Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-09-03

In the French navy, and this surprised
US. We had expected to go through
the mill just as we did when we joined
the American service, but nobody slung
hand at us. On the contrary, every
garby aboard was kind and decent and
extremely courteous, and the fact that
we were from the States counted lot
with them. They used to brag about
1t to the crews Of other ships that were
not so honored.
But this kindness we might have ex-
pected. 1t is just like Frenchmen In
any walk of life. With hardly an ex-
ception, 1 have never met one of this
nationality who was not anxious to
help you In every way he could; ex-
tremely generous, though not reckless
with small change, and almost always
CHEEKY and there with smile in any
weather. A fellow asked me once why
it was that almost the whole world
loves the French, and told him it was
because the French love almost the
whole world, and show it. And think
that Is the reason, too.
About the only way you can describe
the Poilus, on land or sea, is that they
are gentle. That is, you always think
that word when you see one and talk
to him-urless you happen to see him
within bayonet distance of Fritz.
The French sailors sleep between
decks In hunks, instead of hammocks,
and as I had not slept in bunk since
my Southerndown days, 1t was pretty
hard on me. SO l got hold of some
heaving line, which is one-quarter-inch
rope, and rugged up hammock. In
my spare time taught the others how
to make them, and pretty soon every
! body was doing it.
When l taught the sailors to make
hammocks, l figured, of course, that
| they would use them as we did-that
is, sleep in them. They were greatly
pleased at first, but after they had
tried the stunt of getting in and stay
ing in, it was another story. A ham
mock Is like some other things-it
works while you sleep-and if you are
not on to it, you spend most of your
sleeping time hitting the floor. Our
gun captain thought l had put over a
trick hammock on him, but / did not
need to; every hammock is a trick
hammock.
Also, l taught them the way we
make mats out of rope, to use while
sleeping on the steel gratings near the
entrance to stoke holes. In cold wealth.
er this part of the ship is more com
Portable than the ordinary sleeping
quarters, but without mat 1t gets toe
hot.
American soldiers and sailors get
the best food in the world, but while
the French navy chow was not fancy
it was clean and hearty, as they say
down East. For breakfast we haC
bread and coffee and sardines; at moor
boiled dinner, mostly beans, which
were old friends of mine, and Of the
well-named navy variety; at four In
the afternoon, a pint of vino, and al
six, a supper of soup, coffee, bread anC
beans.
Although the French "seventy-five'
is the best gun In the world, their ma
val guns are not as good as ours, anC
their gunners are mostly older men
But they will give a youngster gur
rating If he shows the stuff.
Shortly after 1 went aboard the Cas-
Sard, we received instructions to pro
coed to Spezia, Italy, the large Italian
naval base. The voyage was withou
incident, but when we dropped anchor
In SpeZia. The Italian port official!
quarantined US for fourteen days OF
account of smallpox. During this perioC
our food was pretty bad: in fact, TIL,
meat became rotten. This could hard
ly have happened on an American ship
because they are provisioned witt
canned stuff and preserved meats, bu
the French ships, like the Italian, de
pend on live stock. fresh vegetables
ETC., which they carry on board. ant
we had expected to get large suppl,
of such stuff at Spezia. Long befor
the fourteen days were up we wer
out of these things. and had to live OIL
anything we could get hold of-mostl,
bareback, coffee and cocoa.
We loaded a cargo of airplanes 70
the Italian aviators at the French fly
ing schools, and started back TO Brest