn’t make it. No matter, it 10,000 flag-waving school children. was touted as the biggest patriotic At The Forum, a fife-and-drum rally ever in Kansas. corps of Civil War veterans took seats The Wichita Eagle reported that at the front, followed by Nation50,000 people lined the parade route al Guardsmen, and 6,000 children along Douglas, from Washington to crowded the bleachers on the upper Water and then south to The Forum, level.
April 2017 In a flourish of hyperbole, The Eagle reported: “Wichita arose yesterday, unfurled the battle flag of the nation and demanded that the blemishes of disgrace be washed from the white robes of liberty.” Some men rushed to enlist, but at first only one in three was accepted. The Eagle reported that most enlistees came from rural areas and the oil fields. “The absence of the suave, welldressed city lad is noticeable,” the paper said. But with a call for 500,000 draftees, including 27,500 from Kansas, The Eagle tried to accelerate the process. Throughout April it combed voter registration lists and each day published the names of young men from different voting districts that would likely be drafted if they didn’t enlist. Some of those who didn’t enlist right away at least organized. At L’Overture School, 60 African-America youth between 13 and 17 formed two companies of militia and began drilling.
See WW I, page 13
Safely discard drugs on April 29
By Nancy Carver Singleton National Prescription Drug TakeBack Day is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 29. This is an opportunity to safely discard expired or unused medicine. Sedgwick County Sheriff ’s Office and Drug Enforcement Administration officials will be collecting at three locations: Sedgwick County Zoo, 5555 W. Zoo Blvd.; Household Hazardous Waste Center, 801 W. Stillwell; and Oaklawn Activity Center, 4904 S. Clifton Ave. The Cheney Police Department will be collecting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the fire department, 525 N. Main. Neither Butler County nor Harvey County sheriffs’ departments are participating. Non-prescription drugs, liquid
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medicine and patches may be dropped off, but syringes and other injectable devices are not accepted. The drop-off process? Drive to one of the locations and hand the drugs to a deputy for disposal. “You don’t have to sign anything. You just drop it off and go,” said Lt. Lin Dehning, public information officer for the sheriff ’s department. Illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana may also be brought to the take-back with “no questions asked.” Last year 1,876 pounds of medicines —“just short of a ton”— were discarded in Wichita’s spring and fall collections, Dehning said. “This was not an uncommon year. That’s what we usually see,” he said. “There are hundreds and hundreds of
Central Plains Area Agency on Aging or call your county Department on Aging: 1-855-200-2372
pounds of medicine accumulating in people’s homes.” Medicines degrade and can become toxic over time, Dehning explained. “That’s another reason we want people to clean out their medicine cabinets.” Sometimes people find large caches of old drugs in the homes of elderly or deceased family members. Dehning recalled at one take-back a car pulled up with its trunk filled with medicine from a relative who had recently died. In another instance someone on rollerblades, carrying a little bag, skated to the drop-off area near the zoo, dropped the bag in the barrel and skated off. Dehning said National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day has three See Drugs, page 14
Butler County: (316) 775-0500 or 1-800- 279-3655 Harvey County: (316) 284-6880 or 1-800-279-3655