davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
licts. swayed by one tide. Certainly
in his heart burns fierce jealousy.


only once in the brief, tense war
~ history Of this post has the light
Of discovery fallen upon what Joe Gish
patrols.
Between tattoo" and "taps," on a
binding night of sleet and rain the
lonely watch is broken by sound
which provokes the ringing cry:
Halt! Who goes there?"
No answer A fog horn means afar.
Wet leaves whirl and eddy about the
stiffened, canvas-covered legs of Pri-
vate Gish and light CLEANS along his
dripping rifle barrel.
"IVho goes therc?'
Long moments pass. punctuated by
the rhythmic toling Of the bell buoys.
Shcepish disgust settles upon Private
Gish. He blows hcatedly into wet
mtten. swcars profoundly and takes
up his post again with one ear pricked.
doglikc.
Suddenly searchlight darts out.
playing upon the heavy mass Of ships
They look war and weather worn, dan
sign of life. The light flashes away
and the startling sound breaks again
the wild s?bbing of a woman.
pocket flash reveals her, crouchcd be-
You'd the barrier, staring out to sea.
The wire casts net Of shadow across
her face.
"What's the matter. ma'am ?" in
quires Private Gish. sharply
The matter is chose things those
miserable ubs-they'rc sending men
-him-in boats like that" She is
sobbing Historically.
This is too much for Private Gish
Barbed wire is his job. Only barbed
maybe they amt so bad as they look.
Moreover, she'll have to move along.
There can be no lettering, and above
all no information of consoling
nature. Soldiers are rude lot, to be
sure. Nearly crazed with grief, she
is driven away. Heaven only knows
how she found out, anyway, or how
much she will talk. OF course
she will talk great deal She will un-
Willingly help TO spread the great en-
envy net which one long, silent arm
of thc nations service is unweaving as
fast-nay. faster-than it is spun.
Joe Gish is left in gloom. His whole
heart is in those ships, those "tubs,' u
where men are lying below decks, wait
ing for the open sea.
And they are recovering from their
own sense Of shock in the discovery
that these "battercd hulks" are the
latest products Of shpyard skill.
OUCH is the "camouhage' so gibly
~ sung and never recognized. From
countless dry docks, through the skilled
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13

damned, so he handed the unfortunate
German over to Pilot A. while he
cleared his guns. A. VINO had BY now
finished with his acrodromc, saw the
stranger safely down to the ground,
where he crashed. "both wings folding
up Pilot {, who seems to have been
assisting generally. gives more par
tlculars Of the descent; the machine
"dlved into field. when his right wing
caught in a hedge ard he was cart
wheeled on his back 1t sounds con-
elusive.
There being no more airplancs about.
other targets mad to be found. A dis
covered train Look here" one can
imagine his saying, "ths is NY train. +"
"All right" says B. "kecp your beast
~ train I've got something funnicr
herc-Boches playing football" One
would like to know more about that
football match: no doubt it appeared
in the results as "2-l abandoned'; BIS
sudden appearance must have spoiled
the game nsiderably. And A must
have spoiled that train. Il sprayed
bullets along it," he says, "concentrat-
ing longest on the engine" 1t would
certainly have seemed longest to the
engine driver
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
The Enemy Crushed
Near a Hedge

Black and ght blue put its nose
down and fled, X assisting from be-
hind with both guns at nifty yards.
Down went black and ight- blue in a
straight nose dive to its DOOM "Mean-
while had lost height so that the
other five hostile scouts were above
me, and started attacking. Went down
them, and succeeded III gaining a little"
An awkward moment. but it had it's
ompensations. For at 1000 feet he
saw the black and -light-bluc scout
crash in a fair-sized field near "A
hedge" Whatever happened to him
now, he had accounted for an equal
Number Of the enemy.
And the outlook was poor. The only
path of escape took him right across
-andyellow; he rsked it. and red
and-ycllow let him have it at close
range lie hit my petrol tank and my
engine stopped, and went down, close
chine and another Then follows "A
very human touch. 81 remember decid-
ing not to land in the field where the
black -and-light-blue machine had
crashed" Very quick and uncon-
trollable must his thoughts have been
in that rush down to earth; one Won
aers just what made him decide so. A
superstitous feeling? A sudden wish
not to see what he had done to black
and light-blue? Or just the practical
knowledge that the wreck below gave
him less room for landing? Anyhow
down he went-for the next field.
And then all at once another. a more
wonderful, thought came to him: al
thought of turning on my emergency
tank" How he must have cursed him
self for forgetting, how his heart must
have leaped at remembering 1t was
just in time. "At about 100 feet my
engine picked up" And then very cas-
ually and hurriedly. or. as if rather
ashamed about that blessed emergency
tank. he ends up. after that pnt my
nose down and flew west and succeeded
in getting back between Mcssines and
Ypres."
A crowded hour. indeed but not the
only hour by any means. For each day
in the Flying Corps offers just such an
hour to those who look for it.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13

The train started again Suddenly
the peasant woman said to nc:
"Tell me, Mr.. Soldier. where do yop
come from? How are you gctt;ns
along down there Haze you man
big shells? And many men killed"
/ vas about to answer her. yerv
obligingly. But there vas .hc placara
starng me in the face. "Be silent,
Ee or your guard, Enemy ears hesr
you." 1t was a reminder that | ouvh.
to weigh my words. SO I contented
myself with answering cvssively.
eve have lots Of rain. And whom
it rains we get soaked"
The pretty girl with the knitting
needles did not lift her eyes from h.,
work. But slight smile showed
about her mouth Her charming face
was lighted UP. ! guessed What she
vas thinking:
"If that good fellow had bccn d..
pended on TO invent powder. his com.
rades and he would still be fighting =,
they fought in the time Of Merovaus."
It is useless for me to denv that an
somewhat sensitive. felt Inundated
Who wishes to pass for n thichhead-
Especially in the presence Of a pretty
girl.
Meanwhile the good woman broke
out in lamentations. Her son Arsene
was fighting somewhere IN the Ar
gonnc. Mon Dicu, Mon Dieu, She
could no longer cat from worry Oh.
my. Oh, my.
intcrposed:
But, madame All those who 20 to
war arc not killed have fought for
eighteen months"
She listened to me, bu. without being
convinced.
She repeated over again:
ooh. my! Oh, my"
Then her charming ncighbor inter-
vcned
"The gentleman is right have two
brothers who have been under fire ever
since the war began Oaly the cider
has been wounded"
Little by little the peasant woman
Gained down.
ALAS. Alas.' she sighed But, as
they say. one must bear misfortune,
with patience
At the next station she got ont When
She was on the platform. With all her
panlers. the big ones and the little
ones. two young girls appeared at the
window of the compartment They wore
hats like that OF my gracious com
panion
We'll. we'll" they said, aren't VOW
going to rejoin US? Arc you going to
stay in here all the way home 80
s. 9"s sSs ssscs away s1s
ment. | found myself alone with the
old cure and the young woman She
continued 20 knit. Tho stocking sae
was making grew longer. I puzzled
my brain to discover q reason WHY she
should have left her sisters and trsv-
cllcd alone third class. bus couldn't
find any.
A. the station III 3 whore /
was to get Off, was surprised to SOC
ms companion get off also On the
platform she joined her sisters. One
OF them said TO her:
you know, Moniquc. have made a
calculation. You have saved eleven
francs and quarter. You can use it
to buy tobacco for your wounded"
At the exit lady awaited them The
next day my friend. Nine. Mouricz.
presented me to the family Leberger
And that is the reason why now have
al the rear. like my comrades. an
exquisite fiancee, who writes me long
letters and of whom think at night
when | am or guard under the stars,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
The Poilu S Romance
A French War Story


Here story oith touch Of gagety The suffering
and bitterness cannot altogether ert1ngh chcerunes
of spirit and 7ataa1ness of feelng Le at tie 'front.'
runs along the old g?9oves Of enotion In oet the romantic
and men haze become urcr and te~derer Truly
the uAer OF this story sas 4he pon Is an ofeotoaa
from that point of ricw the romance whlch IS set forth
beZov has maritime aspect 1t chorningly simple
IN time qrheu men being brought together on
footing of broader sympathy and genuine fellowship
Aid the snpicity of pos modest recital IS bit no
adnrabtc than is its unaffected delcocy Of sentiment.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
He Still Found
More To DO

then came back over the lines
at 500 feet" 3 could still find a lit
tie more to do; he speaks precisely
Of "single-horsc transport" and
"three different groups of three or
four men," whereas c (who. one feels,
was rather out Of the fun) can only
say boldly, 81 came back low along the
roads, shooting at ground-targets."
But if you trying to imagine our
three friends returning jauntily home.
you must have one more line from BIS
report to complete the picture. Anti
aircraft guntire was severe on home
ward flight Just worth mentioning,
perhaps.
Zone crowded hour Of glorious life"
said Scott, "is worth an age without a
name" The equation could be stated
more exactly, il not POLITICALLY, by add
ing the three obviously implied words
to the left-hand side Of it. zone
crowded hour Of glorious life with a
name is equal to an age without a
name is what Scott meant Well, I
can tell you of zone crowded hour" OF
a gentleman in the Royal Flying Corps,
but am afraid it won't be with a
Mame.' The Flying Corps prefers to
live its glorious life anonymously
However, it won't offend him if we call
him X; X, Of the r. f. Cit follows
that Y is equal to anything
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
Labor Was an
Uncertain Quantity

This condition was Il Hangover
from peace times. Civilian labor was
taken on for halliday, as ship was
berthed, and it was never certain from
day to day whether this labor would
be forthcoming A large employer
might have limited number of com
paratively regular men on whom he
could rely, and the special machinery
of the Board of Trade Labor Exchange
might be able to furnish men from
what were known as surplus stands"
but the fact remained that the supply
of labor was extremely unreliable.
Difficulties of organization and the
lack of mobility were hard to overcome.
For example, at one quay gang Of
lockers might be made up in which
there would perhaps be more than
enough good winchmen, but not enough
good men to manage the sings down
in the hold. Or there might be q
plethora of dock labor at one end Of
Liverpool at time when a big ship
was being berthed at quay several
miles down the Mersey.
Casual work had bred casual habits;
the majority Of the men could not rely
on getting regular work, and with this
tradition behind them they had long
ceased to try for it,. they had grown
content to labor by fits and starts SO
long as they could earn a living. In
addition to this, large portion Of the
men were only prepared to do certain
kinds of dock work, either for physical
reasons or from personal inclination
Some men, to illustrate, would refuse
to go in the refrigerating chambers of
a meat ship, although imported beef is
essential to the British nation. Di.
charging Australian wheat was dirty
dusty. choking job, and was not pre-.
ferred Nevertheless. the nation coulc
not carry on" without Australian
wheat
One thing, to be sure, could be sale
IN favor of the system. 1t represented
the very quintessence Of indvidualism
There was not the slightest restrain
on the dock workers personal liberties
he might work or not. as he chose
But the most ardent admirer Of the
freedom of the individual would no
deny that it was condition entirel,
unsuited to the demands of the nation
in time of war.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
Consumption Proved
The Best Remedy

The situation was critical and needed
rcmedying, and the only remedy seemed
to be to place the whole port Of Liver
pool under military control. This
scheme however, the British govern
r,ent was unwilling to adopt at time
when neither CONSUMPTION nor the ap-
rlication of any kind Of compulsion
was contemplated.
At meeting called by the govern
mcnt representatives of the Mersey
River Harbor Board. the leading en-
ployers and the Dockers' Union were
present. From the windows Of the high
building in which the meeting was held
could be seen evidence of the situation
they had come to rectify. Ships lay at
anchor in the Mersey, unable to get to
their berths to unload their precious
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
By "A. A. M

THERE is a song, of which the
British soldier never seems to
"A tire, whose fourth verse goes like
.his:
"Four men went to MOVEMENT to NOV
a meadow;
Four men, three men, two men, one
man
tAnd his dog)
Went to NOV meadow
The other verses arc equally enter
tanning differing only in the number
Of men engaged), the tune is simple
one, and by, say, the forty-second verse
even the novice is familiar with both
words and music, and ready to join in.
Just now I am going to tell you quite
a different story; the story Of four men
who event to bomb, went to bomb a
hangar" 1t is as typical Of the Brit
ish army as the song, and like the song
it. goes on unfortunately. simple,
everyday affair.
The four men set out TO 'do their
damnedest" to certain German aero
dromc. No. ! Owed on to the aero
drome to about 800 feet, got into line
with row of machines all spread out
ready for him, and dropped his bombs
on them. Having got to the end of the
line (and also to the end Of his bombs)
he swcoped up and Owed again. He
had no bombs now, but he had a ma
chine gun, and he sprayed the line low
inglv with bullets. Only emergency
tank was shot this time he says care
lessly in his report, so the Germans
had evidently got busy. However, he
event round again and repeated this
action" third time, just for luck, and
then steered for home. This may have
finished his official JOB Of work, but on
his way home-howevcr, we must get
back TO the acrodromc. which is what
we are concerned with at the moment
Some Ceased Firing
For All Time
No. =, following no. /, went dow
to 400 feet and dropped mis- bombs, ano
saw them all explode i'll front of the
hangers He then went round the
aerodrame at 200 feet, firing his ma
chine guns into the hangers and at
machine gun crew presumably the one
which had disabled No. Is emergency
tank. "The machine gun crew. say:
No. 2. modestly, ceased fire while
was firing at them One doesn't blame
them. Some OF the crew, no doubt
ceased fire for a long time aftcrware
as well. He then stecred for HON,
and had further adventures
both on his own and with No. / lie
US leave them and follow No. 8.
No. 3 gives more particulars; tina
line Of aeroplanes drawn up so thought
fully by the Germans consisted o
four scouts and one Gotha. One o
them (evdently annoyed by No. rs at
tentions) tried to make off, so No.
fired few rounds at him. ole dive,
straight into the ground and crashed
Whereupon No. 5 proceeded to dro
his bombs on the four remaining ones
He had got three bombs off when
bullet hit his petrol tank. What wa
No. , doing to allow this?) II
switched on to his emergency tank
but he was only 100 feet up at thi
moment. and the engine could not pic
up in time SO he landed gracefull
in the nice German aerodrome. pickle,
up and flew off again-which SCENE
to be rubbing it rather unhindly @
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
He Made a Very
Great Discovery

Imagine them. full OF lie and ma
chine-gun drums, looking for targets.
Pilot A was the first 70 find something.
He made q really great discovery. lie
found another aerodrome. all by HIM
self, and sprayed all the machines
with bullets Meanwhile Pilot B had
come across an enemy aeroplane fly
ing at 800 feet. Pilot B got under
meath him Git sounds rather sporting
at 800 fcet) and played upon him from
there. Apparently he was successful
in hitting the engine. for the German
began to glide down. B followed quick
~, pepperlng him from behind till they
were down to 100 feet. BIS guns then
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
Battalion Works
Only for Government

The dock battalion works only fol
he government. Its time is taken up
principally with handling equipment
and stores for the Admiralty and the
Army Service Corps, supplies for Rus
STA and foodstutfs for the British
wheat and sugar commissions. The
men do not discharge or load ships for
private owners.
The work is hard; in fact, the mem
bers Of the Liverpool Dock Battalion
are the hardest worked lockers in the
or disatfcction. One Of the majors Of
the battalion--in civil life he is
prominent Liverpool ship broker
showed me the men at work, and he
told me the battalion comprises the
pick Of the lockers Of Liverpool. The
manner in which they tackled their
work the morning I saw them con-
WINGED me that they possess a splendid
esprit de corps.
1t might be recorded in passing that
while helping the nation win the war
greatly helped its own members. Mill
tary discipline has practically elimi-
mated drunkenness, and the money that
used to be wasted in carousing is now
being invested. My guide told me with
pride that the Liverpool Dock Battalion
! had subscribed for something like
$4,000 Of war loan, to be paid for out
of weekly deductions from the mems
wages.
But the fact of outstanding impor-
lance about this Liverpool experiment
is that hundreds Of thousands of tons
OF shipping are being saved for tho
conduct of the war. The Liverpool
Dock Battalion is one of the subma-
rne's most effective enemies. Under
the old system in Liverpool a 5,0O0-ton
dead-weight cargo boat might take ten
days to discharge her cargo and take
on now; the Dock Battalion will dis
charge and load The same ship in five
days. That means saving Of five days
on each voyage, and if that ship is ply
ing between Liverpool and New York
she will be able to make one and per
haps two more voyages in twelve
months than she could under the old
system.
Is there nothing in the Liverpool ex-
pertinent that might be applied to our
own ports at this time? If, to illus
trate, the same improvement in turn
ing ships around" could be effected in
the port of New York, that same 5000
ton cargo boat would be enabled to
make one or two additional voyages a
Seal, anu tIe submarine would nave to
work that much harder to defeat us.
| If. on the other hand, we must con-
tinue to administer our ports subject
TO the vl.issitudes of casual labor and
) frequent strikes we shall not get the
maximum cargo-carrying capacity out
, of the ships we already have
A thousand skilled lockers and
, lightermen in the Port of New Yorl
working under conditions that would
eliminate the present loss of time dis
J, charging and loading ships might
prove to be Of greater value in win
. ming the war at this time than five
, thousand American soldiers on the
Western front For without plenty Of
1 ships to bring them stores the five
thousand could not remain in the
, trenches very long.
Copyright. 1918, by The Tribune Assoclatlon)
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
By Pierce Williams


which the American people are
unanimous. it is that we must
beat the submarine to win the war.
Unfortunately. the majority Of peo-
pie are still thinking Of our victory
over the submarine in the future tense.
1t is to be achieved with those swarms
of steel and wooden ships that we con-
fidently expect to see in the water next
year. BY that time, these hopeful peo-
pie say, we shall have so many ships
plying between our ports and those Of
the Allies that even if the U-boats are
able to destroy tonnage at the present
rate, enough food and ammunition will
still arrive on the other side to keep
our fighting forces adequately supplied.
That is dangerous theory at the
present critical stage of the war. We
dare not wait until next spring to beat
the submarine. We must do every
thing possible to beat it now. And the
only way of even holding our own
against the submarine for the time
being is to get more voyages out of the
ships we already have.
That is only another way of saying
that ships already in service must
spend as much time as possible steam
ing across the Atlantic with cargo and
as little as possible tied up alongside
our docks.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
Twenty Enemy Scouts
Were Due East

Lieutenant X Was patrollng a Ger
tain area with his formation when they
saw about twenty enemy scouts due
east of them. At height of 1000 feet
d formation of SIX machines turned
toward them, dropping to 900 feet
as it came. X dived to attack, and, in
the words of his official report. - gem
eral melee cnsued.' While engaging
che machine he saw two more enemy
formations approaching, so he shot up,
and as their leader dived to attack he
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
% Four Men Fly Out to Bomb Hangar %

that line of stationary German ma
chimes. One of them, however, had
just made an upward move of sorts, as
the result Of No. 3's last bomb. No. 3
had leisure when on the ground to
notice his bomb exploding in the mid
die Of it.
No. followed No. 3. 1t was the
hangers turn for attention, so No. a
dropped three bombs on them. He then
turned and dived on to the line of arco-
planes and sprayed them with bullets;
"these were bombed a few minutes af-
tcrward," he says. Tina. was by NO. 3,
Of course
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-01-13
Time Lost One
OF Great Factors

Time lost in discharging and loading
ships in our ports is due chiefly to the
casual nature of the labor supply. Har-
Dor tie-ups, due to strikes, increase
the delay in turning ships around
1t would be interesting to know exactly
how many hours have been lost in the
port of New York during 1917 because
OF lack of labor at the proper time.
One thing, however. we may be certain
of without consulting statistics. If the
total time lost in discharging cargoes
or raw materials needed by American
factories and in loading war goods
needed by Americas Allies were con-
verted into terms of ships voyages, it
would be equivalent to sinking by T.
boats of several large cargo ships.
Anything that will eliminate the time
lost in discharging and loading vessels
in American ports is submarine beat
ing and war winning factor of great
and immediate Importance.
1t has become one of our tiona]
habits to ask. when confronted with
war. "What did they do in England ?"
British ports suffered from delays in
discharging and loading ships just as
American ports suffer to-day. Liver
pool England's leading port, solved the
problem by organizing the dock work
crs into battalions under military dis
ciplinc.
Just before sailing from Liverpool
for America two months ago 1 saw
one of the dock battalions at work, and
from the lips of the men who helped
to organize it I heard a story which
may have a moral for American port
administrators to-day.
For fully nine months after war
broke out the port of Liverpool was
subject to the vicissitudes Of casual
labor and frequent strikes. The con-
gestion Of traffic threatened the sue
cessful prosecution of the war. The
limits of berthing accommodation and
quay space made it imperative to get
ships discharged and loaded as quickly
as possible; yet government ships fire.
quently had to wait a day or two be-
fore starting to move their cargoes,
and when at last they got start they
usually worked lalfmanned.