Excerpts That Will Leave You Wanting More: Part 4 of 5 - War on the Horizon

As the winter progressed, it became colder and snowier than

usual. The construction business slowed down considerably, although

there was still interior work, but new building starts were at a standstill.

This allowed Michael and Ella to spend more time together and

plan for the big day, but being confined only made them restless.

What seemed to make matters worse was the prospect of America

becoming more involved with the war in Europe. Congress passed

the National Defense Act of 1916 to significantly increase the size of

the military by more actively recruiting volunteers. Everywhere you

went, you would see posters for the Army and the Navy. The most

common was Uncle Sam pointing his finger, saying, “I Want you for

US Army.” You couldn’t escape the thought that the US was preparing

to enter the war in Europe.

January and February were difficult months. The groundhog

in Punxsutawney predicted six more weeks of winter; so far, his prediction

was accurate. March came in like a lion, and everyone was

optimistic it would end like a lamb. As soon as the ground thawed,

they would begin construction on several new buildings. Michael

was already busy lining up labor for the season of 1917. It was going

to be another profitable and busy year for the J. & A. Edwards

Construction Company.

Although the outlook for the construction business was

bright, the outlook for the country was dark. In February, Germany

announced that it would once again commence unrestricted warfare

on all shipping in the Atlantic. Congress passed an appropriations

bill to bolster the military, but by the end of March, German U-boats

had sunk five US ships. US neutrality was no longer an option,

and on April 2, 1917, the US declared war on Germany. Although

President Wilson was pledging considerable material resources to

France and England, what they needed was more troops. This was

widely reported in all the newspapers, and President Wilson was

pushing Congress to pass a law to implement a draft.

The talk of a draft was especially disturbing to Ella. At the age

of twenty-six with no dependents, Michael was a prime candidate.

When the subject came up, he would always minimize the possibility

of being drafted or say that the war would end by the time they had

him trained. He convinced her that the US never really planned on

sending troops to Europe, but since the Germans sunk their ships,

they had no choice but to declare war. Ella tried to believe what

Michael was telling her, but she knew the situation would get worse

before it got better.

Who are Ella and Michael? How does the prospect of war affect the Siverlings? Buy the book to learn more!