Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-01-15
LETTER FROM WAUSAU BOY
NOW SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE"

The following is part of an interest
ing letter written by Clarence Mathis
son, better known as "Knocky," and
received by Miss Lottie Frank, a
teacher in the Franklin school, the
past week "Knocky'' left Wausau
some time ago for Camp Grant, Rock
ford, Ill, and while stationed at that
place signed up with the engineering
corps for immediate service in France
Somewhere in France Y. M. c. A
10 more shopping days. 1917.
A big bunch of fellows and four
American girls are taking care OF
the Y. M. c. A. 'canteen,' making hot
cocoa and sandwiches. 1t sure was
great to see an American girl again.
only looked at her for one hour-so
you should worry.
/ wrote letter to you on the ship,
but was unable to send it to you be-
cause L wrote on both sides of the
paper, which am not allowed to do,
and also found that I had several
things in it which were against the
rules of the Board of Censorship. So
to make it easier for them l will omit
in this one all of that which I think
should not be in it-that happens to
be the most interesting of all, but |
have it all in my diary and you may
see it some day.
Our transport ship held large
number of men, but of course at that
we were crowded in, our hunks were
three high, with very little space be-
tween each. They were sure crude.
simply piece of canvass stretched
across two poles. l was located in
the aft end, in the steerage, near the
stairway. l was lucky not to be fur
ther down. You can imagine the air
in place in which so many men have
been. jammed. If you have seen a
three decked hog car then you will
have good idea of what it is. Sleep
ing under those conditions was some
thing | would not have missed for
anything, because l will appreciate the
good old bed more than ever did.
The feed on the boat was very good,
a great deal better than in any camp
yet. | think it was because the navy
cooks took more pains and care with
the food. Many of the things to eat
were the same as we received at
camp, but tasted better because the
food was well cooked and seasoned.
We had two meals-first usually at
about 9 a. M, and the second about
3 p. m. Our meals were very good
beans, oatmeal, coffee and bread was
the poorest meal we received, and
that was good because it was well
cooked. We also had apples, oranges,
cake, butter, beef pork, good gravy,
coffee, tea, corned beef, wieners, dress
ing, peas, pie, string beans, etc. Our
Thanksgiving dinner was a menu COM
posed of the best of these articles,
but it was not enjoyed very much be-
cause of sea-sickness and very stormy
weather, which caused the boat to do
some bad rolling, making it almost
impossible for us to stand up and eat
1t seemed to be a continual lineup
for something; first, wait until you
had room to dress, then line up to
wash; line up to go on deck; line up
as soon as you got there to go down
again to take mess kits; line up
for breakfast; line up to wash
mess kits; line up to go down to
bunk and dry mess kits; then it was
time to line up for our formation roll
call and receive new orders. We
then had a little time to go on deck.
which l always did, believe me. We
then had emergency drills to prac-
tice getting out of lower decks and
arrange ourselves in company forma-
ton to abandon ship if necessary.
Then we went through the usual rou-
tine OF getting mess, another drill.
There were no lights and no smoking.
The first few days out we had fine
weather, but we then struck a very
severe storm and our ship was turned
into real cradle, making those glori-
Gus forty-five degree dips. You should
have seen the sea-Sick boys-they
were too sick to shave or wash. I'm
aglne the looks of them-some of them
did not care if the ship went up or
down. l was lucky enough not to be
sick, although 1 felt little dizzy at
times, mostly because of the bad air.
The storm lasted three days, it was
then calm, and then another little
storm.
We had some trouble at first, wash
ing because the salt water would not
lather with our soap. We remedied
this by purchasing salt water soap
We had a great deal of trouble getting
anything from the ships 'canteen' be-
cause so many men wanted to buy and
we would have to stand in line some
times as long as three hours. Our
captain then purchased large guam
tity for us, but the fellows were dis
honest about paying, so he put a stoI
to that. From then on we were "out
of luck"
A whale was the only sea fish seen
Also saw aeroplanes, balloon (sausage
kind) and destroyer cruiser. We haC
to wear life belts all the time anC
slept with our clothes on in the wal
| zone.
The drinking water was very poor
l thought of the old poem, water
water, everywhere. but not a drop tt
| drink
In the evening several good piano
players would get together and pla,
the old and popular songs.
1t took us some time to find ou
sea legs" but we found them afte
many sprawl on the deck
There are many interesting thing
| would like to tell, but l am sur
they would be censored, so 1 will tel
you personally-name the time-hoy
will two years do?