Baxter Springs news., 1918-11-29

groups, In charge OF himself, the sec
ond foreman and Doc Casey. they went
below. followed. An awful sight met
my eyes.
The ship was lurchlng In q horrible
manner. All i could see was, one
minute q pile Of kicking horses.
smashed-up planIs and the three ne
groes piled up In one corner Of the
compartment. and then. with lurch
of the ship, they would slide Into the
other. Nothing could be done by Us.
II was madness to attempt anything.
The three negroes were dead.
That night and the following day
was a perfect hell on the ship for men
and horses. The ship rode through
the squall, and when II became calm
we all got busy. Out Of the "A horses
between decks we had to shoot II on
account Of injuries. Besides the IL
8 had died from broken necks. The
4 remaining horses were still alive
hut hardly had a square foot Of hide
left. They were pltiful sight.
The next day the three negroes
were buried at sea without word OF
prayer.
For the next couple Of days moth
ing Of Importance happened.
About four days out Of Bordeaux
one Of the large steam pipes In the
lower hold burst. In this hold there
were 64 horses. The engineer OF
the ship tried to repair the break,
but It was almost worth a mans
life to 20 down there In that hiss
Ing and scaldlng steam. The cries
of the horses went straight to my
heart. All we could do was to turn
streams Of cold salt water from three
pairs Of hose into the hold, thus try
ing to keep the heat down and save
as many horses as possible.
Why the engineer did not shut on
the steam don't know. ! noted this
fact In my report. After about four
hours the steam was shut of and the
two foremen, Doc Casey and myself
followed by twelve other men,. went
into the hold. will never forget the
sight as long as / live. Nearly every
one Of the horses was dead, and those
which still remained alive had to be
shot. Some Of them were practically
boiled alive. The weather was hot,
and 1t was not long before the rotting
bodies Of the horses made the stench
on board unbearable. We had to get
these bodies out. Long tackles were
rigged up, a chain around the neck OF
q dead horse, and worked the winch.
The bodies were snaked along the
passageways In the hold and up to the
hatch. Some Of the bodies would not
hold together, and It was q common
sight to see q dead horse suspended
In the air by his hind leg drop sud-
denly into the hold below, leaving his
leg hanging to the tackle.
Every horse sent to France -
branded with o different brand. They
have q system Of indexing them. A.
each dead horse was snaked to the
upper deck. Doc had to stoop over
and make q note Of the brand before
the horse was thrown overheard.
As the dead horses were dropped
over the side, o resoundlng splash
could be heard and the water was
churned into q -fOamy white as the
body momentarily sank from view.
Then the bloated body Of the horse
would reappear and disappear In the
wake Of the ship. the seagulls hover
ing and screaming around 1t.
The grub on that ship was awful,
and a day out Of Bordeaux the gang
of horsemen refused to work. The
foreman mustered them on the main
deck, and standing on the bridge let
out about twenty minutes Of religion
and advice In their direction. The
whole gang Immediately got religious
and returned to their duties.
l was heartily sick and disguised
with the rest Of the trip, because the
stencil was awful, there being about
twelve dead horses that we could not
get out.
Just outside Of the entrance Of the
river leading to Bordeaux, a small.
rakIsh boat. flying the tri-color OF
France. came alongside. We hove to
Two days afterward again reached
Bordeaux, and shipped to New York
Oh the French liner Rochambeaux.
Upon arriving In New York l reported
to the Frenchman who had sent me
over. He was very courteous, and a.
i reached out to shake hands with him,
he placed both hands on my shoulders
and kissed me on the right and left
cheek. l was dumfOunded, blushed all
over, and after receiving the pay that
was due me, left.
/ think I could have borne another
trip across with horses, but that being
kissed upon my return completely got
my goat.
] went back to the routine Of my
Office, but everything had lost color and
appeared monotOnOus. I believe ! had
left my heart In France, and felt
mean and small, eating three square
meals a day and sleeping on q sofe
bed, when the armies on the other side
were making the worlds history.
Sometimes when sleeping would
have a horrible nightmare; could zee
those horses being boiled alive n