The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-08-28

miles long and 10 wide and perhaps 700 |
feet high in the highest part. The hill
sides are covered with graded vineyards |
and fruit orchards and sure presented a |
fine appearance from a distance.
The port of San Felipe, where we
moored, has no natural harbor, but is |
protected by an artificial breakwater. |
This is made of concrete with steel rein |
forcements and contains coal pockets and I
water holds We hardly reached our |
mooring before we were surrounded by |
native boats selling everything from |
wicker furniture to sponge cakes. 1t was |
obvious that with the arrival of our con-
voy prices advanced about 200 per cent |
as if by magic. Our crew We're mostly |
broke anyway, SO the boats suffered |
around us.
To give you an idea of the prices there,
here are a few: Oranges, II cents
dozen; grapes (Malagal, Is cents buck
etful; pineapples, cents each. The
wicker furniture was made in the next
island Madeira. 1t was not made of
rattan, but of a rush about the same size
but spongy and greyish green in color.
Some of the fellows bought big chairs for
So or 81, but that is all they were worth
with the risk of getting them home safe
It.
| have silk mantilla or scarf which |
am sending to mother. 1t got stained in
my bag, but | hope You can take the
stains out by washing it with Lux.
would, but | don't know what we will do
or when I will get ashore again.
] went ashore Sunday afternoon for
few hours. | was greatly disappointed
in the town, which looked fairly clean
/ from the shore. The streets are made of
irregular set rough stones. / guess most
of them haven't been touched for 100
years-no exaggeration either. All kinds
of refuse litter the streets, and dirty
yellow dogs and big grey rats run around
together. There are no sidewalks and
no pavings. The streets vary in width
from 10 to Is or 20 feet The houses are
set right on the street with the first
floor nearly level with the road. They
are two and three stories in height and
some have set-in balcony on the second
floor. There are no yards and the people
spread their clothes on the roof to dry
The moral standards of the people are
lrotten. The only value the people set on
virtue is its money value.
The booze is the next worse thing.
Every store there sells it along with their
other goods. 1t is sold in the postoffice,
stationery shops, furniture stores and
every other place. The native drink is
Icogniac, cheap brandy made of spoiled
Ipineapples. 1t has the advantage that a
little goes long way. Two drinks make
a man drunk and four make him crazy
Some of it was struggled aboard our
ship and we had approximately open
mutiny They got some marines to stop
the activities. After that the boats We're
kept off the side and we were put on the
deck as guard, radio watches being dis
continued. h
| hired a donkey cart. the usual meth
cd of locomotion, when / wentashore and
took little trip of an hour into the
country. The aspect out there was bet
ter than in the city
The farmers are allotted about three
or four acres of land They have about
one house as a rule and keep the donkey
and COW underneath and live upstairs
, The fruit trees are pruned so that the
/ sun will strike the roots and they plant
! under them then Hay is cut from a
common pasture and in return for it the
men put in work for the city or govern
ment
/, for one, was glad when we left that
place for Gods country. We returned to
! Bermuda with two other tugs. At Ber-
q muda we got stores and coal aboard to
; take us back to the states and then we
struck an obstacle
; A big L. s. freighter, the Segeraza
: had trouble at sea and put in to Ber-
q muda and ran aground to prevent sink
= ing. She carried hold full of copper
!, sulphate, which got full of salt water and
q ate a hole through the hull. We ruined
q our wrecking pumps trying to pump hel
out and then helped unload the cargo not
y already ruined. She carried a cargo oil
!. lbarbed wire. car wheels, cloth, shoes
4 tractors and other things too numerou:
= to mention.
We took off her guns and gun crew
- and came back here. We will proba
: bly, be in here some time for re
h pairs and | may be granted leave ant
a have chance to run home. but dom
s count on it because they are few and ia
n between. on this boat especially. We ar
Il going to have a new captain soon.
" will write more later. Love to every
Is body, JOHN.