The sun., 1919-04-14
GIRL STOWAWAY
SAILORS FIANCEE
Boatswain's Mate Struggles
Pretty French Girl Aboard
Transport Luckenbach.
HELD AT ELLIS ISLAND
Shipmates Stand By and VIII
Appeal to immigration
Officials.

The transport X. /. Luckenbach
brought in yesterday a superromantic
bluejacket. Boatswain's Mate Michael
Black of the ships crew. and the girl
that he valnly had tried to marry in
Marseilles. What Black calls the COM
plicsted French law required him to DO
a resident Of Marseilles ten days. he
says, and as he had leave of absence
from his ship. then at Brest. only five
days, he was forced to leave unwedded
for Brest with Mile. Alexandra Boyer.
which is the name he hopes TO change.
He and some of his shipmates, equally
romantic and nightly interested, made
her up with burnt cork and blue overalls
as negro stevedore and smuggled her
aboard the transport. The weather did
rot suit her when the Luckenbach was
two days out and she came from her
hiding place. pretty sick and with a
large part of her cork camoufiage gone.
They put her in q cabin used as an iso-
lation ward and when she got here yes
terday Ellis Island claimed her.
Black says he IL bound to marry her
and his gallant shipmates, headed by
Chief Boatswain's Mate Ralph White.
are going to appeal to the immlgr alton
authorities to let him. Lieutenan mt Com
mander J. A. Mcdonald. skipper of the
Luckenbach. smiled and said he had
nothing to say when asked II there
really was girl stowaway aboard and
II he thought It right that a sailor should
be punished for trying 30 hard TO get
married. Black himself admitted the
romance, which he and his shipmates
said ran about like this:
Black met Mile. Boyer in September
last when the Luckenbach locked in
Narseilles by humping into her In a
crowd. Her hat fell of and he picked
1t UP. She smiled at him. as did also the
girl with her. He said Hello, kid
and che said something In French. which
Black did not understand. But the
other girl. who spoke pretty good Eng
lish, came to their rescue. and Mile.
Boyer showed Black the town. When
he sailed away he and the girl we're
engaged. They wrote letters and she
had his translated by a professional in
terpreter. whom she paid one franc for
most of them were long.
The smitten bluejacket got TO Mar
settles again in November and they had
fine time until his ship sailed. He
learned that she had spent SO much to
get his letters translated that she had
sometimes gone to bed hungry. 80 he
left her part of his pay and began TO
save for the furniture and other little
things that come after marriage. The
last eastward trip OF the Luekenbach
was to Brest. On March 16 the skipper
gave Black permission to 60 to Mar
stiles on a five days leave and marry
Mile. Boyer. He says he spent $3.50
for papers and advice and then learned
that he would have to stay at least ten
days in the town before he could 20 into
legal partnership with his sweethea IT.
Then he went back to Brest, taking the
sirl with him.
They met in Brest another French
girl and an American soldier, who also
were trying TO get married. This SOL
dier's sweetheart spoke English and
acted as Interpreter between the blue
jacket and his girl. The soldier had not
received his pay and his girl. who had
been financing him pending the coming
or payday, was nearly broke Black
put up money for the soldier so gener-
ously that he found that he would not
have enough left to keep her in Brest
more than few days and he decided
to take her with him aboard the Lucken-
bach. He told some OF his shlpmates
about his plight and they quite natu-
rally helped Enthusiastically. They are
going to the bat for him to-day and sus-
pect that their tale may melt the hearts
OF the immigration folks.