Crittenden record-press., 1918-04-18


In 10 their double task OF slnying md
4A saving makes fine and Joyous telling.
M To the credit OF the killers OF the ".
Doats ana guardians OF the CONVOY LET
u De said that half OF the splendid tale bns
not yet been told ~
Ihe men OF the lean hunter craft are the nick
OF the navy and their ships come close 10 be.
ing the best In the world They know II. their
countrymen know II. and Fritz Of the submarine
IA learning II TO his own sorrow.
'ueh honor Is also PAID 10 the men OF the
H'a"' "ec'-'he bluejackets who are waiting ut
some unnamed sea rendezvous for n chance IN
loose the destruction OF their rrco, guns unon
'ne ships or Wilhelm. sea lord of the Kicl canal
These are our buckler. and our shield. They
man the first line OF the nations defense. They
are lighters. skilled In their appointed tasks and
eager for that battle that they believe cannot
be far of now
No one tells OF their brethren OF the trnns.
port service Only the brief official announce.
mcnt gives their history, and this comes hut
rnrely. Occasionally the powers ut Washing.
ton lft the curtain OF secrecy that hangs be-
tween our coast line and the Atlantic TO IN.
nounce that troops have been landed 10 an un.
mentioned number at an unnamed port IN France
Only once NO far has II named the ships that car.
ried those troops
To the average American mind the transports
leave our shores and reach those Of France and
that Is all there Is TO II.
There Is much more. Most Of this probably
will never be told. The endless chain OF ships
most Of them built In Germany that curry
men and supplies TO the immediate rear OF the
war. and then return for more have no his.
tory.
Yet the history Is there. latent and waiting
FOR birth. The fate Of Americas part in the
war. perhaps the fate Of the war itself rests
on the blue-jumpered shoulders OF the transport
men. Their business II not 10 fight. unless cor.
nercd. Their task is not TO defend so much ns
20 eyudc. They are responsible for the lives Of
thousands Of temporarily helpless soldiers. They
and their ship play n desperate game Of tag. in
which every U.boat the kaiser owns ls 1T and
they and their vessel the lone and unhappy tagee
Day by dny they come and day by day they co.
and of their dongs only the high lords Of the
navy know. Peril Of storm and torpedo are
theirs Unrelaxed vigilance and eternal weari
ness are their duty. And they are doing their
work. They nre getting the men across. Up
% the time this was written. no transport fly.
ing the Stars and Stripes and carrying her pre-
rfous load Of men and munitions 10 France has
lost In her deadly game Of tag. The Tuscnnin, It
should be remembered. wns a British ship.
That Is what the men Of the transport scrv.
ice, most Of whom enlisted to aght and were
chosen to run, are doing. How they are doing Il
10 only a partly told tale, caught here and there
from letters sent home from French ports by
sailors: from descriptions Of the trip over "Over
There" recounted by soldiers. recovered from the
terrible Qualms of seasickness and filled with
q new.found gratitude and admiration for their
brothers In the navy blue who brought them safe
ly across.
Let us call her the Ramapo. because that isn't
aA.s. a.
formerly, before she hauled down the red.
white and black and hoisted the Stars and Stripes
the Fuerst Adolph. which she wasn't. and one Of
the crack liners In the German merchant ma
rine, which she was.
In the dusk Of winter afternoon she slip
ped down the river and out 10 sea. unobtrusive
IN her war paint Several thousand troops
were In the "troop spaces" below decks.
The troops were all kept below while the trnns.
port slowly slipped down the stream ana tho
shores grew blurred behind her. Then her en-
gines Quickened Her bow made Its first curtsey
20 the ominous Atlantic swell, and she was. on
her way across. From now ON, for day on d1S.
Q torpedo rightly placed might cause a grenter
loss than the attack Of an army corps ashore
Down In the troop spaces soldiers were singing
20 keep up their courage. In the quarters OF a
negro regiment at least a hundred crap games
were already In progress. Up In the crows
nests lads only a few times at sea were already
on the watch for submarines and seeing perl
scopes In every wave top.
That night. the storm hit them.
All through the night, the section Oh wn'ch
mad no time for peaceful thought They pro-
gresscd puss-inthc-corner fashion across the
heaving decks In the inky darkness, making fas'
davits that were wrcnching free with the roll
ing, securing u hundred different objects 'ha'
strove 10 burst away.
The phosphorescence Of the wave tops was the
only livht they saw. Save for two or three ex
ceptions there was absolutely no illumination or
shA boat