The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1918-04-04
american Station on River Under
Irish Cliffs.
HOUSE IN Big OLD GRANARY
Naval Recruits From All Over United
States Are Here Being Trained for
the American Destroyers-Men Still
Green to. Things Of the Sea Are In
structed in Methods of Fighting the
Submarine

The first United States naval train
ing station in Ireland is built along the
bank of river under cliffs that re-
minds the Americans of the Palisades
of the Hudson. Here naval recruits
from all over the United States are
being trained for the American de-
stroyers, the most recent arrivals be-
Ing 200 boys from Pensacola, Fla.
This naval barracks, which some Of
the older men call Cob Dock after
part of the New York navy yard, was
formally commissioned with the arriv-
al the other day from the United
States Of it's commanding officer,
commander who came to the navy from
Louisiana. He has a staff Of lieu
tenant, two ensigns,; paymaster and
several surgeons, who can take care
of several thousand men. They are
instructing men still green to things
of the sea in methods of fighting the
submarines.
To the station, which covers five
acres come the recruits from training
stations in the United States. There
are regulars, reserves and state militia,
but their identity as such is lost here
and they are all alike while the war
lasts.
House in Big Old, Granary.
These war time sailors are housed
in a big old granary which was the
/ home of famous Irish. regiment.
When the Americans came along the
soldiers cheerfully moved on, for the
mir OF Rc aaa h0
most dangerous enemy over here, and
men who come to fight 1T are well
coined. The granary is really four
large buildings joined together. They
are Of rough stone, which makes the
barracks appear not unlike some
American prisons. The walls are three
feet thick, and there are four floors.
The Americans have whitewashed the
walls and made a wonderful trans
formation in the place.
The men sleep in hammOcks swung
from the rafters in the ceiling. They
eat at long mess tables from enam-
eled dishes and get the same food as
those on the American ships, which
is hard to beat nowadays in this par
ticular part of the world.
-Reveil1e is sounded at half-past five
o'clock while outside it still is dark
and cold. But these new wartime
sailors rise without murmur, dress;
pack their hammocks out of the way
and march to breakfast below as if
they had been born to it. All the
cooking is done outside the barracks
where the Americans have set up
few field kitchens. They also use
trench stoves for cooking bean soup
and stews. The adaptability of these
men is what first impresses the visit
or. Many have given up lives of COM
barative luxury and ease to submit to
naval discipline, which probably is
less comfortable here than in the
United States.
Kept in hy Armed Guards.
The station is shut in by high wall
upon which armed sentries are post
ed. No liberty is permitted for visits
in the village, which boasts Is saloons
and shipyard. The only time the
Americans are seen in the village
streets is when a company of them
passes through from cross-country
hike, a part of their daily routine.
>The only liberty granted the recruits
is to the more pretentious village a
few miles down the river which is
the base of the American destroyer
flotilla. A sea-going tugboat makes
one round trip a day with the liberty
party. At the base village the recruits
are free to- visit the United States
Naval clubhouse, the British Y. M. G.
A. hut or the two village movie shows.
The liberty men leave the barracks
each afternoon at five; the curfew
rings for them at IL at night, when
thew board the tug for the return voy-
age. For those not on liberty taps is
sounded at the usual hour of nine
The state of health of the men con-
times excellent, despite the raw, damp
climate peculiar to this part of Ire
land and the sick bay does a small
business.
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