Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-07-26

again before she finally managed to
get over the border. She died about
two months after she reached st. Ma.
zaire.
Moreover, l heard the fate Of my
older brother. who had made his home
in France with my grandmother. He
had gone TO the front mt the outbreak
of the war with the infantry from st.
Nazaire and had been killed two or
three weeks afterwards. This made
IL sort Of personal matter.
But what put the finishing touches
to me were the stories wounded |
Canadian lieutenant told me some
months later In New York. He had |
been there and he knew. You could |
not help believing him; you can al
ways tell IL when a man has been |
there and knows.
There was not much racket around |
New York. so l made up my mind all
of sudden to go over and get some
for myself. Believe me, got enough
racket before | was through. Most
of the really important things l have
done have happened like that: did
them on the jump, you might say.
Many other Americans wanted look,
too; there were five thousand Amer
leans in the Canadian army at one
time they say.
would not claim that I went over
there to save democracy, or anything
like that. / never did like Germans,
and never met Frenchman who was
lit, 90 INT II ri
about the way the Huns treated the
Belgans made me sick. / used to get
out of bed to go to an all-night picture
show, l thought about 1t so much.
J But there was not much excitement
about New York, and / figured the
u. s. would not get into 1t for while,
anyway, so l just wanted to go over
and see what it was like. That Is
why lots of us went. I think.
There were five of us who went to
! Boston to ship for the other side:
! Sam Murray, Ed Brown, Tim Flynn,
Mitchell and myself. Murray was an ex-
garby-two bitches (enlistments), gun
pointer rating, and about thirty-five
years old. Brown was Pennsylvania
man about twenty-six years old, who
had served two enlstments in the U.
S. army and had quit with the rank
of sergeant. Flynn and Mitchell were
both ex.navy men. Mitchell was Il
noted boxer. OF the five of us, l am
the only one who went in, got
through and came out. Flynn and
Mitchell did not go in; Murray and
! Brown never came back.
The five of us shipped on the steam
ship Virginian of the AmericanHa-
waiian line, under American flag and
registry, but chartered by the French
government. / signed on as water
tender-an engine room job-but the
others were on deck-that Is, seamen.
We left Boston for st. Nazaire with
cargo of ammunition, bully beef,
etc, and made the first trip without
anything Of interest happening.
As we were tying to the dock at St
Nazaire, saw "A German prisoner sit
ting on a pile OF lumber. / thought
probably he would be hungry, so
went down into the oilers mess and
got two slices of bread with thick
piece of beefsteak between them and
/, handed it to Fritz. He would not take
it. At first thought he was afraid
to, but by using several languages and
. signs he managed to make me under
, stand that he was not hungry-had
too much to eat, in fact.
i used to think of this fellow coca
, sionally whsn was In German pris
on camp, and piece of moldy bread
the size of a safety-Ihatch box was
, the generous portion of food they
, forced on me, with true German hos
{ pitallty, once every forty-elght hours
, / would not exactly have refused {
beefsteak sandwich / am afraid. Blu
1 then l was not u heaven-bOrn German
: i was only common American garby
\ He was full of kultur and grub;
Y was not full of anything.
There was large prison camp a
st. NaZaire, and at one time or an
other i saw all of it. Before the wal
1t had been used as barracks by IN,
French army and consisted of well
Q made, comfortable twO-story stone
buildings, tloOred with concrete, witt
/, auxiliary barracks of logs. The Ger
Y man prisoners occupied the stone
t buildings, while the French guards
Il were quartered in the log houses. In
T. side, the houses were divided into Ions
t rooms with whitewashed walls. There
v was gymnasium for the prisoners,
/. canteen where they might buy mos
/ of the things you could buy anywhere
: else in the country, and studio 70
G the painters among the prisoners. OF
: ficers were separated from privates-
= which was good thing for the prl
$ vates-and We're Kept in houses sur
o rounded by stockades. Officers ant
Il privates received the same treatment
v however, and all We're given exact!
L the same rations and equipment as tn
+ regular French army before II went L
n the front. Their food consisted o
: bread. soup, and vino. as wine Is calle'
d almost everywhere in the world. II
t. the morning they received half loa
l. of Vienna bread and coffee. At nool
$ they each had n large dixie of thicl
II soup, and at three In the afternoon
n more bread and bottle of Vino. Tn