The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-01-10

n huge joke Tor me to rave about
the moon after spending the eve
ning with two men!
| learn we have quite a few not
ables on board, IN English general,
an admiral, a Sir an English men,
Der of parliament, McGutcheon, the
cartoonist, and others. / like the
NJ. p. very well, he is so very nice
to his wife. There are some other
members on board about whom / am
curious. They look so intelligent
and distinguished We have a
rumber OF American officers ON
board. Most of them are nice-a
few are dubs. BY the way this
boat is Il sister TO the Titanic. This
has been a lovely day-no rain or
sleet, and the sun has shone part
of the time. Now | must go below
and comb my hair. 1t is nearly time
for the Bugle to blow for dinner.
Thursday: thirk l left off with
the call for dinner, last evening.
We had an enjoyable time last eve
ning-nad big entertainment. |
will seEd you the program toskeep
for me. You will note our several
Honorable" and "Sirsi. Our unit
was supposed to be the star of the
evering-for what / do not know
Anyway We had a big basket of fruit
sent TO us. l could not stay the
evening through, as the room got
too close for me. Our Camp Lewis
Nj. DIS. are or deck today. They
have been sea sick. He were glad
to have them back again, as they
are nice chaps.
By the way my fat friend is not
q bachelor, after ali. He is mar
ried man
They auctioned off McCutcheon's
cartoons and fine programs with all
the signatures of the notables and
made a lot Of money for the sailors
home or something-last night,
after the entertainment
Today has been very rough and
rainy, the wind blowing quite hard
Some of the girls got sick again.
It is beautiful TO watch the pros
phCrescnce on the water tonight
The big, foamy waves look all ablaZe
at times, and the water, as it swirls
around the boat is full of flashing
lights. l believe we are to be met
by q convoy tomorrow morning, as
we Itear the Irish coast. The girls
have quite nice time together when
they are well enough. / had to
laugh this morning. About ten OF
them We're sitting together singing
20. you Great Big Beautiful Doll"
IS the Y. M. c. A. and a couple of
Americans went past. They just
Cd nd
Englishman came by-he had three
stars and a crown on his shoulder,
which means some big officer. The
girls began singing it again. The
Englishman rushed past like mad
ard his face was as red as it could
be- The girls never noticed him.
they were too busy having a good
time, but l sat where l could see
MIN, and il makes me laugh every
time | think how funny and scared
he looked. I'll bet he thinks he was
nearly captured. l bet he would
like to send us all to Germany
Friday Afternoon: Well, this is
our last night on board. Tomorrow
morning we are to lard in England
This morning the escort met us.
whole and the destroyers ard boats
that etlard us are the escort. We
have three, one on either side and
ore iE front. 1t is very enjoyable
watching them. They look so pref
ty. They poke their noses into the
foaming spray and frequently when
they come up they look as though
the whole boat is flooded. Some
times all you car see is the tunnels,
as the water is rough here in the
channel. But they drive right along
We did rot set them until they sud
denly appeared at our back. They
are sofast it did not take them long
to catch up after our first sight of
them. They are American destroy
ers, so look little extra good to
US. We don't know how they hap
peped to come up from the rear, but
never the-less here they arc. Our
one subject of conversation, this
afternoon has been money. We
each went with a five dollar green
back, ard had it exchanged for
English coin. We each have a fist
full-and don't any of us know one
coin from another. ] have learned
that a half pence is called "ha-
pence"
There is to be some kind Of an
entertainment tonight Ore of the
bOatmen took three of us girls
through the boat. 1t is a regular city
had never realized what it meant
to run a boat like this. Men were
just changing shift when we went
through the engine room. and there
were lot of men. There was q
meat room, a fruit room, grocery,
bakery, and | can't remember what
all-When we leave this boat we
are to take days ratianS with US
food is not plentiful over here.
When we waken tomorrow morning
we shall see land SO | car say "ovcr
here" now. We don't know where
we are going nor when we are 60
ing-some of the girls have been
sick all the way over. They think,
now, that they will never go back
again. 1t has been pretty rough
(rot really bad-just pretty rough)
today. The sea sick girls have been
waiting to see how mary Of us who
have not beer sick will be land sick
after we arrive. They say it is
worse than sea sickness. / am not
worrying, though. This steamer
must certainly have been beautiful
before it was made into troop
ship. The room in which / am writ