The Carlisle independent., 1918-08-01

| received orders to 20 to Brest and join the dreadnaught Cassard. This as- signment tickled me, for my pal Mur-
 ay was aboard. and I had expected trouble in transferring to his ship in case l was assigned elsewhere. We had framed 1t up to stick together as tong as we could. We did, too.
 Murray was as glad as l was when came aboard, and he told me he had heard Brown, our other pal, had been made sergeant in another regiment of the legion.
 We were both surprised at some of the differences between the French navy and ours, but after we got used to it, we thought many of their GUS toms improvements over ours. But we could not get used to it. at first. For instance, on an American ship. when you are pounding your ear in a nice warm hammock and it is time to re- lieve the watch on deck, like as not you will be awakened gently by q burly garby armed with fairy wand about \the size of a bed slat, whereas in Wrench ships, when they call the walch. you would think you were in a saell hotel and had left word at the desk. Ii was hard to turn out at first. without the aid of q club, and harder still to break ourselves of the habit of calling our relief in the gay and 1 festive American manner, but, as l say we got to like it after a while.
 Then, too, they do not do any hazing in the French navy, and this surprised us. We had expected to go through i the mill just as we did when we joined the American service, but nobody slung a hand at us. On the contrary, every ; garby aboard was kind and decent and extremely courteous. and the fact that 1 we were from the States counted lot with them. They used to brag about it to the crews of other ships that were not so honored.
 But this kindness we might have ex- any walk of life. With hardly an ex- ception, I have never met one of this nationality who was not anxious to help you in every way he could; ex- tremely generous, though not reckless ! with small change, and almost always cheery and there with smile in any weather. A fellow asked me once why it was that almost the whole world loves the French, and I told him it was because the French love almost the whole world, and show it. And think that is the reason, too.
 About the only way you can describe the Poilus, on land or sea, is that they are gentle. That is, you always think that word when you see one and talk to him-unless you happen to see him within bayonet distance of Fritz.
 The French sailors sleep between 1 decks in hunks, instead of hammocks, and as I had not slept in bunk since my Southerndown days, it was pretty hard on me. So I got hold of some heaving line. which is one-quarter-inch rope, and rigged up a hammock. In my spare time taught the others how to make them, and pretty soon every body was doing it.
 When l taught the sailors to make hammocks, l figured, of course, that they would use them as we did-that is, sleep in them. They were greatly pleased at first. but after they had | tried the stunt of getting in and stay | ing in, it vas another story. A ham, mock is like some other things-it works while you sieep-and if you are not on to it, you spend most of your sleeping time hitting the floor. Our gun captain thought I had put over a trick hammock on him, but I did not need to: every hammock is trick l hammock.
 | Also, taught them the way we make mats out of rope, to use while sleeping on the steel gratings near the entrance to stoke holes. In cold wealth CT this part of the ship is more com fortable than the ordinary sleeping quarters, but without a mat it gets too hot.
 American soldiers and sailors get the best food in the world. but while the French navy chow was not fancy, it was clean and hearty, as they say down East. For breakfast we had bread and coffee and sardines; at noon l boiled dinner, mostly beans, which were old friends of mine, and of ti.s well-named navy variety; at four iu the afternoon, pint of vino, and at six, supper of soup, coffee, bread and 1 beans.
 1 Although the French seventy y-five'' is the best gun in the world. their na- val guns are not as good as ours. and their gunners are mostly older men. But they will give youngster gun rating if he shows the stuff
 Shortly after went aboard the Cas- sard, we received instructions to pro- ceed to Spezia, Italy, the large Italian naval base. The voyage was without incident, but when we dropped anchor in Spezia. the Italian port officials l quarantined Us for fourteen days on account of smallpox. During this pericd our food was pretty bad; in fact, the l meat Eaca,ap roffap This caI1fd har,f.