The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1918-12-23
MAJOR AYLEN ON
TRANSPORT that.
GERMAN
SUB into GRAVE.
Fargo's First Physician In
Service Home, Tells OF
Unique Experience.

e. . + + i F +.
There is one submarine crew
buried in E-boat on the bed of the
Atlantic that Major J. P. Aylen of
Fargo, who returned to the city after
long service with the United States
medical corps. believes experienced
thrills allotted to but few men in the
process Of leaving this life.
That particular crew and their
submarine went to the bottom of
the sea under well directed shots
from a British transport carrying
American troops and aboard which
Major Aylen was the commanding
medical officer.
Head Toward Sub
"The submarine was sighted a
short distance off," said Major Aylen
today. "The commander of the
transport. who had previously been
decorated for sinking a German sub
marine. ordered full steam ahead
directly at the submarine, which
sought to naneuyer into position
for a shot at the vessel.
= Il was at about the sea, deck when
the submarine alarm sounded, and
made my way to the ship hospital
to supervise the loading of our sick
men into the lifes boats.
~ Rolled Over and Over
In cutting the path of the SUBJ
marine, the transports prov was
not deep enough to catch the sub
marine. but the undersea craft was
caught by the keel and was rolled
over and over for the full length of
our vessel. 4f4 A
When the ship passed over the,
submarine, it came to the surface,
still rolling around, and about that
time the aft gun opened fire and the
submarine was quickly sent to the
bottom.
81 have frequently wondered Just
what sensations We're. being expe-
Eienced by the members of that sii9Be
marine crew as they felt their craft
revolving, but its safe to say they
We're anything but pleasant +
81 First In Service
Major Aylen was the first Fargo
physician to enter the service, and
he has had some rather interesting
experiences and has gained not a
little fame in the medical corps be-
cause of his success in handling.
troops aboard transports A system,
devised by Major Aylen while in.
command of the medical service on
the Olympic, that of using masks
and of taking the temperatures of
the soldiers twice daily, was very
effective, and it is now being gem
orally employed to combat the inv
fluenza. On the first trip that this
plan was employed, not single
men We're placed in the hospital dur
ing the trip.
Major Aylen made four trips
across the Atlantic aboard trans
ports, and spent six weeks at South
hampton, England. An experience
there was a fox terrier and badger
hunt in the New Forest. near South
hampton.
Badger-Terrier Fight
1T is a most remarkable sport"
said the. major, 'The hunters. !, go
into the forest with their terriers,
highly trained for the task in hand.
The terrier is then turned into a
badger hole, and if he runs afoul
badger, the fight is on. Dog and
badger cut up quite a row, and then
the hunter begins his task. that of
digging the two animals out. The
hunter uses his spade with rapidity
and deXterity until the badger and
terrier are reached, when a kick ends
the life of the badger and the hunts
man proceeds to look for new game.
GypsIeS in Camp
I'm this New Forest, where there
are some of the finest trees / have
ever seen. we came across Gypsy
camps. I recall one group of two
men and two women, and about 80
children, and as many dogs. 1t
would seem that they have a dog for
each child. That end of the timber
was literally alive with tha cries of
the children and the barking of the
dogs, and we could hear them until
we got nearly a mile away from the
place. The Gypsies live there the
year around in a erudely fashioned
tent.
Fish Smell Predcmirates
'At Brest. where 1 spent brief
period on one of the trips, one can't
get away from the smell of fish.
They are brought in there by the
tons by the fishermen from along
the coast of Brittany, and it was a
very common sight to see the men
or women walking along with great
baskets of fish perched on the head,
water dripping from the baskets
over their bodies"
+ Major Aylen has himself been i'll
recently with influenza. recovering
sufficiently to permit his journey
home, after he obtained his dis
charge from the medical service last
week. He will resume the practice