The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1919-01-18
EDWARD SLACK WRITES
INTERESTING REVIEW OF HIS
EXPERIENCES WITH THE A.
T.. r. OVERSEAS.

ceipt of a very interesting letter
from his overseas son, Edward, in
which appears a detailed account Of
his trip across the Atlantic. Mr..
Slack also received from the same
source a few pieces of handmade
woodwork that are cleverly con-
~structed from French walnut. One is
a clock base upon which is mounted
a miniature airplane propeller. Cen
trally located between the right and
left fan of the propeller there is a
bored out depression, metal trimmed,
just large enough to contain a watch.
A transverse section of a miniature
airplane body was also in the collec-
ton and here is an exhibition of
some ingenious handiwork. All are
artistically shaped and finely polish
ed. They are now on display at the
Slack grocery. Mr.. Slack's son, who
Is in the aviation branch at Romo-
rantin, constructed the pieces sent,
which to say the least show much
skill.
The letter follows:
At last / have the opportunity to
reveal to you the course of events in
which / have participated since my
departure from the u. s. A.
After close confinement in which
all information was withheld from us
for two days, in the early hours of
! July Is, we were ordered TO depart
! for the port of embarkation which
later proved to be Pier So, New York
! city. How well i remember as | lay
thinking in the early hours of the
/, morning of home and what the future
{, held in store for me.
At last just before 2 a.. m, the or
4 der was given: Fall in" Oh, how
s quiet the boys were; here and there
/ a smothered laugh, but mostly sol
emn whisperings. At last we wer,
r off to face the adventure. biddinl
L Camp Upton, L. l., farewell. / will
d never forget the sight as long brown
8 columns swung off into the darkness
We were not martialled away by tn
I blare of music. but quietly faded in
e to the night. Any attempt at con
s versation was sternly reprimanded b,
the officers. This was my first re
alization that / was at last off to war
We marched down to where tn,
troop trains were s~idetracked await
ing us. We quickly and quietl
: boarded them and were whirled ava
everything like clockwork. I realiz
ed then what a tremendous task I'm
Gle Sam must have In transportin
his great army across the sea and a
the same time outwitting the HUI,
subs. We arrived in Long Island cit
just as the dawn was breaking, wher
ferries were in readiness for on
: transportation to Pier IS. AS W
: glided down the East river in tn
early hours of the morning, unde
: the gigantic bridges with the skylin
of the great city on both sides, man
lc hearts were heavy, but all laughe
and joked among themselves as W
warped up to huge docks of Pier S,
r. where great liners with their canon
flaged sides were waiting to receiy
r us. We hastily disembarked on tn
N great pier and were loon marchin
D up the gangplank of the royal ma
steamer of the Cunard line, Saxoni,
,e We soon were assigned to variou
p departments and ready to partake c
our first mess. Long will I remem
o Der that pungent appetizing odor 9
N that department which must resen
le BILE a stockyard.
e. About A p. m. we were towed on
D. into the mighty Hudson where othe
i. ships fell In behind us, our ship b,
ing the flagship of the entire convo.
1t was not long before we took on
last look at the Statue of Libert.
We were guided on by a Unite
States battle cruiser and were a,
companied by scout planes. observ;
r tion balloons and sub chasers. TIL
scouts and the observers departed Z
dusk leaving us to our own fate.
After two days we dropped anche
,r in Halifax harbor, Nova Scott,
where we enjoyed the beautif'
scenery Of the quaint old French eli
Id and its surrounding country. HeI
st we had a fair view of the ruins eau
ed by the explosion of the ammun
ton ship. We stayed in port tw
" days in view of the fact that a shi
had just been ~torpedoed out of por
AT the end of this time u safei
being assured we weighed anchor an
steamed out upon the high SCI
where we were joined by other tran
n ports, this making u convoy tt
largest up to that time that had sal
SO ed from America with troops for II
e. A. Il. F., the number totaling 90
in all. We sailed on and on in a zig-zs
1t course, vending our way far to II
northward, coming in contact wit
sn icebergs. Day after day passed unit
no at last we were met by a number
n sub chasers. about 400 miles off Il
r. coast OF Ireland.