Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-12-03

boats, so he got TWO OF three OUTFITS
and they all yelled together. Don't
let them get away" thinking that
they would get the boat over and
leave the ship, and trying to yell loud
enough for the tug to hear them.
Badewitz took this man and two Or
three others, whether they were the
ones who yelled or not, and beat them
up and put them in irons. l thought
there was going to be mutiny
aboard, but it did not come off, and
am not sure what the hsms were so
excited about.
The other four sailors who came up
on the bridge did not touch me. but
Just kept me covered with their re-
volvers. That was the way with them
they would not touch us unless
Badewitz was there or they had bayo-
nets. The old bull himself came up
on the bridge after he had beaten up
a few men, threw me around quite
bit and kicked me down from the
bridge and slammed me into the coal
bunkers. I felt pretty sore, as you
can imagine, and disappointed and
pretty low generally.
After a while we heard the anchor
chains rafting through on their way
to get wet, and we pulled up Then
every German ship in the Baltic came
up to look US over, I guess They
opened up the hatch covers, and the
Hun garbies and gold-stripes came
aboard and looked down at US, and
spit all they could on us, and called
us all the different kinds of swine in
creation. They had them lined up
and filing past the hatchways-all of
them giving US the once over In turn.
Maybe they sold tickets for this show
it would be like the Huns.
At first we were milling around try
ing to get out from under the hatch
openings and the shower Of spit, but
some Limey officer sang out, Brit
ishers all Don't give way!" and we
stood still and let them spit their
damned German lungs out before we
would move for them, and some Cor
nlshmen began singing their song
about Trelawney. So we made out
that we did not know such thing as
German ever lived.
We got better acquainted with Ger
man splitting later on, and bell eve me,
they are great little spitters, not much
on distance or accuracy, but quick in
action and well supplied with ammu-
milton. Splitting on prisoners is the
favorite indoor and outdoor sport for
Germans, men and women alike.
When the show was over. they
rousted us up on deck and put us to
work throwing the salt pork and can
ned goods into two German mine-lay-
ers. While we were at it, Danish
patrol boat came out and tied along
side us, and some of her officers came
aboard and saw us. They knew we
were prisoners-of-war, and they knew
that vessel carrying prisoners-of-
war must not remain in neutral wa
tiers for over twenty-four hours, but
they did not say anything about it.
That night two men named Barney
Hill and Joyce, the latter a gunner
from the Mount Temple, sneaked up
on deck and aft to the poop deck.
There was a pair of wooden stairs
leading to the top of the poop deck,
and Joyce and Hill lifted it and got
it over the side with a rope to it. The
two of them got down into the water
all right, but Joyce let out a yell be-
cause the water was so cold, and a
German patrol boat heard him and
flashed searchlight. They picked up
Joyce right away, but Barney was
making good Roadway and was almost
free when they dragged him in. They
beat them up on the patrol boat, and
when they put them back on the
Yarrowdale Badewitz beat them up
some more and put them in irons.
Then he began to shoot at their feet
with his revolver, and he had sailor
stand by to hand him another revol-
yer when the first one was empty.
Then he would cash their faces with
the barrel of the revolver and shout,
I'm BadewitZ. I'm the man who
fooled the English" and shoot at them
some more.
brating, drinking and eating, and yell
ing, as usual, and the whistles on all
the German ships were blowing, and
they were having a great fest. After
about thirty hours we left, being es-
corted by a mine-layer and mine
sweeper. | asked a German garby if
that was the whole German navy, and
he looked surprised and did not know
I was kidding him, and said no. Then
] said, $50 the English got all the rest,
did theyY and he handed me one in
the mouth with his bayonet hilt, so /
quit kidding him.
We saw rows and rows of mines,
and the German sailors pointed out
what they said were H. NJ. IS. Lion
and Nomad, but | do not know wheth-
er they were the same ones that were
in the Jutland battle or not Finally
we landed at Swinemunde Just as the
bells were ringing the old year out
and the new year in. We were fine
bunch of blackbirds to hand the kaiser
for New Years present, believe me.
They mustered US up on deck, and
each of us got a cup of water for our
New Years spree. Then we saw we
were In for it. and all hope gone, but
we were glad to be released from our
hole, because we had been prisoners
since December 10-three days on the
Moewe and eighteen on the Yarrow-
dale--and the coal was not any softer
than when we first sat on il,
So we began singing, Pack up your
troubles in your old kit bag and smile,
Dill NM nnDhI rnltAInHrtnn