Born in 1884, Harry Truman was a pretty good farmer, living in Grandview, Missouri. He was a smart farmer, rotating his crops and leaving some ground fallow.
In Germany unrestricted submarine warfare to strangle England like England was strangling Germany was announced. If this wasn't enough, even for a pacifist like President Wilson, a telegram from some idiot named Zimmerman in Berlin to the Mexican government, proposing Mexico attack America, and when Germany wins the war, Mexico would get back Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and any other state they wanted. They also suggested that the Japs might like California if Mexico didn't want it. The problem for the Kaiser, who may or may not have known what a big mistake this was: the British were reading all the German cables, and gladly passed it on to Washington.
At the time, the US had a pretty good Navy, thanks to President Roosevelt. But the Army and Marines ranked 17th in the world in manpower, behind Portugal, who was 16th.
Back in the real world, the local economy was booming. Cement for protection and to walk on was in great demand in Europe, but what was in real demand was gasoline. The stuff that was once junk is now gold, because of it's high compression rate; very flammable. The fumes blow up great. That moves pistons, that move propellers and wheels. Like airplanes. At the beginning of the war, the British and French had 1,500. By the end of the war, 175,000 had been produced. 116,000 were destroyed. The US produced 50,000 trucks by the end of the war.
100 men were hired in 1917 at the Standard Oil refinery. Work at the refinery was dangerous. Besides the threat of fire, a lot of new construction continued. On January 11, 34-year old Charles Bryant, while making new stills, fell off a 30-foot scaffold, falling head first to his death. Charles was one of many newly hired men who once lived in Kansas City, moved to Independence with his wife and two kids for a job, as Standard was becoming the largest employer in Kansas City. Afterwards, his family was destitute and Standard would not accept responsibility. The widow had no recourse but to sue. She won $10,000. The cheapskates didn't want to set a precedent for the next casualty.
In February, Samuel Y. Thompson of Sugar Creek was killed by a large sheet of iron being hoisted to make a storage tank. Again the jury found the company negligent.
All this activity called for better transportation to this area, electric lines were proposed. One called for the extension of the Fairmount Park line, which would do Independence no good. Mayor Ott and others proposed a line from Independence to Sugar Creek. It was to be called the Court Creek Electric Line. Very little money was raised, this time.
The wildest was a proposal by P. P. Balfour, boss of the Portland Cement Plant. He suggested and Mayor Ott and City Engineer H. H. Pendleton agreed that a tunnel was possible. The line to be used was already 1/2 mile into the Bethany limestone, moving at 20 feet a day, 40' wide by 15' tall. Its main use would be for sewage, since the city of Independence was using septic tanks. The cost of a sewer line was in the millions of dollars, which would bankrupt the town.
While the saloons were closed for a long time, Tom Berislavick and John Nowak received from the court permission to open a pool hall in Sugar Creek. Sibley, Courtney, Atherton and Cement City were also granted permission. The carrot to the county was the tax, $15 per year per pool table.
Sugar Creek merchants A. I. Mossie and H. Kamensky were fined $75 each for selling cigarettes to minors. They both claimed to have been set up by the newly formed Sugar Creek branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Some of the members were C. Murray, C. Davidson, President, Mrs. Jensen, Vice President, Mrs. Burwar, Secretary, Mrs. Anmen, Treasurer, Mrs. George Mallinson, Press Secretary, Mrs. A. Mallinson, Flowers, Mrs. Hurt, Sufferage, H. Black, Propaganda. Little Miss Pearl Mallinson was the piano player. They had their work cut out for them. The goal of the International WCTU was to ban alcohol all over the world; they were obviously delusional. Like the French are going to give up drinking wine. They also didn't care for tobacco in any form.
On Sunday, April 8, after putting in a hard day shoeing horses at Portland Cement, Andrew Chiles of Mt. Washington was driving home through Sugar Creek. This being the first weekend after the declaration of war with Germany, a small crowd of men were stopping every car that passed and making the drivers salute the flag. Since few of the men could speak English, Mr. Chiles refused, saying that he was a patriot and didn't need to show it to a bunch of drunken immigrants. In broken English they demanded that now he had to kiss the flag. Again he refused, whereupon the crowd pulled Mr. Chiles out of his car and proceed to beat him, knocking out four teeth, and breaking a jaw and a few ribs. They then threw him down a 15 ft. embankment into the Sugar Creek creek. Arrested for the deed was Franz Jones, 25, a newly hired boilermaker at the refinery who was new to the USA, and two others. At trial he was fined $1,000. His interpreter was Steve Colby. Afterwards, two bars in Sheffield lost their license because their labels were on the gallon jug that induced the patriotism.
Fairmount Park opened for the season on May 20. Only 7,000 showed because of rain. The beach was closed, but everything else was running. Because of the booming local economy, $100,000 was invested by Sam Benjamin, who was again the manager. Among the attractions were six monkeys who drove and raced miniature racing cars. 100 craftsmen were still busy putting the finishing touches on the park.
Among the many new features were tennis courts, playgrounds with swings, Spin-the-Top, Indian Frolic, a photo studio to take a picture with that certain someone, penny parlors, shooting galleries, and a large ice cream pavilion, a miniature railroad, and the Canals of Venice. There was a special restroom for mothers to do the diaper thing. A new merry-go-round with organ, the Whip, the Human Puzzle, an enlarged dance floor, a circle swing, Hilarity Hall, the Jack Rabbit ride, and ferris wheel. The lake had a new 20 passenger boat, along with the usual stuff. Chicken dinners, Homer Montfort and his band, a parking lot for 1,000 autos, and 4,000 new bathing suits.
On Decoration Day, May 30, the Sugar Creek Park Skyline Addition lots went on sale. Located just outside the north, or back, entrance to the park. Etrucius Smith owned the area and divided it up for sale. Lots were priced from $200 to $500, $100 and a buck a week for a very long time. That's how many of the houses that are there now got there.
The season didn't go completely without a certain amount of drama. A young man who claimed to have been injured by a trolley brought a frivolous lawsuit against the park. The accident had occurred two seasons ago, while waiting for a car at the park depot. He claimed that because of the inability of park management to control the crowd, he was pushed in front of a car, hurting his leg.
On July 1, a man of 29 drowned in the lake under mysterious circumstances. At 4:00 p.m. that Sunday a couple from Kansas City, Kansas, rented a boat. At 7 p.m. the lady dove into the lake, clothing and all, leaving her purse in the boat. The man rowed about 15 feet to the deepest part of the lake, and also dove in, clothes and all. The lady was saved by lifeguards. The man grabbed the grass that grew on the bottom of the lake and held on until he drowned. When pulled to shore, he had a death-grip on the grass. Soon a copy-cat suicide by a 20 year old man in Cement City and a Sugar Creek girl happened. They both just walked into the Mighty Mo, leaving just their shoes and a few personal items on shore; suicide being a long-term solution for a short-term problem.
Fairmount Park was still the home of picnics. One of the better took place just before the Fourth of July. Paid for by the Gideon Society, the Bible in the motel people. The picnic was given for the traveling salesman, the very creature they were trying to save. First prize in the pumpkin pie eating contest went to Miss Ruby Walden of Independence, her prize was a 24 lb. sack of flour. Mrs. R. H. Bainard , who came in second, won an aluminum kettle. J. J. Riley won the pop-drinking contest, Mrs. P. F. Riley, won a sack of flour for being married to the homeliest man. She said, "I can use the flour, but I've seen a lot worse here today." An old man's fiddlers' contest was won by Captain Ewing of Armourdale, Kansas. Old Soldier Spencer of Ft. Leavenworth won second. Both were survivors of the Civil War.
Both Electric and Fairmount broke records for the Fourth of July. At Electric 50,000 had turned the turnstile by 10 pm, and it was still clicking. Lines were long for everything. Rhonda Royal's Elephants were the main attraction. At Fairmount the crowds were so large that an employee called the cops claiming the crowd was out of control. Constable Arthur Metzer took the call and thought that a riot had begun. He hopped in a couple of autos full of local and county police. When they got there, the crowds were jovial.
Because of problems, Electric changed the water every Sunday night, making for a cold swim on Monday. Not so at Fairmount. With a crowd of 46,000 the spring-fed lake stayed warm and fresh, which was the most popular place to be this Fourth. People waited for wet bathing suits, which carried little bugs.
After the "War in Fireworks" on the Fourth, every Sunday and Wednesday was a war of pyrotechnics. The locals would have sat outdoors every evening and watched from their porches.
As the season progressed, the popular park became again the Home of Picnics. These included the Traffic Club, Proctor and Gamble, Kansas City Street Railway Co., Court of Honor, Kansas City, Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Irish Americans, Loose-Wiles Biscuit Co., Masonic Blue Lodge, Women's Christian Temperance Union, Woodmen of the World, Catholic Societies, and all the chapters of the Eastern Star. The Homer Montfort band played Labor Day, Monday, September 3. Balloon races, triple parachute leaps, athletic events, games, races, and prominent speakers.
A report by the Superintendent of the schools outside of Kansas City in Jackson County, which included Sugar Creek's Riverview School was interesting. There were 8,806 pupils, mostly white, 258 teachers, mostly women, in 116 schools. Average daily attendance was 6,000, meaning that there were a lot of sick kids, especially on sunny days. 9,000 cases if tardiness, 71 truancies, and 447 corporal punishments. Men teachers were paid the best, $101 a month. Women teachers received $60 a month.
The Commercial State Bank of Mt. Washington was having a run of bad luck. Right after the Fourth of July, three men drove to the bank, which is now a vacant building at 9525 Wilson Road. One stayed in the auto, leaving it running, while the other two, in the bank, locked the president and cashier, Mr. A. R. Perrin, and his assistant, Miss Jessie Martin in the safe after pointing handguns at them. They left heading towards Independence but they had come from Kansas City. The locals knew what was going on but didn't intervene, the three getting away with about $1,000. On Friday afternoon, November 23, one of the three walked into the bank by himself with two big, unloaded pistols. This time Mr. Perrin was prepared. After giving the robber the money, he started shooting up Arlington Street as the moron ran. Next door there was a grocery store. In it worked W. J. Penden, who was a deputy constable under Arthur Metzger. He ran from the store and captured the 23 year old, who was from Kansas City. When asked his profession the man said, "Bank robber," and admitted to robbing the bank back in July. Justice being swift back then, on the following Monday, Judge Latshaw gave him 30 years. The man also spoke with a German Accent, which didn't help.
Fires at the refinery were caused by technologies new to the oil business. On November 5, five of the new stills being of that technology, started a fire. Damage was estimated at $5,000. On December 15, twenty stills blew up, attracting sight seers from as far away as Kansas City, flames shooting up more than 100 feet that seemed to touch the low-hanging clouds. The streets were packed with people who stood in 39 degree temperatures. The trouble started in the afternoon when the pipe sprang a leak; for hours the fire was kept under control till finally, about 10 pm, KABOOM! followed by continuous booms as every still, one after another, blew up shooting flames in the air. George Moffett, boss man at the refinery, estimated damage at 50,000 this time and said that production would not be affected. The firefighters were brave, magnificent and well trained. As the stills exploded they went about their business professionally. No outside help was needed and no one was injured. A still wind and the cold night air helped keep the fire away from the tank farm, which could have been a disaster. People living on Park Street removed items of value from their homes. The threat seemed so great.
In late summer a rumor came through Sugar Creek that a huge electric plant was to be built on 118 acres between the Standard Oil Refinery and the Portland Cement plant. The reason for the multi-million project, said to need 3,00 employees, was due to the threat of agents of the Kaiser on the Eastern Seaboard. Nothing, of course, became of it.
Since 75% of the breweries and saloons in Kansas City were owned by German-Americans, the prohibition people jumped on it. Claiming by consuming beer, you were helping the enemy; how un-American can you get?
The war was going bad for both sides. Because of the British blockade the Germans were starving and it was just the beginning. No longer did anyone cheer the war. Cartoons of men still fighting in 1950 appeared. Because of some idiot French general, the French armies rebelled and were no longer capable of attacking. Many were shot. The British and French wanted only American grunts, and no rank higher than Captain, wanting to use Americans as nothing more than replacements. President Wilson told Pershing we would fight as a whole Army and the Limeys didn't like it.
Local boys wanted to go and joined Company C & E, an artillery unit. Thanks to leaders like Captain Harry Truman, most would come home alive.
