Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1918-01-10

selves is putting it mildly. After the
banquet the dancing was resumed and
. more orderly quiet time could not be
and royal good time was enjoyed by
all.
Melvin Unger, who has been in the
Naval Militia since August and who
- a son of Mrs. Ernest Marley, wrote
the following to Mrs. VIM. Carts:
T. S. Ship Indiana
Dec. 18th, 1917
Dear friend
received your letter today am
always glad to hear from you, you
sure can write a good letter ! have
got papers from you right along. 1t
seems good to read the Vestaburg
news. There is some good stories in
the Chicago paper you send also.
got a lovely box of Christmas presents
from home yesterday and also one
from the friends and Red Cross of
Vestaburg.
don't know who to thank for that,
il you do | wish you would please tell
them for me, | thank them and was
glad to think that they remembered
me. Mr.. Race and have been trying
to get short leave, but | guess its
all i'm vain. From what we were told
il will be sometime in April or May be-
fore our turn comes, then We may be
or the other side.
L,yo,x, t.yaal- ,hnxr a,a ,.l,N.r r,o,,
off this ship for transport duty.
would hate to leave this place. Every
time we come into port the boys all
get a ticket 10 some theater or dinner.
Half of the boys go for "A day and
night, when they come back the other
half goes for the same length of time.
OF course all Of this time they are
loading supplies and the third day we
pull out again so you see we are on
the move all of the time We meet
lots of foreign ships that we have to
stop and it is fun to try to talk to the
sailors. They all seem glad to meet
you. 1t seems that nearly all Of them
very nice when the sea is calm but
when it's stormy you sing "A different
song. Some of the men never get sea
sick, but when the ship begins to
stand on end and roll around like a
rubber ball, so you have to hang on 10
something to keep on your feet.
always miss two or theree meals and
most always the one had just eaten.
but at that ! have gained nine pounds.
did not get weighed after had eaten
g. meal on shore either. If ! did |
think ] would weigh more for | always
get double order of wheat cakes and
eggs. That's something We very sell
dom get on the ship. 1t costs about a
dollar to get a good meal and | have
seen the time when | could eat more.
When the boys have to go to the
hospital they most always give them
a furlough, but no such good luck
could come to me. Two boys from St.
johns went home last week. One had
the measles and the other had the
humps. You see if you are in the
hospital ten days you ar, no good for
a week. ! have had the measles and
mumps so you see there is no chance
there.
We had about the same meal here
for Thanksgiving as Albert Briggs
had and beside that all of us got tic
ket TO the theater.
II showed for about half an hour
Friday. II is the first we have had
and it made me feel as though would
like to get the old shot gun again and
10 hunting. but instead Of rabbit this
season it's much larger game, al
though ! hope its rabbits next year.
I'll have TO thank you for those
apples, they certainly were nice.
gave Mr.. Race some Of them. He
whacks with me. You wanted to
know if Mr.. Race and / bunked to-
gether. We each have a hammock,
two blankets and mattress. The
mattress is really life saver. 1t will
float on water forty-eight hours with
two men on it. This is rolled up with
the blankets and dashed inside the
hammock which is made Of heavy can
vas or sail cloth When the bugle
blows in the morning at $40 every
body dresses sitting up in his ham
mock. We take our clothes TO bed
with us rolled up as tight as possible
and tie our shoes to the claws Of the
hammock. The lashing rope to lash
your hammock with is ten or twelve
feet long. On the top side Of the ship
are large beams or they are called
nettings. Each division has its own
netting for hammocks. Mr.. Race is
in a different section than ! am and