Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-08-29
CROSSING THE ENGLISH
CHANNEL AFTER NIGHT
From the Paris Mail.

The draft fell in" at dusk in the
great shed on the quay. There were
little group of men from almost every
regiment in the forces hurridly called
land to throw 4. Their weight against
the German flood. They had sung as
they marched through the seaport town
but when h dock gates changed be-
hind them they a entered a new
life. the grim seriousness Of which a
only just making itself felt.
Marshaled there in the he'd they
stood silently while the rolls were
called and the parade states" checked
before the embarkation staff officer.
Then they filed out past the shipping
to where lay the long. gray 20-knotter
ready for the crossing.
A solemn business, this embarkation.
Tired after many hours in the train.
the men had no sooner thrown off their
equipment and adjusted their cumber-
some lifebelts than they wrapped their
great coats about them and made ready
Tor the night. The old hands-many of
them returning after three or four
wounds-found the warm. snug corners
and were soon asleep. But for many
1T was their first sea trip; and as the
boat slipped quietly down the channel
to the sea they watched intently the
many strange sights around them.
The conducting officers of the draft
gathered together in the saloon, and
the senior officer was appointed o. C.
troopship. He selected an adjutant and
divided the remainder into watches.
The rules n regulations Of a night
crossing We're then read and explained.
On deck all was in darkness. The
vibration of the decks and the slap
ping of the lanyards against the mast
showed that h trooper had picked up
! her naval convoy and was hitting it
out" full speed Tor the French coast.
Gathered in the stern a few men stood
silently watching the dim outline of
the coast with it's headland light grad
ually fading. In few minutes the
light. too. had been swallowed by the
blackness.
Plunging into every sea alongside
was a long: low destroyer, which every
now and then flicked a message from
its bridge to some unseen ship. There
was another destroyer. its presence in
dicated only by the broad trail Of foam
dashed up by its racing propellers.
They gave a sense of security, these
boats. When, as the night d%eepened,
they disappeared from time to time,
the deck guards, strange to the mys-
teries Of the sea would whisper among
themselves, specializing as to the mis-
sion which had called them away. But
they always returned, ready at the
scent of danger to burst into a ornado
of de~ath-dealing fire.
Picking his way carefully among the
sleeping forms the officer Of the watch
; made his rounds from deck to deck.
There was a sharp reprimand for the
owner of a glowing cigaret. A man
was reused for sleeping too comfort
ably without his lifebelt. A party
dividing up the next days rations was
making too much noise. Someone had
SO far forgotten the discipline of the
ship as to climb on the gun platform
and discuss the working of the chaser
gun with its watchful nava crew.
The night was at its blacklist when
a light flicked right ahead. A sudden
blast from the siren brought every
man to his feet. The men chung to rail-
ing as the ship heeled over in answer
to a hard ported helm. A momen OF
tense excitement n the danger was
past. A great wall Of dripping rust
towering above the troopers decks
doomed up out of the night. There
was an exchange Of deep throated
shouts from bridge to bridge. An Of
ficer roared, "Stand fast, mem" Then
the tramp was swallowed up in the
darkness as suddenly as it had APP
peared.
An hour later the troopship was
sheltering behind a friendly break
water. and at dawn the draft was dis
embarked.