100 Years Ago: Thanksgiving, 1918

Thanksgiving Day came, and with it came a very good time. Everyone was feeling in very high spirits, and there seemed to be so much to be thankful for this year. Turkey, with all the trimmings, was served to all, and it was indeed a very enjoyable meal.¹

With the war finally over, and the stream of wounded beginning to slow, the men and women of Base Hospital 50 were finally in a position to relax and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday which took place on Thursday, November 28, 1918.

In just three short months, since the first patients arrived on August 15, the unit had seen thousands of patients pass through its wards. Five of its men had died as a result of hard work, making them susceptible to diseases such as diphtheria, influenza, and pneumonia. The most recent death, that of Bruce White, came just days before the war ended.

The work of the unit would continue into the new year, but for this Thanksgiving, the unit had much to be grateful for as the men and women, in their respective mess halls, cut into their holiday meal.

Base Hospital 50 Nurses in Mess Hall, Mesves, France, ca. 1918-1919.

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 75.

100 Years Ago: On the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

At 11 a. m. on November 11 a French flyer alighted at the convalescent camp and brought the word that the armistice had been signed early that morning. A number of our men were away on short passes, and four of our men felt so good that when they got on the train to return from Nevers they forgot to get off until the train reached Paris. After spending several days in that gay city celebrating, they returned to camp and were brought up for being A. W. O. L. They were given slight sentences and fined, and then put to work in the incinerator.¹

Today marks the 1ooth anniversary since the guns of war were silenced, signaling an end to the Great War. The news didn't reach the men and women of Base Hospital 50, and the rest of the hospital center at Mesves, France, until several hours after the agreement was signed. The hope that the steady stream of wounded would slow after the war ended was short-lived as more forward hospitals began evacuating their wounded to the rear and the grueling work continued.

Meanwhile back home, Seattleites streamed into the streets in jubilation, despite the influenza ban in effect against public gatherings. The Great War would soon become known as World War I because it wasn't the War to End all Wars after all. A generation later an even great conflict would grip the world.

But one hundred years ago today, war-weary men on both sides of  No Man's Land laid down their weapons and came out of the trenches. And America celebrated its part in bringing this great conflict to an end. This pivotal event of the 20th-century would mark the beginning of America's emergence as one of the world's superpowers.

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 75.

100 Year Ago: The Journey Begins... Again

Ships in Halifax Harbor. "Halifax at War". The Halifax Explosion.

The S. S. Karmala proved to be a very slow boat, and the morning after the convoy's departure from New York the ship steadily fell behind the other ships, which were much faster. The convey had to slow down so as to not lose sight of the Karmala. That first day at sea, the Karmala brought up the rear of the convoy. The next morning the Captain received word the Karmala was to proceed to Halifax, Nova Scotia to await another convoy.

On Wednesday morning, July 17, about 11:00 a.m., the Karmala entered Halifax harbor and dropped anchor. There the crew of Base Hospital 50 waited for three days while another convoy was assembled. On Saturday morning, July 20, they set sail again, now part of a convoy of twenty-two ships and a cruiser. It was "a very slow, tiresome journey, and lasted a very long ten days." The route the convoy took was far to the north, and most of the time it was cold and foggy. One highlight of the trip was when several large icebergs were spotted to the north of their route."Life on board ship was none too pleasant, as there was nothing to do to occupy one's time, and also the food was very poor at times. Many were very seasick and had to be put on deck or in sickbay."

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 66.

100 Years Ago: The Journey Begins

"Early on the morning of July 13th, one hundred and ninety-nine men, accompanied by Col. Bryan, Maj. Eagleson, Capt. Plummer, Lieuts. Kantner, Denno, Van Den Bosch and Lybecker, put on their packs and started on one of the hardest hikes that we made. The men had just been issued their woolen uniforms and hob-nail shoes, and the march up over that long hill and down to the boat landing on that hot July day was about all that we could stand.

Pier 29, East River, New York. 
New York Public Library Digital Collections.

At 11:30 we went aboard a small river boat and started down the Hudson River, arriving at Pier 29 at the foot of Brooklyn Bridge at 1:30. We got off the boat and then had to stand in line with our packs on for two hours before our turn came to go aboard the boat. The Red Cross served us with coffee and doughnuts while we waited on the dock. The other fifteen officers were left at Pier 59 to go as casuals on the S. S. Baltic in the same convoy.

We went aboard the Karmala in command of Capt. Flannigan, U. S. A. The ship was formerly a British freighter in the P. & O. service, and had been used to carry cattle, and was not fit for anything else. The quarters were all very crowded and foul smelling, and the men had to spend most of the time up on deck. The rest of the ship's passengers were Base Hospital personnel and anti-aircraft troops.

Red Cross Base Hosptial 50 Photograph Album, 1918-1919.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, PH Coll 387.

It was not until the following morning, Sunday, at 11, that we left our moorings at the dock and started down the bay and joined the rest of our convoy, which had assembled there. The convoy consisted of twelve transports and a cruiser. While we steamed down the bay a huge dirigible balloon and two seaplanes flew overhead, and several sub chasers accompanied us until dark, and then turned back."

Like other vessels requisitioned as North Atlantic troop transports, the Karmala was painted with a wartime camouflage pattern known as dazzle. The dazzle pattern was not intended to hide the ship completely, but to make it difficult to estimate a ship's speed, direction, and dimensions. Every ship was painted a unique pattern to prevent them from being recognizable. By breaking up the ship's traditional coloring it served to confuse German U-boat rangefinders.

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 66.

100 Years Ago: Arrival at Camp Merritt, New Jersey

Camp Merritt, N.J., Verne O. Williams, 1919. Library of Congress 2007664148.

"We arrived at Camp Merritt at 11a.m., July 10th, and were immediately marched to barracks. We had been advised that the Unit would probably have a delay here of about one week before sailing, but, owing to the late arrival of another unit scheduled to sail in three days, we were instructed to change our uniform equipment from cotton to overseas wool and heavy shoes (hobnail) at once and take their place.

This necessitated our working day and night in order to get everything in shape to leave. New wool clothing, hob-nailed shoes, and other articles were issued, and at the last moment, orders came in that all men should have their hair cut close, and this was not so popular with most of the men. The tails of the long overcoats were also shortened.

The History of Base Hospital Fifty, pg. 119.

One number of our unit. Jack Mullane, had to be left behind in the hospital at Camp Merritt on account of sickness. On arriving at Camp Merritt, Major Eagleson found that several of the officers assigned to the unit had not received orders to meet us there. He went to the Surgeon General's office in Washington, D. C, in an endeavor to have the orders changed, but was only partially successful, with the result that Capt. Karshner and Lieuts. Swift, Mattson and Cornet were not able to follow us, and other men were assigned by the Surgeon General's office to fill the vacancies. Lieuts. Schmidt and Hulett joined us here and the others came over on a later boat. Capts. Allen and Helton and Lieuts. Thompson and Buckner, of our own staff, were waiting here. Lieut. Mattice was ordered to join us, but failed to arrive before the unit sailed, and came over on a later ship."

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 65-66.

100 Years Ago: Married at the Depot

Altered image. McCall's Magazine, June 1918.

"At Detroit, Mich., one member of the Unit met his best girl and took advantage of the delay caused by replacing a broken truck, to get married at the depot."¹

The journey east by train was recalled as being "very pleasant" by the men of Base Hospital 50 "with a few incidents of special note to be remembered." No doubt the marriage of Private First Class Leigh Thompson and Thelma Wellington was one of those incidents. Thelma and her family planned to meet Leigh's train as it passed through Detroit, but an unexpected delay provided the opportunity for an impromptu wedding. Their marriage was the culmination of a romance begun in Seattle five years before.²

Thelma Grace Wellington was born on January 16, 1895, the second of Albert Lincoln Wellington and his wife Jessie Victoria Eddy's three daughters. Like her sisters, Marguerite and Frances, Thelma was born in Chicago.³ Together with her parents, Thelma moved to New Orleans where the family was enumerated in the 1910 census.⁴ Shortly thereafter her family moved to Washington, first to the Everett area and then Seattle, where she entered Broadway High School in September of 1911.⁵ Thelma graduated in 1915 and Broadway's yearbook, the Sealth, described her as "studious and quiet, actions sweet and kind." How Thelma and Leigh met is unknown, but they must have become acquainted shortly after the Wellington family arrived in Seattle.

Leigh Oliver Thompson was the older of two children born to Robert Oliver Thompson, a native of Scotland, and Jane "Jennie" Smaling. Leigh was born in Havelock, Nebraska, on December 28, 1893, and lived in Kewaunee, Illinois, before moving to Seattle about 1910.⁶ Leigh seems to have left school at an early age as he is working as a clothing salesman at sixteen. At the time Leigh registered for the draft he was employed as a clerk at the Dexter Horton Bank.⁷

Thelma and Leigh became engaged in August of 1917. At the time of their announcement, Thelma's parents had recently moved to Detroit.⁸ In April 1918, Thelma traveled from Detroit to Seattle to see Leigh off as he, and the other members of Base Hospital 50, made their way to Camp Fremont for training.⁹

Once Base Hospital 50 was eastbound for New York in early July, Leigh telegraphed his fiancée when he learned the unit would have a 45-minute stopover in Detroit on Tuesday, July 9, 1918. At the appointed time, Thelma and her family arrived at Detroit's landmark Michigan Central Depot, expecting only to have a short visit with her fiancé. When the departure was delayed, Leigh "used such persuasive powers" as to convince Thelma to marry him at once. "A hurried trip was made by automobile for the marriage license and the clergyman. The wedding took place in the lobby of the station witnessed by the bride's family and all the officers of the unit."

"An atmosphere of much romance" surrounded the couple, when after a delay procuring a license at city hall, the train was held while they were married in the Depot lobby by Rev. W. L. Torrance of the St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, who was hastily summoned to serve as the officiating clergyman. Thelma's father Albert and sister Marguerite served as witnesses. "There was no wedding ring so the bride drew off her grandmother's wedding ring, which she wore on the other hand and it did duty for a second ceremony."¹⁰

Detroit Times, July 10, 1918, pg. 2.

Following the ceremony, Thelma returned home with her parents and remained in Detroit for the duration of the war. After Base Hospital 50 returned from France in May of 1919, the young couple was finally able to begin their married life together. They welcomed a son, Donald Eddy Thompson, in 1926. Leigh returned to work as a bank clerk and later worked as a bookkeeper for the Continental Baking Company in Seattle.

Leigh died of a heart attack at his home, 3233 Hunter Boulevard, on December 11, 1958 at the age of 64.¹¹ He had been active in organizing Base Hospital 50 reunions, serving as the organizing committee's treasurer, in addition to Commander of the Lake Washington Post 124 of the American Legion and a member of Posts 8 and 40. Thelma also worked in the office of the Continental Bakery from 1945-1959. She died at the at age of 68 on November 11, 1963.¹²

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 65.
2. "Society." Seattle Daily Times, July 17, 1918, pg. 6.
3. Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940," database, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q239-NVR2 : 6 July 2018), Thelma Grace Wellington, 16 Jan 1895; Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 291650, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm.
4. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPYL-PGG : accessed 7 July 2018), Thelma G Wellington in household of Albert L Wellington, New Orleans Ward 14, Orleans, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 223, sheet 6B, family 106, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 524; FHL microfilm 1,374,537.
5. Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Thelma G. Wellington, Broadway High School (Seattle, WA), 1915.
6. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGVD-VFX : accessed 7 July 2018), Lee Oliver Thompson in household of Robert O Thompson, Seattle Ward 3, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 94, sheet 9B, family 197, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1659; FHL microfilm 1,375,672.
7. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:29JH-4QW : 7 July 2018), Leigh Oliver Thompson, 1917-1918; citing Seattle City no 12, Skagit County, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,992,013.
8. "Society." Seattle Daily Times, August 20, 1917, pg. 11.
9. "Society." Seattle Daily Times, April 11, 1918, pg. 6.. 
10. "Persuades Her to Wed Him as Train Halts at Station on Way." Seattle Daily Times, July 21, 1918, pg. 4.
11. "Leigh O. Thompson." Seattle Times, December 12, 1958, pg. 45. 
12. "Mrs. Leigh O. Thompson." Seattle Times, November 13, 1963, pg. 17. 

100 Years Ago: Departure Orders Received

"Packing Up" July 2, 1918
Red Cross Base Hospital 50 Photograph Album, 1918-1919, pg 18.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, PH Coll 387.

During the month of June, the Unit received several tips from the War Department to be in readiness for orders to depart. On July 1st,  Brigadier General Joseph Leitch, Commanding Officer of Camp Fremont, inspected the Unit and gave a farewell address to the officers and wished them "Godspeed." Finally, on Tuesday, July 2, 1918, orders were received to pack up and prepare for their long-awaited overseas deployment.

Their departure set was for July 4th, which proved to be a very busy day. Camp was broken and tents and camp equipment were packed up and turned over to the Camp Quartermaster. At noon the Unit marched to a special train at the Remount Station. The train consisted of a combination observation and sleeping car, several sleeping cars, a baggage car outfitted as a commissary, a cook car, and freight cars for baggage. In addition, there were flat cars for ambulances and an automobile, crated and ready for overseas shipment, which had been donated by the people of the Seattle.

Goodbyes were said to families and friends, many of whom had followed the Unit to Palo Alto while they were in training. The schedule called for the Unit to be on board and ready to leave at 1:00 p.m, however, one of the wheels on the cook car was discovered to be badly cracked, requiring another to be sent over from a nearby train yard. Finally, about 5:00 p.m. the train steamed across the head of San Francisco Bay and proceeded through Oakland. Six months after their initial training meeting in Seattle, the Unit's eastern journey had begun. As noted in the Unit's history the train traveled over "the Central Pacific Railway to Ogden, thence over the Union Pacific Railway to Chicago, thence over the Michigan Central to Buffalo, thence over the Erie & Western to Camp Merritt, New Jersey."

Railroad in the United States, 1910
Maps ETC, etc.usf.edu/maps [map #02089]

References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 65.

100 Years Ago: Preparing for Gas Attacks

From The History of Base Hospital 50:

"On June 21st, several experts in gas drill, some being British Army officers, arrived from Camp Fremont, and, for five days, gave instructions to officers and men in the use of gas masks. Actual experience with gas was given each man in a gas tent especially erect for this purpose in camp."

"Ready for the gas"

Red Cross Base Hospital 50 Photograph Album, 1918-1919, pg 16.

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, PH Coll 387. 

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References:

1. Seattle Daily Times, July 7, 1918, pg 7.

100 Years Ago: High-Class Men Wanted!

Seattle Daily Times, June 4, 1918, page 2.

On June 1, 1918, while the men were receiving training at Camp Fremont, near Palo Alto, California, Dr. Eagleson received the news that Base Hospital 50 would be increased from a 500-bed hospital to 1000 beds. This necessitated an increase in the number of enlisted personnel from 100 to 200 and an increase in officers from 25 to 35.

The increase in personnel was to come from a transfer from Camp Kearney. However, Eagleson thought that they would not integrate well so he went back to Seattle and enlisted an additional 50 men; nevertheless, the Kearney men were still transferred.

Seattle Daily Times, 

June 5, 1918 page 5.

Eagleson ran newspaper ads seeking "high-class men" for enlistment, encouraging those interested to visit his home at 902 Boren Avenue June 5-7th. Eagleson's home was located on Seattle's "First Hill", so-named because it was the first development after early settlers moved out of the original townsite. The grand turreted home in the lower left-hand corner of the postcard below is believed to be that of Dr. and Mrs. Eagleson.

100 Years Ago: South to Camp Fremont

After several months of preparations, the men of Base Hospital 50 were finally on the move! On Saturday, April 6 – exactly one year after Wilson's declaration of war on Germany – Major Eagleson led his unit to Camp Fremont, near Palo Alto, California, for further training."Wives and sisters, sweethearts and mothers, gathered at the station an hour before train leaving time, in order to 'surely be there when Jim left.' The men, many of whom are among the best known in the city, and many of whom are former University of Washington students, were given a rousing sendoff by Seattle friends" and boarded a train headed south to continue their training in anticipation of soon being deployed overseas.¹

The special train, which departed at 11:15 a.m., consisted of "Pullman sleepers, a dining car and a baggage car, which was used for an assembly hall for concerts for the trip. Friends of the Unit in Seattle presented a folding organ, which, with numerous musical instruments brought by the men added to the pleasure of the trip."² The unit was met at 6:00 p.m. by a delegation of Portland citizens and served a "splendid dinner" at a nearby hotel before continuing their journey. The unit arrived at Camp Fremont at 11:00 a.m. on April 8, 1918, and reported to Major Ray W. Bryan, regular Medical Corps, United States Army, who had been detailed by the War Department as Base Hospital 50's commanding officer.

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References:

1. Seattle Hospital Men Speeded on Way to South. Seattle Daily Times, Saturday, April 6, 1918. Page 4. 
2. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 63. 
3. "Seattle Hospital Unit Leaving." Seattle Daily Times, Sunday, April 7, 1918. Page 25. 

100 Years Ago: Unit Receives Mobilization Orders

On March 26, 1918, while studying Base Hospital organization and management at Camp Lewis under Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Northington, Dr. James Eagleson received the much-anticipated "telegram from the War Department instructing him to proceed at once with the mobilization of Base Hospital No. 50 for active training."¹

Northington came to Camp Lewis in June, 1917, with the task of not only commanding the Camp Hospital but building it. Eighteen days after construction began on August 20, 1917, it was ready for 405 patients.²

At the meeting of the Base Hospital 50 "personnel at the State Armory on March 27 the order to mobilize the Unit at once was announced, and was received with great glee. Telegrams were sent to those living outside of Seattle to report at once for duty. At the request of Major Eagleson the men were ordered to mobilize at Fort Lawton," in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood.¹

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 63. 
2. Henderson, Alice Palmer. The Ninety-first, the First at Camp Lewis. Tacoma, Wash. :  John C. Barr, 1918. Page 44. 
3. "Seattle Hospital Unit to Mobilize." Tacoma Daily Times, Wednesday, March 27, 1918. Page 5. 

100 Years Ago: Unit Holds First Training Meeting

Young Men's Christian Association
UW Libraries, Special Collections Curtis 13423.

As soon as the men were enlisted and funding for the unit's equipment secured, plans were made to ready the new recruits for active service. On January 2, 1918, the nascent Base Hospital 50 unit met for the first time in the auditorium of Seattle's central YMCA, located at 909 4th Avenue, which still stands today. A schedule of meetings was mapped out to be held in the State Armory. M.D. Sergeant gave the men setting-up exercises and litter drill.

Belle McKay Fraser, superintendent of the children's orthopedic hospital, and afterward chief nurse of the unit, gave lectures on nursing, care of the sick, bed making, and surgical dressings. At these meetings, the men were vaccinated and given their anti-typhoid inoculations. Major Eagleson spent the first three days of each week in January, February, and March studying base hospital organization at Camp Lewis under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Northington.

Lieutenant Vanderboget gave lectures on first aid based on Mason's Handbook, copies of which were loaned for use of the unit by Major Betts, of Fort Lawton.¹

Carlton Lakey Vanderboget was the only child of Richard and Adeline Lakey Vanderboget. Born in Palmyra, New York in 1883, Vanderboget graduated from the University of Buffalo in 1910. A physician, he completed his internship at Seattle General Hospital and later practiced at the Cobb Building alongside many of Seattle's medical practitioners until 1916. As a member of the Washington National Guard (later Army Reserve), Vanderboget first served with General John Pershing along the Mexican border from 1916-1917. He was later called to active service in the regular army and ordered to act as the recruiting officer for Base Hospital 50 on December 3, 1917.²

Vanderboget -- by then a Colonel -- later served in World War II, in the Pacific Theater, where he was captured by the Japanese after the Battle of Corregidor, in the Philippines. He held as a prisoner of war from May, 1942, until Bilibid, the prison where he was being held outside Manila, was liberated in March, 1945.³ At the time of his capture, Vanderboget was the chief medical officer of a laboratory facility for Army General Hospital #2 near Cabcaban, Bataan.

Two years later, in 1947, he would retire from the military to a small farm near Edmonds, Washington. He died in Edmonds on March 7, 1970. Among his honors, Vanderboget received the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and Mexican Service Award. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

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References:

1. Roster Organized by the Primary POW Camp in Bilibid Prison.
2. "Army Orders." Seattle Daily Times. December 3, 1917, pg. 8.
3. Mason, Charles Field. A Complete Handbook for the Hospital Corps of the U. S. Army and Navy and State Military Forces. New York : William Wood and Company, 1906.

100 Years Ago: War Relief Bazaar Closes

One hundred years ago today the doors closed on the Seattle Girls War Relief Bazaar. As previously described the purpose of the Bazaar was to raise the necessary funds to outfit Base Hospital 50. The long-awaited authorization from the Red Cross received in October 1917, included the stipulation that Seattle raise all the money for the necessary equipment for the unit.

The Bazaar was held in downtown Seattle in the Arena and the Hippodrome. The Arena was the home of the Seattle Metropolitans, a professional ice hockey team based which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. The Metropolitans won the Stanley Cup in 1917. The Hippodrome located across the street was a popular dance hall. Neither building is standing today. The streets in-between were closed while the Bazaar was open providing additional entertainment including No Man's Land, a replica of the wartime trenches in use in France, and a carnival game area known as the Sammies Sector.

Seattle Daily Times, Wednesday, December 12, 1917, pg. 21.

The Bazaar opened on Monday, December 17, following a parade led by organizers on horseback through downtown and ran through Saturday, December 22, 1917.

Each day had a theme to encourage Seattleites to attend including:

• Monday: Girls Night 
• Tuesday: Army & Navy Day 
• Wednesday: Fraternal Night 
• Thursday: University Night 
• Friday: Art Students' Day 
• Saturday: Children's Day¹

In addition to the daily parade, the program included food conservation demonstrations, bayoneting, dramatic readings, dances, war movies and a wide variety of concerts from diverse groups such as the Victoria Pipe Band and the Whangdoodle Quartet. The Arena was described as a veritable fairyland as the result of the combined efforts of Seattle architect Carl Gould and local artist Irene Ewing.

The Arena was outfitted with many booths designed to inspire attendees to part with their money by purchasing donated knitted clothing, baked goods and more. The Daughters of the American Revolution devoted their booth to the re-creation of an 18th-century tableau. University of Washington instructor Mary F. Rausch developed a popular cookbook featuring recipes enabling families to comply with the wheatless, meatless rationing.

When all the proceeds had been tallied, the bazaar had raised over $120,000 dollars and was declared an unmitigated success. Fifty thousand dollars was turned over to the Seattle Chapter of the Red Cross to equip Base Hospital 50 and the remainder was designated to support dependents of soldiers and sailors from King and Kitsap counties. Just six months later many of the same women would join forces to organize the Seattle Girls Victory Carnival!

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References:

1. "Program of Week's Events," Seattle Sunday Times, December 16, 1917, pg. 4.

100 Years Ago: Enlistment Closed

On December 15, 1917, enlistment for closed with 150 men enrolled; 81 were graduates or students from University of Washington. The group included college instructors, high school teachers, chemists, bacteriologists, bank cashiers, bookkeepers, stenographers, clerks, dentists, pharmacists, undertakers, engineers, mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, painters, auto drivers, automobile repairmen, cooks, tailors, and barbers.

In addition, the majority of the medical staff would come from Seattle and the greater Northwest, as well. The exceptions were the required military officers including the Commanding Officer, from the regular Army Medical Corps, and the Quartermaster, assigned from the Army Quartermaster Corps, in addition to a chaplain.

100 Years Ago: Base Hospital 50 Enlistments Begin

Dr. James Eagleson had traveled to Washington, D.C. in October of 1917 to meet with the Department of Military Relief of the Red Cross and the Surgeon General's office about the organization, enrollment of personnel, and equipment of the Base Hospital.

Dr. Eagleson returned to Seattle and immediately began to arrange for the enrollment of the personnel of the unit. Initially, the unit was to consist of twenty-six officers, selected by the Director except for the Commanding Officer, assigned from the regular Army Medical Corps when the unit was called into active service, and the Quartermaster, assigned from the regular Army Quartermaster Corps. All officers selected by the Director had to be commissioned in the Medical Reserve Corps, U.S. Army, and assigned to Base Hospital No. 50. A chaplain was also to be appointed for service with the unit.

The nursing personnel originally consisted of a chief nurse and sixty-four nurses. Before the unit was called into active service, this number increased to 100 in anticipation of increasing the number of beds in the hospital. All nurses were enrolled in the Red Cross nursing service and then were assigned to Base Hospital 50. Other positions authorized included a dietician, laboratory technicians, and stenographers, if there were not enlisted personnel who could take these roles.