New-York tribune., 1918-12-14

offices. In return they got bars of
chocolate, smilas and occasionally
kiss thrown over the deck rails
The lone soldier who was aboard the
Oregonian, who was welcomed with all
the pomp accorded other transports
bulging with American fighting men,
was Sergeant Leland A. Kaufman, for
merly of the 18th Cavalry, and during
overseas service an aide de-camp to
Major General Omar Bundy, who made
history at Chateau hierry, the Somme
and Verdun. He was in charge of the
generals "est friend"--Joe, his horse
who has a long record Of victorious
campaigns.
Was Close to Death
Sergeant KaufF4n wore two wound
stripes. He got AHm after leading a
platoon of the 9th Infantry in action
struck him in the left eye, and he was
gassed and carried to the lines and
given up as dead
81 thought | was a goner when Ew oke
up, because | was being carried by two
Germans. | thought had been made
prisoner, and would rather have died
but a medical man leaned over my
shoulder and told me that my outfit
had won the fight and that the men
VINO were carrying me were prisoners.
| had seen too much Of what the Ger
mans did to American prisoners.
saw one of our boys come lmping back
to our lines, his body and face bruised
until he was unrecognizable, and all the
clothing but his underwear gone. The
Germans had beaten him with their
rifle butts until he was almost uncon-
scious and then sent him back to US as
an example,"
There were forty-six civilian passen-
gers on the Oregonian. They did their
bit by building about three miles of
docks along the Seine at Bordeaux,
Transforming it from watering city
to one of the largest railroad centres
in the world. Lieutenant William
Peck, Of Philadelphia, the transport
quartermaster, said that in all his nine
months of travelling back and forth
across the ocean, h had never seen a
U-boat and felt cheated of one of the
real thrills of the war. The steamship
brought about $500 sacks Of mail con-
tanning Christmas letters from those
in France who will not be home for the
holidays.
Engineers Get Home
The Zacapa, the second transport to
dock, had twenty-five day voyage. Her
civilian passenger list contained the
names of number of New York con-
structlon engineers who put up a dock
at Bassens, on the River Girond, about
eight miles out of Bordeaux. Among
them were: w. Fl. Campbell, 631 Wal
ton Avenue, The Bronx; c. G. Nc
Terney, 45S West 151st Street; An
thony Faherty, 81 Lawrence Street.
Yonkers; E. J. Ryan, 529 West 151st
Street; N. E. Nelson, 62S Sixty-first
Street, Brooklyn, and John McConville.
431 East 13Sth Street.
The ships wireless was carried away
in the storm last Friday Captain Wal
ter L. Barrett decided to stop the en-
gines and lowered two sea anchors over
the side to steady the vessel in the
heavy seas. One of these was carried
away. Every one on board was sea-
sick except Mrs. Dudley Farquhar, wife
of the American Wee Consul at BARGE
Iona, Spain, who is returning to her
nome IN Boston with her eight-month's
old baby. She was the only woman
passenger. The situation on board be-
came SO bad Saturday that the shin
was without food, coal or water and
was just able to make Halifax in order
to obtain necessities for completing
the voyage.
Heavy Storm Encountered
me Dehalo, the last ship to tie up,
was formerly the Hamburg American
liner Prince Eitel Friedrich. Captain
r. ii. Dodd said he met with one OF
the worst storms in years A four-inch
gun on the port bow was wrenched
from its mounts, ventilators were
smashed and seventy-fve tons of pota
toes and thirty five cases of gasoline
went over the side. At one time she
made only fifty knots in twelve hours.
Eddie Happy Mechling, 47th In
iantry' of S42 East 146th Street, was
one of the New York boys aboard. He
was wounded in both legs in the fight
ing at Chateau Thierry.
- was pretty we'll tired out, for we
had buried 800 German dead couple
of days before" he said. shells had
scattered all around us, but they ex-
pioded without doing any damage. 1t
was on July 2s that | got mine. You
know, all shells have your name on
them, and the one with nv name on
came swift and fast We we're clean
ing out couple of Hun machine gun
nests the u