The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1918-11-14


sneered at and insulted time and
again before she finally managed to
get over the border. She died about
two months after she reached st.
Nazaire.
Moreover. / heard the fate of my
older brother. who had made his home
in France with my grandmother. He
bad gone to the front at the outbreak
of the war with the infantry from st. |
Nazaire and had been killed two or /
three weeks afterwards. This made
it ii sort of personal matter
But what put the finishing touches
TO me were the stories a wounded |
Canadian lieutenant told ME some
months later in New York. You could |
net help believing him; you can always |
tell it when a man has been there and
knows.
There was not much racket around
New York, SO l made up my mind ali
of Il sudden to go over and get some
for myself. Believe me, l got enough
racket before ! was through. Most
CT the really important things l have
done have happened like that: did
them on the jump. you might say.
/ wclld not claim that l went over
there to save democracy. or anything
like that. never did like Germans.
and l never met Frenchman who was
not kind to ne, and what | heard
| al out the way the Huns treated the
| Belgians made me sick. | used to get
cut of Led to go to an alI-night picture
show, l thought about it so much. But
there was ne. much excitement about
| New York, and | figured the U.S
would not get into it for while, any
way, SO | just wanted to so over and
see what it was like That is why lots
uf us went, | think.
There were five of us who went to
Boston to ship for the other side:
Sam Murray, Ed Brown, Tim Flynn,
Mitchell and myself. Murray was an ex-
garby-two bitches (enlistments), gum
pointer rating, and about thirty-five
years old. Brown was Pennsylvania
man about twenty-six years old, who
had served two enlistments in the U.
S. amy and had quit with the rank
of sergeant. Flynn and Mitchell were
| both ex-navy men. Mitchell was q
noted boxer. OF the five of US, I am
the only one who went in, got
through and came out. Flynn and
Mitchell did not go in; Murray and
Brown never came back.
The five Of us shipped on the steam
ship Virginian of the American-Ha-
waiian line, under American flag and
registry, but chartered by the French
government. signed on as water.
tender-an engine room jOb-but the
others were on deck-that is, seamen
We left Boston for st. Nazaire with
s cargo of ammunition, bully beef
etc., and made the first trip without
anything of interest happening.
AS we were tying to the dock at st
Nazaire, / saw German prisoner sit
ting on pile of lumber. though
, probably he would be hungry, SO
went down into the oilers mess ant
got two slices of bread with thicl
. niece of beefsteak between them ant
handed 1t to Fritz. He would not taxi
it. At first I thought he was afrait
, to, but by using several languages an'
signs he managed to make me under
!. stand that he was not hungry-ha'
too much to eat, in fact.
used to think of this fellow occa
;. sionally when was in a German pris
on camp, and piece of moldy brea
: the size of a safety-match box wa
!, the generous portion Of food the
forced on me, with true German hos
= pitaiity, once every forty-eight hour;
- I would not exactly have refused
= beefsteak sandwich, I am afraid. Blu
:. then was not heaven-born German
I was only a common American garb!
He was full of kultur and grub;
= was not full of anything.
There was large prison camp 8
st. Nazaire, and at one time or al
other l saw all of it. Before the wa
it had been used as barracks by tn
French army and consisted of wei
70 made, comfortable two-stOry ston
a buildings, floorcd with concrete. wit
/ auxiliary barracks of logs. The &c
~ man prisoners occupied the ston
= buildings, while the French guart
a were quartered In the log houses. Il
"a side, the houses were divided into Ion
- rooms with whitewashed walls. Thel
W was gymnasium for the prisoners,
n canteen where they might buy mo-
of the things you could buy anywhel
r. else in the country. and q studio II
Ia the painters among the prisoners. Q
4. ficers were separated from privates-
q. which was a good lining for the pl
70 vates-and were Kept in houses su
RI rounded by stockades. Officers or
a privates received the same treatmen
w however, and all were given exact
at the same rations and equipment as Il
~ regular French army before 1t went
IN the front. Their food consisted
=. bread, soup, and vino, as wine is call'
n almost everywhere in the world,
4 the morning they received half To-
y. of Vienna bread and coffee. At not
- they each had q large dixie of THU
an soup, and at three in the afternOt
ON more bread and bottle of vino. II
soup was more like stew-ve
N thick with meat and vegetables. J
= one of the officers barracks there w
Ia a cook who had been chef In the lar
n est hotel in Paris before the war.