Baxter Springs news., 1918-11-29

A
"what do you know about horsesr'
answered: "Slx years In the United
States cavalry"
The Agent: 'what regimentsf~
Eleventh and Twelfth"
"You're q liar. You never saw the
cavalry"
l felt like punching him on the nose
but did not do 30. / wanted to ship
as a horseman. I showed him my
discharges. He said: "They're faxed.
What did you do. desert or were you
kicked outi"
was getting sore and answered
Deserted the Twelfth; kicked out Of
the Eleventh"
"What's your namer
arthur Guy Empey."
you're a German"
This was too much even for me,
and answered: you're q damned
llar." I saw my chances Of shipping
vanishing In smoke.
The Jew grinned and rubbed his
hands and sald: "You're all right.
Go into that room and get card made
out, and come back at two O'Clock"
I received a card and went to q
beanery across the street and had O
wonderful meal Of corned beef hash,
muddy coffee and huge slices Of bread,
minus butter. This cost me fifteen
cents.
At two O'Clock I reported back. and
with seventy-twO others was herded
like cattle, and in q long. struggling
line, flanked by three Of the employees
of the agency, we marched to the
ferry and landed somewhere In New
Jersey"
The ship. a huge three-Btacker, was
lying alongside We we're showed into
single file, ready to 60 up the gang
plank. Then our real examination
took place. At the foot Of the gang.
plank were a group Of men around o
long table. They certainly put NJ
through q third degree to find out +
there was any German blood In Us.
Several men were turned down. Luck
fly, l got through and signed for the
voyage, and went on board.
At the head Of the gangplank stood
the toughest specimen Of humanity ]
have ever seen. He looked like q huge
gorilla, and had q big. crescent-shaped.
llvid scar running from his left ear
under his chin up to his right eye.
Every time he spoke the edges Of the
scar seemed to grow white. His nose
was broken and he had huge. shaggy
eyebrows. His hand was resting on
the raIl Of the ship. II looked like
ham, and inwardly I figured out what
would happen to me II that ham-like
fist ever came In contact with the
point of my jaw. As We passed him
he showered us with q few compli.
mentary remarks, such as "Of all the
lousy scum huve seen. this bunch OF
lubbers Is the orst, and this is what
they give me to take thirteen hundred
horses over to Bordeaux" Later on
I found this individual was foreman of
the horse gang.
We were ordered aft and sat on the
after hatch. The fellow on my right
was huge, blue-gummed negro. He
was continually scratching himself.
l unconsclously eased away from him
and bumped into the fellow sitting on
my left. After q good look at him l
eased back again In the direction or
the negro. I don't think that he had
taken bath since escaping from the
cradle. Right then my uppermost
thought was how / could duck this
trip to FRANCE. The general conversa-
tiOn among the horse gang was:
"NNhen do we eat3"
We must have sat there about twenty
minutes, when the second foreman
came aft. took fifteen guesses at his
nationality, and at last came to the
conclusion that he was cross between
a ChInaman and q Mexican. He was
thin, about six feet tall, and wore q
huge sombrerO. His skin was tanned
the color Of leather. Every time he
smiled had the impression that the
next minute he would plant a stiletto
In my back. His name was Plnero.
His introduction to rs was very brief:
"Get I'D of Of that blankety blank
hatch and line up against the rail-"
We did as ordered. Then he COM
manded: "All the nlggers line up
alongside Of the port rail-" ! guess a
lot Of them did not know what he
meant by the sport rail-" because they
looked very much bewlldered. With
an oath he snapped out. 'YOu blank
ETY. blank idiots. The port rail is that
rail over there. Come on. Move or
I'll soon move you" He looked well
able to do this and the niggers prompt
ly shuffied over to the place designat-
ed. He quickly divided rs into squads
of twelve men, then ordered; "All OF
you who are deserters from the army
or who have seen service In the cav
airy step out In front" Four others
besides myself stepped out. The first
man he came to he informed: "YOu're
a straw boss. Do You know what a
straw boss isr This man meekly
answered. "No. SIR" With another
oath, the second foreman said: "All
right, you're not q straw boss; fall
back" got the cue Immediately.
NJ kr,rn ANNA novf