The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-28
Hoyt HOoten Tells of Thrill ling Experience as Sea-
 man on English Ships
SAILED UP CONGO
 300 MILES TO DAKA
Ira Carter and Marcus Ford, Also From Birmingham, Now in British Army, Having Been Practically
 Forced to Enlist to Live

Hoyt NJ Hooten. a Birmingham lad
 has returned unscathed to his native city after six months of perilous voyaging and adventure. during which time he crossed the Atlantic twice and traversed the Eng fish channel several times amid the dan gers of mines and submarine warfare; reached the ivory coast of Africa and penetrated the region 300 miles up the Congo. MT Hooten. was in Liverpool when the Lusitania was torpedoed by the Germans and witnessed the riots occur
 ring Immediately thereafter when the shops of the Germans were footed
 He spoke with surviving seamen from this i'll fated vessel and received at first hand their impressions. He tells of the treatment now accorded the American seaman by British authorities.
 Following Is his account
 "on January 24 of the present year left Birmingham for New Orleans, ac- companied by my comrade, Ira Carter of this city We sailed from New Orleans on February l in a vessel loaded with horses bound for the war zone. In New Orleans Marcus Ford. another Birmingham boy, joined our party. I was appointed fore man of some 40 American muleteers, and on February 18 after a rough voyage, we docked at Avonmouth on the channel. This was the date, I believe, upon which the German government began it's great submarine blockade of the British isles.
 No Return Passage
 'The whole crew had been promised re- turn passage and liberal pay; but the return passage was refused. My friends and I landed and were cast adrift We made our way to Liverpool, which is nearby port. The recruiting officers here were quite active. We wandered about the streets unable to find employment. The English seemed able to easily tell that we were from the states. Recruiting officers approached us very often. urging that we enlist and in this manner solve the problem of existence. A number of our fellows finally acceded to these re-
 quests and took service under King GeorRe's banner. Among those enlisting
 were my two Birmingham friends. l.
 however, was obdurate and finally suc- ceeded in taking passage in the Albert
 vile. a Belgian liner chartered by a French company and bound for the ivory coast of Africa, which is controlled by the Belgian government. l have never heard from my Birmingham comrades since that time, but understand that their regiment has crossed the channel.
 "rhe Albertville, on which em- barked had on a previous voyage been used by the Belgian government to transport 40o,00O,0o0 francs in gold from Brussels to Cardiff, Wales. This was when the capital Of the belgians was threatened with capture. After sev- eral exciting incidents we reached the African coast and proceeded up the Congo 300 miles to Kaka. A company of soldeirs and a new governor mad taken passage for this destination. The scenery was most picturesque on this great river. We soon returned, bring ing a $1,0O0,000 cargo consisting of ivory tusks, palm oil, cocoa beans and rubber.
 Saluted Stars and Stripes
 "rbis voyage was undertaken in be- half of the Belgian relief fund. On the return voyage we carried the American flag and in this way avoided being sunk by submarine. little German vessel arose from the depths near our brow and saluted the stars and stripes, and again sank from view.
 "It was shortly after my African voyage that the Lusitania was sunk. | I was in Liverpool at the time and saw the riots which occurred in a demon stration against the German people. After this terrible affair one could notice quite a diffence in the attitude of the British toward American citi- zens; though the alien office. police de- partment were exceedingly strict in apprehending supposed Anglo-German and German-American citizens. It was on this account that l found it neces- sary to register as above as alien seaman By strict rules enforced by the police department we were required to report at police headquarters each 24 hours I succeeded in retaining this certificate when I sailed for America