Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1918-10-18

0S~A 81 III -
in Spezia, the Italian port officials e
quarantined us for fourteen days on 2
account of smallpox. During this period
our food was pretty bad; in fact, the L
meat became rotten. This could hard
ly have happened on an American ship, I
because they are provisioned with
canned stuff and preserved meats, but
the French ships, like the Italian, de-
pend on live stock, fresh vegetables,
etc., which they carry on board, and
we had expected to get large supply
of such stuff at Spezia. Long before
the fourteen days were up we were
out of these things, and had to live on
anything we could get hold of-mostly
bareback, coffee and cocoa.
We loaded a cargo of airplanes for
| the Italian aviators at the French fly
ing schools, and started back to Brest.
On the way back we had target prac
! tice. In fact, at most times on the
open sea, it was regular part of the !
routine.
1t was during one of these practices |
|
find out what the Yankee gunner knew
| about gunnery. At a range of eight
miles, while the ship was making eight
knots an hour, with a fourteen-inch
gun I scored three d's-that is, three
direct hits out of five trials. After
that there was no question about it. AS
result, I was awarded three bars.
These bars, which are strips of red
braid, are worn on the left sleeve, and
signify extra craftsmanship. I also
received two hundred and fifty francs,
or about fifty dollars in American
money, and fourteen days shore leave.
All this made me very angry, oh,
very much wrought up indeed-not!
I saw a merry life for myself on the
, French rolling wave if they felt that
way about gunnery.
spent most Of my leave with my
, grandmother in st. Nazaire. except for
short trip made to a star-shell fac
tory. This factory was just about like
one I saw later somewhere in Amer
{, lea, only in the French works. all the
y hands were women. Only the guards
. were men, and they were 'blesses"
h (wounded).
, When my leave was up and said
y good-by to my grandmother, she man
,. aged a smile for me, though I could
see that it was pretty stiff work. And
@ without getting soft, or anything like
= that, can tell you that smile stayed
= with me and it did me more good than
y you would believe, because it gave me
= something good to think about when
was up against the real thing.
:. hope lot of you people who read
II this book are women, because have
- had it in mind for some time to tell all
~ the women I could a little thing they
~ can do that will help a lot. I am not
q trying to be fancy about it, and hope
- you will take it from me the way
i, mean it.
When you say good-by to your sor
20 or your husband or your sweetheart
10 work up g smile for him. What yor
70 want to do is to give him something hi
h. can think about over there, and some
~ thing he will like to think about. There
~ is so much dirt, and blood. and hunger
70 and cold, and all that around you, tina
you have just got to quit thinkin,
Of about it, or you will go crazy. And Sc
10 when you can think about something
w nice, you can pretty nearly forget al
~, the rest for a while. The incest thing
you can think about are the things 20,
- liked back home.
Now, you can take it from me tina
i what your boy will like to remembe
q the best of all is your face with
= smile on it. BE has got enough hell o
his hands without lot Of weeps to re
II member, if you will excuse the wore
81 But don't forget that the chances ar
III on his side that he gets back to you
u the figures prove it. That will hel
Il you some. At that, it will be har
I work; you will feel more like crying
and so will he, maybe. But smile fc
him. That smile is your bit.
III will back a smile against the weeI
VI in race to Berlin any time. So Al
telling you, and cannot make it stron
enough-send him away with smile.