Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-11-01


tober 3l.-Shc made her landfall at
dawn and the mdwatch stayed on just
10 be in on it,
Twas n tall, dark green shoulder
that rose s,ceply from the thin white
line which was the beach, and from
suilen peak tossed away to the north
into. blue irrclevancy. Dots OF white
pricked the steep green and the glasses
maEnihcd them into low. fat rooted
houses Both white and green were of
mind us. our long black shadow lay
dead ahead across dcep blue swell
overhead was dome OF hard, clean
blue: Underfoot was the SLOW. hush
Overhead were wheeling, miaowing
Euils. Undertoot a swift dark shape
emerged in the dripping black OF a por-
poise and slid into the sea III Il sla ther
Pretty country. ism, it, said the
morning watch.
The captain climbed TO the bridge.
nun mhnie a. TO the ears in pajamas. bath
u, was cold. The watch in the eyes
Of the ship hunciled up his shoulders.
drew ms windproof w, over his head
feet, the ships ca, lay, daub Of blaci
on the gray deck. with green. eyes and
Of Fe sb, 'o h,;ns In the vel couple
waist. and washing with a piece OF
navy salt water soap and a bucket,
, were arguing the size or turtles eggs
rhc cold was spiccd with wood smoke
from the galley range.
Been nice triD,' said tho lingering
midwatch.
Shortly we wen, into Tho Ice ana
the wind dropped. We skirtcd tho
coast for two hours, tn. bridge gang
calling on Brother Mark frequently, to
correct their position. Native villages.
mere pricklings Of white against the
steep green. approached Us, came slow
~ absam and dwindlcd OF our quar-
n a .Ia. =
folded slowly back. revealing "a stecp
area OF climbing white back OF :,
small thicket OF masts 50 the captain
der.
ALL DRESSED IT As
THEY NEAR PORT
When you get ,ha, poin, abeam.
heao Tor the town: I'm going down to
take bath" nc said
by o'clock the harbor lay In front
OF Us ,ho back Of the long e"fold.ns arm
stodeniy shrickcd and rumOled a. the
anchor plunged down with a great IN.
liftinE OF white drops. The gig MAS
lowered and the captain chuS-chuggcd
away 10 the landing; you could see The
great white house With green blinds
iIlKh on hill where the admiral lived.
The pratiQue launch came. made lis
obeisances and left. The gig cane
chns -chusging back from the landing:
the paymaster had his slck Of cen.
down into it hunscIf With three
scnvslopes marked 'conndential" fSI
ta nh. t5itsd states steamship suo!iowers,
greasy desk In the engine room. and
there would be liberty Tor the crew
at O'clock.
port. And almost bctor. the las; ot
us had brcakfasted, one OF the watch
officers came into the wardroom dung
fimsel: in,o the chair next To the pho
n. a
ish OF Disappointment that he had been
stuck for patrol and demanded Ia snow
what JOY there WAS left in life.
zsNow an American base in a foreign
port Is worth spending Il paragraph Or
two upon
From the admtrars house clear to
the oreakwatcr AN atmosD hcre OF silent.
inceSsant activity mantlcS il. In the
sdmlraIs house: far away from the
fine old admiral, who, amid the
world smash o. world war. can find
time TO fret over that - canopy
they've made for my barge" Down in
sorts. from tall, crowded transports
down TO little broken down yacht,
which started bravely to the war zone
last winter. was banged TO pieces III
overwhelming seas and now lies, a
fender % station ship with eight
anchors out: ships. ships boats, boats
the landing. sisnalman wiG-wag
Elng from almost every bridge, hydro
planes wheeling hlSn overhead ana
lone Kite balloon hanging like hernia
in the sky. Nothing disiurhs the ST
lence that fills the SKY except the soft
cIrug-chug OF somebody's motor ilor
passing or the pipe OF u distant bos'n.
MESSAGES UELATED
FROM SHIP TO SHIP
. In little nourishes o! red and yellow
color. messages silently cross and
bridge. The U. $. $. Pansy relays a
message from the L. ;. 5. Burdock to
The 7. S. S. Tulip TO send gig to land
calls the u. $. = Carnation. and the
officer who has the duty on the Carna-
ton has 10 stop checking stores to
the offer Of the Roses paymaster 10
take a walk this afternoon with the
carna,ion,s doctor;
ger tolls the captain at breakfast in
the, cabin. "Hydrangea standing. in.
atbe Th m cI bpi a,s mar SAY noIhms
he'll go ovag for luncheon in the ily
drangea,s cabin. and he'll call the Ily-
and ask him how Slime Blister and and
the bunch UP north are. and before
luncheon is over. the two Of them will
have the war settled, over ana ended.
For the three-stripers at the flag OF
flee. are apt TO say. yes. sir" and mo.
sir" and TO sit tight on their numbers.
apt to be, anarchists. ready to hurs;
into state OF violent eruption a tho
mention OF SWIVEL chairs.
And at night, therein he a new lib-
crty crowd on tho beach. and new
crowd TO listen TO American ragtimc
i'll the new U. S. restaurant. run by
a native who once worked in the Bor-
very much like Shady Lane, Kans..
when Brother Ben comes down from
kansas City for the weekend
In such setting, we spent our four
days '0"'
Meanwhile the chief was slowing 1870
IONS into his bun kers and thirty tons
or fresh water into his tanks RE
t.ghtened his joints. adjusted his bear
ings; packed leaking throttle valve.
liked up a rafting in one cylinder head
and did various other queer things
M whiGh come under the head. of over
, eight and half dozen eggs. long
list OF other provisions and coopeJ m
etEh, hens on. tho quarter deck. The
waTd5oom divided Up the days duty
ana dtd It's patrols ashore. And The
crew had its liberty ''e
: I'm tho morning OF tho fourth day tho
cantain came aboard and said We
would go out at 1880 r. NJ. The adj
miral had tried to get him another
command that he