Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1917-07-04
FIRST United STATES
UNDER CONVOY
Every Move Up to Time Of De-
parture Was Marked BY
the Utmost Secrecy

large force Of American if3dntrvnen
for France and has been held under col
ssfdrp censorship pending announce
psent OF their safe dsvipdI in Frdace.l
n n Atlantic Port, - -. i917.-In
~ the cold. before dawn sea driz-
zle they stole away this morn
ing. A feet Of great transports. bear
ing the flower of Americas boys In
blue to Join General Pershing at the
French front slipped silently from
their docks and disappeared seward.
Ofshore a great convoy Of battleships
and destroyers waited In the darkness
to bear them company in the long trip
across the Atlantic to foreign shores.
Aboard. crammed In every corner.
under matches. in close hung hammocks
above decks, were the soldiers COM
prising many regiments. Reports show
that units came from every quarter Of
the United States. All are sunburned,
seasoned regulars-picked men-not
single rookie in the ranks. and veter-
ans of Mexican campaigns.
Men chung from decks and rigging
like a swarm Of khaki clad fiies. Sail
ors and marines took the black gang
ways on the run In the urgent bust
ness of casting Of. Field guns lay in
the holds; aeroplanes were packed on
upper decks: automobiles and motor
trucks formed another item; some
where beneath matches q great con-
signment OF collins completed the list
The president las ordained that Amer
lean dead shall be brought home ten
derby.
No warning signs betrayed the de-
parture to sinister watchers. Ghostly
tugs dashed In from the navy yard
Flying Dutchmen cutters. loaded with
spectral guards. appeared from no
where and as inexplicably vanished
Red fare lights made the waters about
the piers a charmed circle in which
magical craft were seen for passing
moment. A searchlight fiickered, a
hawser splashed. and the ships were
gone.
One by one they fell In line in mid
channel, while protecting boats cireled
about like excited terriers. Only one
lonely green lamp In the masthead Of
each ship betrayed her presence. Fog
tinted war paint blended with river
and night sky. Here a signal light
flashed intermittently; there a snatch
Of subdued song was heard across the
summer waters from crowded deck.
q plaintive farewell to the homeland
Ships Names Painted Out.
The last transport names were care
fully painted out and lines disguised
by false rigging joined the procession.
For moment her outlines were clear
against the pail Of light and smoke
that hung above the piers as over the
mouth of some titan furnace. Then
she became an indistinct mass in the
shadows Of midstream.
Propellers thrashed with rhythmic
Joy, the thrill that every ship must
feel after three weary years Of river
tides and chatting docks and war sad
dened sailors or longer period Of pro-
sale commerce Now 1t IL the sea, the
open sea. with winds and cold. cold
waves and perhaps mad flight from
q boat The foremost of the feet
passing ont to sea forgot her stealthy
role. Suddenly she raised her voice In
q great. hoarse. throaty roar.
The brazen note died away, echoed
back from some distant skyscraper,
invaded the rooms of sleeping millions
sleeping while the army called last
farewell-and vanished. So did the
ships.
The sound reached back to the piers
As II struck over the head vast army
Of stevedores and commissariat troops
dropped to the nearest corner In dead
sleep from a thirty hour stretch Of
Anal preparations Blackened mechan
ics snored in sweaty jeans Drows,
eficers staggered into waiting automo
biles.
II Is days since romance and mys
terry and the war came to the point o
embarkation. In those days trool
trains began to pour into the railroad
yards. Men In khaki swarmed owe
the town.
Who they were and where boun'
could not be learned. Vast crowds o
townspeople collected where the new
trainloads arrived daily. In the yard
. few Of the boys pitched tents AM
settled down to comfortable cam
life. Less fortunate regiments spen
from seven to ten days In the railroa'
yards
No Fires In the Yards.
For six days the soldiers lay abou
the sweltering cars. playing cards Q
lying on the aisle floor. Negro porter
zpse to the occasion by organizing
minstrel band with guitars and bar
Jos. A certain southern regiment n
,garded this company as their privat
property, but generously lent the ser,
ices of pullman Pete" Soggerty an
Ais "black banjo hand" to other troop
At night the men descended froI
lehe cars to sit about the cinder patcht
hetween the tracks. No fires may /