The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-28
US. Soldiers Were Happy When
Transports Sailed Away.
Big Troop Ships Left Home
Port During Night.
EVERY VESSEL WAS LOADED
Every PrecautiOn Taken on the
Start of Voyage.
Men SWarmed Decks for Fare
well Look at "HOme.o

story was written at the time OF the
departure of the first contingent OF
American troops for France from an /
American port and has been held by
the news service under a voluntary
censorship until the war department
at Washington gave permission for its
publication:
An Atlantic port-In the cold be-
fore-dawn sea drizzle they sailed |
away Transports bearing PerShlngs |
force of American soldiers silently |
slipped from their docks and disap-
peared seward.
At the mouth of the channel the
great fleet of battlesh1ps and destroy |
ers waited in the darkness to convoy |
them safely on their way toward |
France.
Aboard, crammed in every corner. |
under matches, in close-hung ham, |
mocks above decks were the soldiers, |
comprising many regiments. Reports
show that the units came from every |
quarter of the United States. All are |
sunburned, seasoned regulars, picked |
men-not a single rookie in the ranks
and a majority of them veterans of
Mexican campaigns. Men chung to
| rails and rigging like swarms of khaki
clad flies; sailors and marines took
the gangways on the run in the ur-
gent business of casting off
Field guns lay in the holds; aero
planes were packed on upper decks;
| automobiles and motor trucks formed
another item
No warning signs betrayed the de-
parture of the fleet to sinister watch
ers. Ghostly tugs and flying dutch
man cutters loaded with spectral
| guards appeared from nowhere and as
| lnexplicably vanished. Red flare
| lights made the waters above the piers
charmed circle into which magical
| craft were seen for but a passing mo-
ment. Searchlights filtered, hawsers
| splashed-and the ships, one after the
other, were gone.
One by one they fell in line while
tugs circled about like excited ter
| riors. But a single lonely green lamp
on the masthead of each ship be-
| trayed her presence: fog tinted war
paint blended hull with river and
| night sky. Here a signal light flash
| ed Internationally; there a snatch of
subdued song was heard across the
summer waters from crowded deck,
plalntlVe farewell to the homeland.
The Last Transport.
The last transport-her name care
| fully painted out and her lines care
| fully disguised by false rigging-join-
| ed the procession. For a moment
her outlines were clear against the
pail of light and smoke that hung
above the piers over the mouth
of some titan furnace. Then she be-
came an indistinct mass in the shad-
ows of the stream.
Propellers thrashed with ryth-
| mic Joy as the fleet headed into the
open sea to face the peril of the
U-boat- The foremost of the fleet,
forgetful of her stealthy role, sud
denly raised her voice in a great
hoarse throaty roar. The note died
aWay-a last farewell to the Sleep
ing city left behind.
AS the sonorous blast died away
the ships were lost to view. The
sound reached back to the forsaken
n Tl1GF
ana commissary troops were seeking
the nearest corners and were soon in
deep sleep after a 30-hour fatigue of
final preparation.
| Drowsy officers, bedra ggled and
sweating with toll taggered into
waiting automobiles and were whirIed
away.
1t was in the FIRST days of June that
troop trains began to discharge at this
port great swarms of men in khaki.
Who they. were or where they were
bound none was permitted to learn.
I1ents sprang up over night and small
camps spread into great tent cities.
Less fortunate regiments spent more
than week in cars in the railroad
yards.
The men were still On travel rations,
hard bread. canned beef, salmon
James coffee for little cook ing could
be done aboard the trains.
Red Cross to Rescue.
| 1I0l01 soon came from the H0Q
Cross which sent refreshment parties,
but for the most Part the men were
accomplishing, too excited with the
prospect of active service to be de-
pressed, no matter how great the
hardship.
But finally to each cars occupants
would come the word for which all
waited-an event generally welcomed
by a cheer which could be heard FOL
miles. The order to move generally
H. fvuyn rlfN
minutes notice. Men were hustled
q aboard the cars, the roll called, the
doors sealed, there was the bump OF
the engine and the slow roll of the
wheels, a short run and the doors
were opened for the men to file down
tic length of the dock and aboard
ship.
AS the troops found themselves ac-
tually quartered aboard ship heir
spirits rose perceptibly The course
\ of Setting up exercises was begun
| Immediately to take the kinks out OF
the mems joints.
| While the ships lay at the dock the
| sides of the vessels swarmed with
| painters and mechanics while n1ght
| and day the quartermast army OF
| steyedores sIung aboard ship the md-
| nitions and materials of war that were
| a part of the expedition.
| Took Every Prccaution.
| Outside the harbor naval vessels OF
| every description were sweeping the
| waters for possible mines and building
a Gordon against submarine attack
| The careful watch was set for suspi-
| cious vessels and several schooners
| were stopped and searched.
Ii The sailing of the fleet was accom-
| plished without an inkling of the &C
tual event reaching the residents Of
the city in which it occurred until the
transports had actually departed
/ Even then those who missed the ship:
at the docks on the following mornins
did not know when the fleet left these
waters.
1 De-