Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1917-12-14
Somewhere in France.

The following letter from M
10. Helsley to his brother wi
Interest many of our readers:
i On board U. S. Transport,
i Wednesday, Nov. Ia, 1917.
How thrilling ~!
Dear Elmer -
Just want to inform you'll tina
arrived safely at destination
or rather port of debarkation
having blown IN Monday noon
but I'm still on board ship await
ing transportation facilities etc
and may be detained on boart
for several days yet.
Was eproute twelve days; while
this is my sixteenth day on water
during which time l have moi
seen a newspaper or any news Of
the outside world and am wond.
ering what is going on.
Had an interesting censored
the most of which censored
Our mail is censored and l shall
not attempt to describe the trip,
however, if you have seen
Charlie Chaplain in the Immi-
grant" you have a faint idea of
trip on the ocean under ordi-
nary conditions and I'm sure
that crossing the Atlantic in
All army transport would prove
a good role for Charlie. We are
packed down in the boat like
sardines. Our hunks, which are
mere Canvass stretched between
two bars, are about two feet
wide and six feet long and are
placed one above another four
high so that eight men sleep in
a floor space of a little more than
four feet wide and six feet long,
or the size of an ordinary bed for
two. Fortunately, l drew an
upper berth which is the most
desirable when there's sea sick
ness on board, quite a few of the
boys contracted the DISEASE but /
came through in good shape and
none the worse" from the trip.
When we left New York we
heard that Wall street was bet
ting seven to one that our boat
would not reach its destination,
and all kinds of exciting rumors,
none of which excited me how
ever, for had the utmost CON.
hdence IN our convoy.
[censured] the transports that
were inferred and seized by u
S. Immediately after the deccla-
ration of war and have since
been converted into army trans
ports. Ours is a monstrous ship
and there is supposed to be
nearly four thousand soldiers on
board and crew of possibly one
thousand. Can you imagine
five thousand men aboard one
ship! Well, it is somewhat
crowded and there's congestion
wherever you go. We line up
for mess" or chow" as it is
commonly called and l have
stood in the bread line for two
hours before being fed, practi-
cally all of the troops being fed
from one main mess hall. The
feed is pretty substantial and
we get about all we want but
there is no great variety and l
know one day just about what to
expect on the next. There are
no surprises in the mess hall. To
the rear of the hall and at each
of the two exits there is a trough
about foot wide and twelve
feet long in which we wash our
mess kits. censored life boat
or raft just as [censored] case
OF emergency. When we were
i'll the submarine or danger zone
we were compelled to wear our
life belts constantly, some of the
boys even wearing theirs to bed,
but l found mine to be of more
practical use as pillow.
With these conditions prevail.
ing you can't imagine how GLAD
we were to see land Monday
morning.
| l shall never forget the las
lscene in the United States-th,
Statue of Liberty just out O
New York city. 1t was indee,
an impressive and inspiring
scene as we quietly stole dow
Hudson river passing the grea
Statue which ia SO beautifully
and magnificentlv lighted, ever
lone on board realizine for tn
moment for what it stood, leav
/, ing their happy homes to 60 fou
Itlunsand miles 10 fight Ter wla