Celebrating History: Back from Nitro

By Emily Mayer

In last week’s column, I mentioned about 200 Havre men who signed up to work on a government funded manufacturing plant in Nitro, West Virginia. It’s quite the story!

In the Nov. 9, 1918 issue of The Havre Plaindealer on its editorial page, the Promoter printed:

Join the Industrial Army, Be a patriotic worker, Help make General Pershing’s headquarters “Somewhere in Germany” instead of “Somewhere in France”. Strong, able bodied men are wanted to help the government build the fifty million dollar plat at Nitro (near Charleston, W. Va.) You must be able to pass an ordinary physical examination. Men born in Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Turkey cannot be given employment on this plant.

Free railroad fare, free meals enroute. No fees of any kind” as well as wages for “Common laborers $4.40 per day with double time on Sundays making $34.40 for a minimum week. Room rent free. Board at commissaries, cafeteria style at about $1 per day” were also touted in order to entice men to hop on the train, get to West Virginia and start working on the plant. Contact person was W. B. Pyper, so I’m sure the Judge was quite busy provided information.

Of course, there is always a catch. The men would have to pay for their rail fare up front but “the same will be refunded on arrival at Nitro.

The following week, Nov. 16, 1918, the Plaindealer carried an article stating more than 200 Hill County men went to Nitro on a special train and that the plant was to manufacture powder, but since the war was over, it would be used to manufacture other chemicals, mostly aniline dyes. It also stated it cost each man about $82 for each train ticket in addition to his meals, but adding it would cost the government “a considerable sum” because they were supposed to be reimbursed.

The next week, Nov. 23, 1918, painted a much less attractive picture of the whole project. The headline read:

FEW HOURS AT NITRO WAS ENOUGH FOR THEM

Disgusted Majority Back From Virginia

The lengthy article stated there were no adequate sleeping quarters on the train until they reached Minneapolis and that stops were not long enough so the men could exercise their legs and fill up with water, many suffering from thirst. The meals were sufficient until the last day, when the dining car was taken off the train. When the hungry men got to Nitro, they were herded down a long narrow wire enclosure like cattle, only to be given a “slender meal only fair in quality and decidedly lacking in quantity.” This cost them 35 cents; remember, they were told meals would cost $1 per day, but it was immediately apparent this would not be enough to keep a man heathy and working. Those that had been at Nitro for a while told the Hill County men that it took about 10 days of eating the poor quality food before they started getting sick. The jobs were also not readily available, and if they could find a position, the wages wouldn’t cover much due to the fact that they had to have special clothing in order to do their jobs, which of course carried an inflated price. Some men who had been there a while were getting into debt. When asked about the overtime, the men were told it was not a guarantee. Sleeping barracks consisted of double-decker cots, to accommodate four in a room but were both uncomfortable and undersized. If this arrangement wasn’t good enough, there was always the barren barracks — 25 to 50 in a room. That was enough — the Hill County men had it and decided to return home after about 7 hours in Nitro. Complaining to the powers that be resulted in train fare home, but not food. Those successful making the train left their baggage, hoping it would be returned. The cars for the return trip were in poor condition, many with no water tanks and all unheated. Some members left the train, too sick to come home. Elmer Nelson was taken off the train at Logansport, Indiana and rushed to a hospital. His brother, Guy, was forced to leave the train at St. Paul because he was so ill.

The Nov. 30, 1918 issue of the Plaindealer carried a short paragraph in the Of Local Interest column:

F. A. Carnal, the local attorney who left for Nitro, West Virginia, about two weeks since, arrived in the city yesterday. Mr. Carnal failed to return with the majority of the contingent which arrived back at Havre last week, and was reported to have been lost in St. Paul. Later a report was circulated that he was still at Nitro, where he was acting as police judge.

In other war-related news, a fifth Liberty Loan drive was being planned for April; President Wilson was on his way to Europe for the peace conference; U.S. Food Administrator Herbert Hoover was preparing to “feed the world” due to the extreme food shortage in war-torn Europe; and demobilization of the American expeditionary forces was starting.

The Spanish flu, however, raged on. Greater efforts to contain the outbreak were highly stressed, as the disease was spreading due to people visiting family and friends, or going wherever they pleased, whenever they wanted to, thus spreading the flu. This week alone, three deaths were reported due to the Spanish flu, among them 6-year-old Nellie Jeglum. Undertaker John Kay was confined to his home, sick with the flu. Gladys Mathews and Dorothy Holland returned to Havre from Bozeman, where both were attending college. The outbreak of the flu was widespread, but what sent them home was another outbreak, that being scarlet fever.

The Plaindealer did take note of some good news. It seems they were much more optimistic that the bond to create a new and enlarged water supply would pass.

From a mudslinging election complete with dirty low-down tricks, to the end of the War to End All Wars, deadly disease and offers too good to be true, November 1918 was a topsy-turvy history-making one.