Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1919-01-03

N"cn Carried away between decks, and
fhat the horses We're loose He said
thr"c negroes in his gang we're caught
n This stampede.
The foreman mustered most OF tho
men. and dividing them into three
groups. in charge of himself the sec
md foreman and Doc Casey. they went
below. l followed. An awful sight me,
my eyes.
The ship was lrrching in horrible
manner. All could see was, one
minute pile Of kicking horses.
SmaShcd-up planks and the three ne
grocs piled up in one corner Of the
compartment. and then. with n lurch
OF the ship. they would slide into the
other. Nothing could be done by us.
II was madness to attempt anything.
The three negroes were dead
That night and the following day
was II perfect hell on the shin Tor men
and horses. The ship rode through
the SQuall, and when 1t became calm
we all got busy. Ont of the "a horses
between decks we had to shoot II on
account of injuries. Besides the II
; had died from broken necks. The
! remaining horses were still alive
hut hardly had Il square foot of hide
left. They were n pitiful sight.
The next day the three negroes
were buried ut sea without n word OF
prayer.
For the next couple Of days noth-
ing of Importance happened. ~
About four days out of bordeaux
one of tn" large steam pipes i'm the
lower hold burst. In this hold there
We're Ga horses. The engineer of
III" ship tried 10 repair the break,
but ii was almost worth mans
life to go down there in that hiss
ing and Sc:l!ding steam. The cries
nf the horses went straight to- my
heart. All we could do was to turn
streams of cold salt water from three
pairs of hose into the hold, thus try
ing to keep the heat down and save
as many horses as possible.
Why the engineer did not shut OF
the steam don't know. l noted this
fact in my report. After about four
hours the steam was shut Off and the
two fOrcmcn, Doc Casey and myself,
followed by twelve other men, went
into the hold. I will never forget the
sight rs long rs I live. Nearly every
one of the horses was dead, and those
which still remained alive had to be
shot. Some of them were practically
boiled alive. The weather was hot,
and it was not long before the rottine
bodies of the horses made the stencil
on board unbcarabfc. We had to get
these bodies out Long tackles were
rugged up, n chain around the neck of
dead horse, snd worked the winch.
The bodies were Snakcd along the
pnSSavcwayS in the hold and up to the
hatch. Some of the bodies would not
hold together and it was Il common
S!=ht Ia see dead horse suspended
in the air by his hind leg drop sud-
dcnl" int" the hold below, leaving his
leg hanging TO the tackle.
Every horse sent to France is
branded with different brand. They
have II system of indexing them. AS
each dend horse was Snaked to the
upper deck. Doc had to stOOp over
and make a note of the brand before
the horse was thrown overheard.
AS the dead horses were dropped
over the side. reSounding splash
could be heard and the water was
churncd into a foamy white as the
body mOmentarily sank from view.
Then the bloated body Of the horse
would reHppcar and disappear In the
wake Of the ship, the seagulls hover
Ing and screaming around it.
The grub on that ship was awful,
and day out of Bordeaux the gang
of hOremen refused to work. The
foreman mustered them on the main
deck. and standing on the bridge let
out about twenty minutes Of religion
and advice in their direction. Tho
whole gang Immediately got religious
and returned to their duties.
was heartily sick and disguised
with the rest of the trip, because the
stencil was awful, there being about
twelve dead horses that we could not
get out.
Just outside Of the entrance of the
river leading to Bordeaux, small
rakish boat, flying the trl-color OF
France, came alongside. We hove to
and NJ the gangplnnk came three
French officers. They were cIoseted
with the captain of the ship and our
foreman. and after about twenty min
utcs. left and we continued on our
course
Going up the river In some places
the banks were only about twenty
feet away. We could see the French
women filling their fields. AS we
went by these workers stopped and
waved their hands I'm the air to us, and
we waved back. II was my first sight
OF France. and / was not in any way
disappointed. 1t lived up to my expec-
tntiouS