The state herald., 1919-02-14

y
Member Of the Fore
Captain Gun Turret, FRI
Winner Of the c
~ Assaassasas WIN Ne osoess afassAsw Adam
mixed up In such dirty work a. they
said there was In Belgium. figured
the soldiers were like the sailors, But
! found out I was wrong about both.
| Ono thing that opened my eyes q
bit was the trouble my mother had in
getting out Of Hanover, where she
was when the war started, and back
to France. She always wore q little
American nag and this both saved and
endangered her. Without II, the Ger
mans would have interned her as q
Frenchwoman. and with II, she was
sneered at and insulted time and
again before she finally managed to
get over the border. She died about
two months after she reached St Ma.
xaire.
Moreover. I heard the fate Of my
older brother. who had made his home
in France with my grandmother. He
had gone to the front at the outbreak
Of the war with the infantry from st.
Naxaire and had been killed two or
three weeks afterwards. This made
1t sort Of personal matter.
But what put the nnishing touches
to mo were the stories q wounded
Canadian lieutenant told me some
months later in New York. he had
been there and he knew. You could
not help believing him; you can al.
ways tell II when q man has been
there and knows.
There was not much racket around
New York, % made up my mind all
Of . sudden to 80 over and get some
for myself. Believe me. I got enough
racket before I was through. Most
Of the really important things have
done have happened like that: 1 did
them on the jump. you might say.
Many other Americans wanted look,
too: there, wsrs I've thousand Amer
leans In the Canadian army at one
time they say.
I would not claim that I went over
there to save democracy. or anything
ike that. I never did like Germans,
and never met q Frenchman who was
not Kind to me. and what I heard
about the way the Huns treated the
Belgians made me sick. I used to get
out Of bed to 90 to an all-night picture
show, ! thought about Il 70 much.
But there was not much excitement
about New York. and I figured the
o. 8. would not get Into It for q while.
anyway. 20 Just wanted 10 60 over
and SEQ what Il was like. That b
why lots Of % went. think.
There were I've Of - who went to
Boston to ship for the other side:
Sam Murray. "a Brown, Tim Flynn.
Mitchell and myself. Murray was an ex.
garby-two bitches (enlistments), gun
pointer rating, and about thirty-nve
years old. Brown was q Pennsyivania
man about twenty-six years old, who
had served two snlistments In the q.
8. army and had quit with the rank
Of sergeant Flynn and Mitchell were
both sx-navy men. Mitchell was Q
noted boxer. OF the ave Of %, am
the only one who went In, got
through and came out. Flynn and
Mitchell did not 90 In: Murray and
Brown never came back.
Tho i've Of ~ shipped on the steam.
ship virginian Of the American-Ha.
waiian line, under American dag and
registry. but chartered BY the Preach
government. signed on as watsrs
tender-an engine room job-but the
others were ON deck-that is. oeamen.
We left Boston for 81. Nazairs with
Q cargo Of ammunition. bully bsef.
ETC. and made the first trip without
anything Of interest happening.
A. We were tying to the dock at q.
Naxaire, I saw Q German prisooss IT.
ding on Q pile Of lumber. I thought
probably he would be hungry. % I
went down into the oilers msss and
got two slices Of bread with Q thick
piece Of beefsteak between them and
handed II 10 Fritz. He would not take
Il At drst I thought he was afraid
49, SSs ~ essAs8 sSv~Sos Aou8u18cD 10o
signs he managed to make me under.
stand that he was not hunqy-had
too much to eat. In fact.
used to think Of this fellow occa.
Eonally when I was In . German pris.
on camp. and . piece Of rnoldy bread
the size Of Q safety.match box was
the generous portion Of food they
forced on me. with true German hos.
pitality. once every forty-eisht hours.
would not exactly have refused .
besfsteak sandwich, am afraid. But
then was not heaven-born German.
was only . common American garby.
He was full Of kultur and grub; I
was not full Of anything.
There was Q large prison camp at
st. Nasairs. and At one time Of an
other I saw all Of II. Before tln wnf