New-York tribune., 1919-04-28
1916 Arrive
Here on Seven
Big Troopships
Four More Transports, With
10000 Aboard, Are Ex-
pected to Reach Port New
York Some Time To-day

Seven transports from Bordeaux and
Brest. some of them several days late,
arrived yesterday with 1876 officers
and men Of the A. T.. f. Four troop
ships with about ten thousand men
ore expected TO dock this morning.
The America, from Brest. with 1851
officers and men, the biggest passcn-
ger complement of the fleet, is expect
cd TO dock at Pier !, lloboken. at $3.50
a. M. The West Madakct also will
dock IN lIoboken in the forenoon, and
the Texan and the Minnosotan will be
berthed at Pier :. Bush Docks, in South
Brooklyn.
The Santa Barbara, from Bordcaux,
brought home yesterday the 5Sth Coast
Artillery complete, originally the old
sth of The Bronx. he fighters who
returned in command of Colonel w. r.
Carpenter. of Evansville. Ind. went to
Camp Upton for demobilization.
Only One Man Killed
After training at Fort Totten the
organization went to France in May Of
last year, and early in October was
assigned TO the I'd Army, in the Toul
sector, where it used S-inch howitzers
against the Germans. It's casualties
were unusually light only one man
being killed and fifty gassed. During
its service the 5Sth used American
guns entirely, and did its Sighting at
range of 5000 yards. Throughout its
armistice the regiment fred $500
rounds Of 200-pound shells. The men
said yesterday that thsy were intensely
interested in the part assigned to
them and were preparing to smash
their way through Metz and Strass-
burg when the armistice put an end to
their ambitions.
With the 5Sth came an army min
strel troup called the "Whizz- Bangs" "
which gave performances for 100, 600
of the A. L. F., assisted by jazz band.
Among the $4,000 fighters who re-
turned yesterday was an American
aviator who is officially credited with
having brought down the last Boche
plane of the war He was Lieutenant
Mortimer Nj. Lawrence, of Beaver Dam,
Wis., who returned on the transport
| Orizaba, which had a passenger list Of
3,798 officers and men.
Story of Last Air Fight
Lieutenant Lawrence was with the
104th Aero Squadron. A few hours be-
fore the signing of the armistice he
went up over the German lines, north
east Of Stenay, with two other planes.
1--WE were just looking things over
said Lawrence, "and were not on any
particularly offensive mission, when we
saw flock of Bpcne planes coming for
us. We made no effort to give them a
fight. On the contrary, we started for
home when we saw them coming. There
were sixteen of them. We dived to
increase our speed, and as we came up
again | found the star performer Of the
enemy just above me. He was jockeying
for position to put us out Of business
but | got an opening and made the
most of it.
He driftcd just where | wanted him
to go, and then let him have the best
my machine gun could deliver He went
spinning down, a hopeless wreck"
On the Siboney, which brought home
3,1T2 officers and men, from Bordeaux
came Major James NJ. Mellinger, an
engineer with the 4O7th Telegraph Bat
TALON, made up chiefly Of telephone
employees from Greater New York. He
paid high tribute to the splendid ser
vice rendered by 800 women telephone
operators.
They Love France
"These girls" he said, "are the hap
piest creatures in the world, and few
Of them want to come back for a while
They are in love with their work and
with France"
Among the 1929 officers and men on
the transport Santa Clara was the Fif-
teenth Engineers complete, "a officers
and 1872 men, made up almost ex-
clusively of Pittsburgh men,
Prominent among the troops on the
transport Cape May, which brought
1850 ofiicers and men from Bordeaux.
were the 18th Engineers. who partici-
Pated with tho British in the retreat
from Cambrai in March, 1918. Most os
the men were from st. Louis and Kan.
sas City.
The Pueblo, from Brcst. brought
rome rome 100 Officers and men, and the
Nh'cago from Havre, had 1861.
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