Mexico Missouri message., 1918-09-12
CHAPTER I.
IN the American Navy.

Ny father was a seaman, so, nat
Sarally, al my life heard a great deal
,aa0ut ships and the sea. Even when
II was a little boy, In Walston, Pa, I
ah0Eght about them a whole lot and
wanted to be a sailor-especially a
saEil0r In the U. S. navy.
Y0u might say was brought up on
the water.
when I was twelve years old went
go sea as cabin boy on the whaler
Tberifus, out of Boston. She was an
cid square-rigged sailing ship, built
more for work than for speed. We
were out four months on my first
cruise, and got knocked around lot,
especially In a storm on the Newfound-
land Banks, where we lost our instru-
ing the ship. Whaling crews work on
shares and during the two years ! was
on the Therifus my shares amounted
to fourteen hundred dollars.
Then / shipped as first-class helms
man on the British tramp Southern
Gown, q twin-screw steamer out Of
liverpool. Many people are surprised
'helmsman on an ocean-going craft,
but all over the world you will see
FOung lads doing their trick at the
wheel. / was on the Southerndown
two years and In that time visited
most of the important ports of Eu-
rope. There is nothing like a tramp
steamer II you want to see the world.
The Southerndown is the vessel that,
-sn the fail Of 1917, sighted German
fU-bOat rigged up like a sailing ship.
Although / liked visiting the foreign
ports. got tired of the Southerndown
after n while and at the end of a vOy-
aAge which landed me in New York /
decided to get into the United States
navy. After laying around for a week
or two 1 enlisted and was assigned to
duty as a second-clAss fireman.
People have said they thought was
pretty small to be a fireman; they
have the idea that firemen must be big
'sze1- Well. am 5 feet 7h inches in
raeighf, and when was sixteen was
1usr as tall as am now and weighed
16S pounds. was whole lot husk
Ser then. too, for that was before my
kntrO4uction to kultur in German pris
an camps. and life there is not exactl!
GsE1sning-not exactly. do not know
why II is, but If you will notice th'
navy fremen-the lads with the ret
stripes around their left shoulders
yOa win find that almost all of then
are small men. But they are husR,
Got
New, in the navy they always haz
- newcomer until he shows that b
can take care OF himself, and l go
anfne very soon after 1 went into Ur
Gle Sans service. was washing m
clothes In a bucket on the forecast
deck, and every garby (sailor) VIII
came along would give me or tn
FaueiCet a kick, and spill one or tn
t0ath Of US. Each time 1 would NOV
tn sOme other place, but 1 alway
seemed TO be in somebody's way. r.
szally 4 saw a marine coming. 1 wa
nowhere aear him, but he hauled on
--af his course to come up to me an
gave the bucket a boot that sent
twenty feet away, at the same tim
handing me a cIout on the ear tina
15usf about knocked me down. Nov
II dEd net exactly know what a marin
Was, and this fellow had so man
stripes an his sleeves that though
keFmust be some sort of officer, SO
5Sat stood by. There was a gold strip
Commissioned ofilcer) on the bridg
and knew that II anything wa
Erong he would cut In, so kept loOl
fng up at him, but he stayed where h
WnG. looking on. and never saying
word. And all the time the marin
kept slamming me about and tellin
me 10 get the hell out OF there.
Finally said to myself, 'I'll &c
'ehIs guy II it's the brig for a month.
30 I planted him one In the kidney
aud smother in the mouth. and he wen
clean up against the rail. But b
came back at me strong. and we wer
at n for soul9 time.
but when Il was over the gold strip