The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-01-03

| good sized handbag somewhere at
about eleven o'clock at night.
| In the afternoon Of that day | was
| asked to drive the pony down to the
old Working Village with CARLOAD or
apples that had been sold to the green
| grocer there. had managed to pack
fiat leather trunk studded with brass
nails-it was very old-fashioned
thing-with the things l wanted to
take with me-. sneaked 1t out OF the
house and hid it beneath the apples
in the cart. I went to Working Station
with 1t and expressed 1t on to Water
loo Railway Station to be called for
in the cloak room. | considered 1t
very fine piece OF work-getting II
away without any one even noticing It.
On this night / managed TO get sew
eral lifts on wagons that were travel
ing into London-most Of them mar
ket garden wagons going to Covent
Garden. However. l did reach Lon
don by somewhere about eight or
eight-tbirty O'Clock, and then / jumped
on the top OF tram car and finished
the last part of my journey.
| arrived in London during the tire
mendous riots known as the Big Work
ingmen's Riots. when 10000 men
marched on London to demand work
and food. I was in the middle of their
fight In Trafalgar Square, when the
soldiers with haronets and swords
\ nh ha npnygH ann nFnrQ
them out of the city.
The Life Guards impressed me very
strongly, and as ] looked ar them, /
thought / would change my MIND and
not go to America-that / would go to
the enlisting Sergeant, take the
Queens Shilling. and join the Life
Guards as Tommy. | accordingly
applied and was taken TO the eniisttng
station. had to go the next morning
for the examination with a number of
other young men. | noticed / was
passed in everything in the way Of
wind and limb. heart, lungs, etc, with
jolly smile and pat ON the back
from the enlisting Sergeant and the
surgeon who examined us. And then
with two other Young fellows. I was
asked to take two PAGES backward.
We did so. The other men were call
ed out to right wheel and marched
awav. We stood there, turned left
wheel. and stood over In the corner.
wondered why this was, because
all the fellows who had the right wheel
looked splendid. and I thought that
either they. or we. were going to be
rejected. Then | was informed that l
didn't quite reach the height required.
| for In those days you had TO be six
feet and growhx-that means IS or
under-snd had only reached 5 feet
E115a. They asked me to so into the
Dragons. My pride was very much
hurt that could not get into the Life
Guards. so / said 7 would see. l
went away and never returned.
| / had borrowed and saved and cob
iected, one way and another. through
selling different things that / had on
the quiet. and thus accumulated
enough money to buy ticket to Liver
pool. And there got on the Italy Of
the National Line with my American
friends New York address in my pock-
ct. The ship was to have Travelled
on. the Queen. was burned at the dock
so they substituted the Italy in its
place. / went on her and Dickens
description Of his trip across the ocean
was hea ven to what we went through
on that boat. We wandered over the
Atlantic for somewhere about i've
weeks The ship was disabled: there
was illness and deaths; most of the
food gave out. also the propeller SO
we went under sail all the rest OF the
way to New York and as / look at II
now it was altogether a most awful
voyage. But / didn't realize 1t then
and didn't care much.
"The Italy. II I remember rightly,
was ship Of about 1000 tons, NOT
more. The smoking room was at the
stern. almost over the screw: 1t held
only about twelve or fourteen people
The entrance TO this room was amid
ships facing forward. To reach 1t We
had TO walk along the deck forty OF
fifty feet, which sometimes, DURING
this voyage. was very dangerous un
dertaking. We were very often wash
| ed to the door by the waves rushina
down the deck and sometimes siid
there when the deck was covered Will
| Ice Finally wa made rope peasags
from fas doov ~ IN nnAin eDn1pantpn
Iway "a sheE docr Az ~ $1,000 I NJ