100 years ago in Kansas, August 15-20, 1917:

August 15, 1917

  • Nine men who claimed agricultural responsibilities were denied draft exemption in Topeka.

August 17, 1917

  • Ogden, near Fort Riley, was quarantined because of a typhoid fever epidemic.

August 20, 1917

  • Coal operators, called to Topeka by Governor Capper to explain the abnormal price of coal, refused to show production costs.  They claimed a cost of $2.43 a ton, which he regarded as “exaggerated.”  It was revealed that the railroads bought coal for about $2 a ton while the public paid over $5.

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.