Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-07-03

times and that he refused to awaken
had hardly been on the destroyer
three minutes when Sam Leland, pas
tor of a Methodist Episcopal church
in New York City came to me ant
said:
Can a man resign from the Y, M
c. A. service at a time like this" Ny
mind raced. Have l judged him VI
wrong? Does he want to quit?" fash
ed through my mind" ITO enlist il
the army?" he asked.
"Of course you may. There Is NJ
higher duty or better work anywhere
than as fighting man in the army,
I replied.
Damned if ! don't" he answered
Later a famous English Bishop tt
whom I told the story, publicly declar.
ed that not only was the language
justified, but absolutely necessary t.
meet the occasion. Sam could moi
go into the army, but he has volun.
teered for transport service where he
will be constantly exposed to submar-
ines and mines.
There were three patent life suits
owned by men on the Ononsa. They
were wonderful affairs, the envy OF
all of us. One Of the owners appeared
on the deck of the destroyer in an or
binary life preserver. In answer to q
query as to what had become of his
life suit, he looked startled and ans
wered: Il forgot the darned thing
Another man carried his on his arm
till he was safely aboard the destroyer
and then put it on. He said there
was no time to put it on when the
lights went out.
There is nice little story connect
ed with these life suits, however The
daughter Of one of the three men own
ed Liberty bond. When she learned
that her father was going to face
the submarine danger, she sold her
Liberty bond and bought suit for
him. In spite of the fun we made OF
them now and then, under some cir
cumstances it might have saved his
life.
On board the Oronsa was young
Australian, a Mr.. Thring, who with his
young bride was returning to Eng
land to settle up the estates OF three
brothers who had been killed in the
war. He himself had seen service in
Africa, at Gallipoh and On the Somme
and he had been discharged as the
result of wounds. His stateroom was
directly under the second cabin
smoking room The explosion threw
him against the ceiling of his cabin,
cutting his head badly. 1t knocked
his wife unconscious Cropping his
way to the door with her in his arms,
he found it jammed The explosion,
however, had torn hole in the side
of his cabin. He climed through it,
dragged his unconscious wife to a
lifeboat and fell unconscious along
side of it. Both were dragged int
the boat
Henry Jewett, an advertising man
and head of the advertising depart
ment of Mays, New York, on his
way to work as Y" man among the
Italian troops, found Miss Field, al
English nurse, in Mysteries in her
cabin, He forced her to go on deck,
but somehow or other, in spite of her
Mysteries, she managed to save several
furs.
AS we sped along in the destroyer,
/ managed to personally check all but
three members of our party. Others
declared that they had seen them on
the destroyer. could not find them.
The Rev. C.. w. Merriam of Grand
Rapids, Michigan, saved a box of CT
CARS which were distributed. Shorty"
White saved some cigarettes. These
were distributed among party and
crew alike.
= AS members Of the crew escaped
lightly clad, those "Y" men shared
their overcoats and clothing with
them I saw one man take off his
sweater and give it to stoker.
Someone gave my overcoat to men,
Der of the crew. l handed it up
along with other baggage from the
lifeboat. l had on only a flannel
shirt. AS shivered in the darkness,
three of our men dug up an overcoat
between them and insisted that wear
It. This shows how they will watch
out and look after our soldiers in
France.
By strange coincidence a member
If the crew who escaped clad only in a
wool shirt that had shrunk climbed
INTO the one lifeboat occupied by wo-
men.
Three or four men had several
cakes of sweet chocolate. This supply
was pooled and was asked to dis
tribute it. The women in the party
got four small squares, the men only
one, and those at the end of the line
only half square.
Slowly the moon sank. AS it sank
it grew pale, for red dawn was coming
upon US. Low mountains like those
Of the Blue Ridge range came out of
the darkness. At $50 o'clock we
poked our way into tiny harbor A
small crowd lined the pier To show
our spirit, I asked ]. o. Bower Of
Pittsburgh, Pa, and F. Snow of Camp
Custer, Mich, to start a song. They
chose Pack Up Your Troubles" then
Over There" and as we sang that
last line-"and we won't come back
till it's over over there"-the crowd
On the pier broke into cheers. Next
we took the great marching hymn,
Onward Christian Soldiers" AS the
boat made fast we sang, every man