The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-19


 1 Joe Grove, first-class yoeman on the | U. s. s. Bridgeport, in letter to his
 mother, Mrs. J. J. Grove, tells of fight
 with submarines. The letter was writ
 ten from Brest, France, and dated No
 vember 25. and extracts are as follows
 1T am enjoying the best of health al this time, only when I get the blues, which is quite often when l don't hear i from the home folks.
 | The censorship was taken off today,
 so I may tell you where I am located 1 at present. You will notice where the I place this letter is headed from, which 1 has been our main port of call since
 we have been over here. Our routine
 has been three or four days out and pos tsibly one or two days in port. We have run into several pretty bad storms, but
 so far I have not been sick at al-am 1 regular old salt. Still I would rather | be at home.
 "The Huns have gotten the licking that 1 was coming to them, but believe me the cost has been great. I have no idea how long I will have to stay over here,
 but I will have nice long furlough <; coming to me when I do get back. II 1 is going to take a bunch of men to :, rebuild this country and the department ! is calling for all men with special qual- | ificatio for the work, but l do not want any of it for mine-I have all of ! this country I want, just give me the l old U. s. A.
 l "The last picture that I sent you was made in Hamilton, Bermuda Islands, which is most beautiful place, but
 would not care to live there. We were there for week, and left for Panta l Del Gata Azores Island, just off the | coast of Spain, where we stayed for eight 1 days We left there for Brest, France, arriving on the morning of August 5, having two fights with submarines on | the way In the first we were not fired /! upon and only fired seven or eight shots The morning we came in here, when we were only IS miles off the coast, 1 a torpedo missed our stern about five | feet-the submarine was off our port | side. The second torpedo was fired from our starboard side and was clear miss | by about 50 feet. We fired over 100 shots | from our 6-inch guns and the destroyers | that were with us dropped 52 depth charges. After the attack it was every fellow for himself with the 63 ships in our convoy"
 | Bessemer Elks will not have Christ mas tree this year as formerly, but Will l keep up their ministrations to the needy | of the city as has always been their custom at this season. A special relief committee has been appointed to inves- | 1 extend whatever assistance is needed. I The choir of the First Methodist church 1 is praeticing the cantata, The Christ | Child" which will be presented Sunday I evening at the church. The music is being directed by B. l.. Michaelson, with Mrs. G. B. Hollingsworth as organist, i and some of the best voices in the city are being trained to present the can | tata.
 ] The membership drive for the Red Cross was started in Bessemer today and a | number of women were soliciting mem- bers from booths in the business section. | The drive is being conducted under the | leadership of Mrs. B. l.. Michaelson' l chairman, and Mrs. G. B. Hollingsworth had charge of the forces today. l Several hundred members were enrolled the first day, and the success was due Ito the following committee, who as-
 sisted Mrs. Hollingsworth; Mrs. B. L.
 Michaelson, Mrs. w. D. Taylor, Mrs. Cora l Handy, Mrs. A. c. Mitchell. Mrs. A. 5. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Robert Chflders and others. Mrs. George Ross will be ir charge of the campaign Thursday, and
 has asked a large committee to assist | her.
 | Residents of Brighton are desirous oi
 obtaining gas for domestic purposes ant i will petition the Birmingham Railway I Light and Power company to extend the
 service to that locality, it is said. It is 1 thought that enough consumers can be
 secured to justify the company in grant
 ing the petition, and extending the ser vice in the near future to that section. s-A
 l Misses Sadie Phelps, Mary Everitt Kathryn Maddox and Willie j.. Hollings
 worth will arrive in the city Thursday | from Breneau college to spend the holi-
 days with their parents. | Mrs. J. H. Garth has been the guest 1 of Miss Bessie Mae Lovett for several
 days.