The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-12-21
LETTER FROM SPAIN
KENNETH BIXLER WRITES IN
TERESTINGLY TO HIS SIS
TER, EDNA.

Kenneth Bixler, son of Mr.. and
Mrs. M. Bixler, of this city, one of
M~adison's youngest boys in the navy,
writes the following very entertain
ing letter from Spain to his sister,
Edna. The letter is so full of inter-
est that we give it entire:
U. S. S. Wheeling, Gibraltar, Spain,
Nov. 24.-Dear Edna: Received
your letter of October IA the other
day and sure was glad to hear from
home. You will notice / am putting
a new heading on my letter. The
censor has fallen from his high es-
tate and the patient and long suffer
ing gobs may now write this lovey
dovey stuff without fear. Ha! Ha!
We are based here on Gibraltar
and since the first of April until just
about two weeks ago were doing
convoy duty between here and Genoa,
Italy, and Bizerta, Africa. We'd
leave here with about three or four
other ~men-o'-war, maybe British or
French and probably IA to 20 mer-
chant ships and arrive six days later
at Genoa or Bizerta, as the case
might be, then we would lay up there
one day and return with another con-
voy. Get back here and coal ship
and paint and one thing and another
for a while, usually five or six days,
and then do it all over again.
When we left New York the latter
part of August, 1917, We went to
Delaware breakwater where w pick
ed up two destroyers and went from
there to Bermuda islands where we
again coaled ship. Went from there
to the Azore islands, arriving there
ing station duty there up until the
latter part of March when we left for
this place. While we were stationed
there we left four times for short
trips, once to Horta Fayol, another
group Of the Azore islands and then
once to the Madeira islands. Oh, boy,
but that's some place! Twice we
went outside the breakwater for tar
get practice. On the way over here
from Ponta Delgado, Azore islands.
we went around to the Canary islands
where we picked up a bunch of Eng
lish refugees from an old torpedoed
ship. There you have in a nutshell
my doings since / left the old United
States.
This rock of Gibraltar is a pretty
fair sized place being two a half
miles in length by about a half mile
through and some odd thousands of
feet high. Considering it's n piece
of rock it's pretty fair sized. l guess
it's the last place on earth God made
outside of Ponta Delgado. Give me
Broadway.
Well, this ship has made or rather
taken out 81 conveys. and we have
had seven ships torpedoed out of that
number, three sunk. We also had an
accident happen to one ship when
about three days out from Genoa and
right off the city of Dram, France.
managed to keep afloat and reach
port. / saw one submarine. 1t hap
pened on our Bizerta run. One night
out from there we had three attacks
by a sub. The Wheeling circled
around and dropped depth bombs but
it is not officially known whether we
got it or not for it was dark.
Say but we are having some terri
BILE weather here now. 1t just rains
and rains and rains and rains.
Two weeks ago tomorrow / had a
bout with a fellow ashore and lost
the decision. / have another fight
coming off a week from tomorrow
with a Filipino. The idea is they are
holding a series of contests in every
thing, boxing and basket ball and all
kinds of athletics. The winner in
each will be sent to London some
time next month to compete against
the Englishmen. 1, don't know
whether I'll make the London party
or not, but I'm sure going to try for
it anyway. I am going to have my
picture taken in my boxing togs soon
and will send you one. The pictures
that / am sending you in this letter
are places that l have been in my
travels.
We aren't having much of the
"flu" here so don't worry about me
for l always come out right side up
with care. No, Sis, your idea of our
ship is rather large to "a the least.
She is only 172 feet long and no
more than 35 feet wide and only
draws about IL feet Of water. In
fact we are rated as a very small