Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-08-03
Decides to Go to Canada.

OF the French army.
Decides to Go to Canada.
A couple of nights after I got to New
York | fell into conversation IN the
Rnickerbocker bar with a chap who
ives In the Reinforcement company Of
Princess Pats regiment Of the Coma
dian forces. After my talk with him
! decided to go up to Canada and looh
things V l arrived at the Windsor
hotel, In Montreal, at 8 o'clock IN the
morning a couple Of days later, and at
10 o'clock that morning / was sworn
n as a private In the Canadian Grena-
der guards, Eighty-seventh overseas
battalion, Lieutenant Colonel f. 8.
Meighen commanding. They were Just
getting under way, making soldiers out
OF the troops ! enlisted with, and dis
cipline was quite lax.
They al once gave me a weeks leave
10 come down to New York and settle
up some personal affairs, and ! over
stayed II ave days. All that my com
pany commander said-to % me when, L
got bach was that 7 seemed to have
picked up Canadian habits very quick
~. At a review u day In our train
ing camp I heard a major say:
Boys, for Gods sake don't can me
Harry or spit In the ranks. Here comes
the general!'
We found out eventually that there
was a reason for the slsckness of dis
cipline. The trouble was that men
would enlist 10 get clio a day with
out working for 1t and would desert
as Soon as any u made Il unpleasant
for them. Our officers knew what they
were about. Conditions changed In
stantly We went on shipbonrd. Disci-
pline tightened up on Us like a tie rope
On q colt
We trained In a sort Of casual easy
way In Canada from Nov. 4 to the fol-
lowing April. We had a good deal Of
trouble keeping our battalion up 10
strength, and ! was sent out several
times with other "noncoms" on a re-
cruiting detail While we were In the
training camp at ST, Johns l made the
acquaintance Of a young Canadian who
became my ''paL" He was Campbell
Mcfarland, nephew OF George McFar-
land, the actor who Is so well known
on the American musical stage. He
was q sergeant. When I first knew
him he was n Of the most delightful
and amusing young fellows you could
imagine.
The war changed him entirely. BE
became extremely quiet and seemed to
be borne down with the OF the
terrible things which he saw. He new
or lost the good fellowship which was
Inherent In him and was always ready
TO do anything to oblige me, but be
formed the habit Of sitting, alone and
silent, for hours at a time, just think
ing. II seemed as II he had a Fremont
ton about himself, though hS never
showed fear and never spoke OF the
dangers we were going into, els the
other fellows did. He was killed In
the Somme action IN which ! was
wounded.
also had been made a sergeant ON
account OF the fact that I had been
ct school In the Virginia Military In
stitute-that Ia, / was a acting ser
geant. II was explained TO me that
my appointment would have 30 be
confirmed In England and then recon
firmed after three months service In
France. Under the regulations Of the
Canadian forces a noncommissioned
officer, after final confirmation In bis
grade, can. be reduced to the ranks
only by q general court martial, though
be can escape a court martial, when
confronted with charges, by reyerting
to the ranks at his own request,
Forty-two hundred Of us sailed for
England ON the Empress Of Britain,
sister ship to the Empress OF Ireland,
which was sunk In the St. Lawrence
river. The steamer was, OF course,
very crowded and uncomfortable. and
the eight day trip across was most un-
pleasant We had tripe to eat until
We were sick OF the sight OF L. A
sergeant reported one morning. Eight
men and twenty-five breakfasts ab-
Gext." There were two other troop
ehpe II Dur convoy, the RA1tts All he