The herald., 1919-07-31
FATHER LARkIh WRITES
INTERESTING LETTER
To CHILDREN Of
ALGIERS

My Dear Boys and Girls:
You made me promise to write.
and | am going to keep my word.
| This will be in answer to all the let
| ters and post cards, | have received
since | left you. Many a time, in
deed. l have thought of you this
week. | have been real lonesome
| for my dear children. Not nice
child on board but one. He is a
darling little fellow about three years
old, with hair as white as little Alon
20 Bourgeois, and a face as pretty as
the prettiest little girl in Algiers. He
! sits at the next table from me, in the
dining room. He is the most self
satisfied, the most pleasant, the
most polite little fellow l have ever
| seen. He is an American boy.
There are other children on board
| but not made in u. S. A" We are
living in great big house. To get
an idea of the size of our big ship
start at DR.. Kraft's corner and walk
out to Opelousas Avenue, and back
! by Olivier to the starting point. The
| Aquitania is 901 feet long, seven
! stories in height and carried 5000
troops to New York, on it's last trip.
1t is so big that you meet a man on
Monday and may not see him again
| till Saturday. Though we have been
on board since Monday at 10, We
are seeing new faces every day.
From my room to the "Salle a Man
GER is like taking a walk to the
| bakery.
l get up at 6:25 and have a salt
water bath. The bugle sounds for
breakfast at Sis. After that we
walk while and then sit down on
our deck chair and read. At 1900
the steward comes along with a cup
Of beef tea or broth. At 1890 the
bugle calls again for lunch. In the
afternoon if you sit down to read or
play cards, you are likely to be dis
turbed by an insistent waiter who is
there with an afternoon tea"
Dinner is at 6. There are four
at our table, which is number So.
Mr.. Naylor from Manchester, Mr..
Harris from Toronto (YoungD.
Father Larkin and myself. Well,
something happened and l must tell
you about it: These two pretentious
gentlemen challenged us to a
game of SWITCHBOARD. Now they are
sorry for it. We beat them 25 to z.
We were to play the return match
on the following day. But they have
conveniently forgotten about it.
There are very few companionable
people on board They are all from
some icy zone.
l wish some of you boys and girls
were along. We would put some
life into this big floating house. We
would have more room than ON the
Ferry Boat.
AS 1 am writing this. the Fathers
are hearing confessions-for tomor-
row is the feast Friday. know you
will all pray for me and Father Mi
chael. 1t is very poor excuse for
fourth of July. Not a fire-cracker,
not brass band! and tomorrow,
we are not going to have a celebra-
ton on this big English boat.
They are conveniently putting
concert on for tomorrow evening for
the benefit of the sailor'shaven, to
make us forget that it's the Fourth
from celebrating. I'll be the first
man on deck tomorrow. to salute the
rising sun and bid him carry my
blessing to the greatest land, that
God has made and to my own dear
people, the best people in the whole
world. We shall be off the coast of
Ireland on Sunday and we shall land
at Southampton early on Monday.
Do you know whom we have with
US? Why Father James NJ. Canville,
whom l brought out from Ireland in
1905. was quite a surprise to see
him at dinner Monday evening. He
was in Van Buren, last year and was
to have sailed on the Baltic last
Saturday, when he reached New
York, he found out that the sailing
had been postponed till July 18th, so
he jumped on the Aquitania and
found us. 1t is very nice to meet
somebody you know, especially when
you can't go out for a walk and Wis
it your neighbors. Here you meet.
l mean see, all classes. The purse
proud rich and the shabby genteel,
the Cockney and the Jap, the lady
who has a new hat for each meal
. and the lady who plays poker and
smokes cigarettes, all in one big
family. Most of the men appear in
evening dress for dinner, and many
of the ladies don't dress much. In
the library, where l am writing this,
Their are about so people, reading,
writing, lounging, sleeping. They
are all happy. / would be happier
: than any of them il 1 had half a
hundred of my boys and girls with
me tonight. Good bye, till next
month.
Affecionately.
THOS. j. LARKfN, s. NJ.