The sun., 1918-12-17

last Decoration Day--the U-boats al
ways tried to slam MS, for some rea-
son, on one of our holidays and every
other time we had pistol practice
on a German submarine. And it was
always to my mind, just like a fast
ball game.
Girl Nurses Enjoyed It.
Maybe the girl nurses aboard
didn't realize the awful danger we
were in; maybe they did and wouldn't
show they were scared. But whether
they were scared or not, they were
always out on deck at the first pop
of the guns and yelling like hell and
laughing AS if they were enjoying 1t.
"'Atta boy. Bill the nurses would
holler with the soldiers crowding the
decks and rails. BIZ being the gen.
eric name OF all our navy gunncrs and
gun crews. When one of our shots
would splash beside the U-boat IA cheer
would go up with the suddenness OF
the yells you hear at a ball game or
when the navy goes over the armys
line in football. 1t was just that kind
of happy young cheer-young
voices. all of them.
"'Give 'em the other one. Billr
they'd yell, girls and all. Sock i'm in
the stats, Bill!' And when we'd hit
one of them-we sank two U-boats
that have personal knowledge Of
son. all 1 can say about the yell that
went up when we hit one OF them is
cooooh-my-Gawd!
PadlOcks on Lips.
Before going further the worried
reader, who may fear that some army
or navy man aboardzthe Leviathan
runs the risk of being officially
stepped on for talking too freely,
should remember that the Lcviathan
glided into IAN American port" the
same being Hoboken. u. s.. A. yester-
day with the calm realization that
the Hon. George Creel is in foreign
parts, that the whole hodderned war
virtually is over. that therefore a
man could say his ray and that, fin
ally. anybody who didn't like II could
chase himself up an alley.
Reporters-not individually as re-
porters, but as representatives OF the
great metropolitan dailies and news
service bureaus that tell the people OF
the republic what they have a right to
know--were told at first hand the tale
NJ the Leviathan, which summarizes
the tale OF all the transport service
from the day the first half trained
troopers were taken to Europe. In
stead of shooting the news cleaners
a way from the dock. as had been done
>,
opened the doors which led even to the
sick bay of the tremendous ship.
Gossipers out on the hilarious pier
and adjacent enclosures had said that
aboard the ship were many frightful
cases of shell shock, too appalling to
look upon. An army First Lieutenant
from Baltimore, wearing on his left
| shoulder the blue ard gray citation of
the Twenty-ninth Division shock
! troops, had told the reporter from THE
SUN that there had been thlrty-four
natural deaths and three suicides
! among the hundred shell shock pa
tients" on the Leviathan during the
trip from Brest TO Ho0oken. He adde d
that 100 dead bodies OF soldiers had
been taken aboard the ship at Brest
| just before she sailed.
Record OF ships Papers.
Once the reporter was aboard the
Leviathan, however with easy access
70 any part OF the ship. II was learned.
on the authority OF the ships papers
and her officers, that the vessel had
brought fifteen bodies from France to
America, that there had been no sui
cides. that there were only two slight
cases OF shell shock aboard and that
in a round trip from Hohoken TO Eng
land and France and back again to
Hobolien yesterday there had been two
deaths on the eastbound trip. two
deaths on the way back and one death
while the ship was at Quarantine yes.
terday morning.
The LeviathRn left hero October q
last. An army officer. Lieut.. Jane.
Chadwick, died of pneumonia JUS,
after tie ship touched at Liverpool
Then the ship went to Brest where
shortly after she reached the French
port, a sailor OF the crew died OIL
nephritis. On the way from Brest t
Hoooken 4 soldier who had been sho
through the spine in France died. Q
member Of tho crew succumbed t,
hear: disease and Just as che Lev.a
than was steaming into the upper ba,
yesterday morning another sailor o
the crew OF the Leviathan died O
pneumonia
In other words, a city" OF man!
thousand had had in the course OF al
most month and three weeks, onl,
five deaths, AL this in city" which
Included thousands Of battlers who hat
gone through many months of war
If the reporters had not been permittet
to board the Leviathan they nigh
have been pardoned for accepting tn,
word Of the army officer from Bait
more, who had come from France OF
the Leviathan, that bhe suicides an,
shell shock cases aboard were many
thus giving proof again to the fac
well known to newspaper men tina
when a reputable newspaper 1
wrong" II is because the writer ha
been misinformed
Found Only Great Happiness.
But once the newspaper men wer
permitted to board the ship they foun,