The Twin City star., 1918-11-09

Hon. IAL4A ". TYL11.
satisfactory taste of this world de-
moracy" for which the allies are
fighting, l might have considered the
voyage monotonous. Aboard the ship
was quite a galaxy of notable writ.
ers for the big dailies and magazines;
feature and fiction writer's who were
taking a respite from that occupation
to write straight stuff" for dailies
they are to represent. Among them
were celebrities like Will Irwin, Rob-
ert w. Richie, Damon Runyon, H. J..
Foreman, erstwhile managing editor
of Golfers, and Applegarth, usually
known as "Appy" by the pencil push
ers and readers, of the Pittsburgh
Post. Each and every one of these
notable writers-former newspaper
reporters, seemed to have made an
especial effort to make me forget
which / did-that my skin was sew.
eral shades darker than theirs, and
by so doing to convince me that this
world democracy" for which the al
lies are fighting is neither barren
ideality nor a rainbow vision, but an
actual probability whose advance
courier is /discernible with the naked
eye. The treatment accorded me by
the newspaper men aboard was but
typical of the treatment accorded me
by all the other passengers. Among
the nearly two thousand souls max
ing up the ships passenger list were
many Red Cross, Y. M. c. A., Y. W..
C. A., knights of Columbus and Sal.
vation Army workers. These all dis
played a most notable evidence of a
healthy spirit of democracy by their
fraternizing as If they were all men,
bers of the one and same organiza-
ton. Among the Y. M. C. work.
ers aboard were five colored secre-
taries: Fritz p. Cansler, of Knox
vile, Tenn; Thomas M. Clayton, Of
Piqua, Ohio; F. l.. Clark, tof Leaven-
worth, Kans.; d. d. Mattocks, of Phil.
adelphia, and G. w. Jackson, Of Louis
Vile, KY. The Y. n. c. A. certainly
made no mistake in selecting these
five men for overseas duty, for they
represent the highest type in the race,
and by their bearing won the respect,
and even admiration Of all on board
the ship.
Diversions by Service Battalion
Aboard Ship.
Aboard the ship, also, was a col
ored service battalion belonging to
an engineer regiment. They were
stout, husky fellows. whose good hu.
NOR was effervescent, even contagi-
Gus, and their rollicking songs and
plantation melodies cheered all, max
ing them, those whose thoughts had
involuntarily turned to submarines
Germany's acme of kultur, forget
them, and Danish all fear from their
minds. One of the songs which they
frequently sang, and with gusto
which gave further evidence of their
100 per cent Americanism, and which
never failed to elicit rapturous ap-
plause from the white passengers, was
"Three Months From Now We Will
Be In Germany.
/ had heard it said that the big
waters frightened Colored soldiers,
but these Colored soldiers aboard the
ship / sailed appeared as contented,
self-centered and care-bereft on the
big ship at night, when lights were
out as they were down in Alabama,
Virginia, Mississippi and other South.
ern states, from whence most of them
came.
Their contentment at sea, and when
In the submarine zone, constituted an
other disillusion. Among these
troops were some clever boxers, and
the monotony of "just sky and water"
was frequently broken by some rat
Ting boxing matches between these
troopers for pretty substantial purses,
which the white passengers contrib
uttd merely out of admiration and re-
spect of these big, brave black boys,
who did not fear to come over here to
fight for world democracy.
An amusing incident took place the
second day out. Forty or fifty of the
Colored soldiers had formed circle
and were singing to their hearts de-
light, and the delight of the passen.
gers. One of them. seemingly, changed
his voice with each song or hymn.
what d. you sing2" called down,