McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1919-01-10
New York Letter.

| II is inspiring to watch from the
windows Of our Office high above the
city, how the big ships come in load
cd with returning soldiers from
| France. The shrieks of sirens and
whistles Gil the air with sound; the
great vessels move majestically up
the Hudson to their landings; some
of the vessels are hundreds of feet
in length and high as three-story
houses; they hold thousands of men
each, whom we can see on the decks
in the distance, just brown blur Of
khaki, but every mothers son of them
is joyful at seeing his homeland
again, and numberless dear ones are
straining their eyes to catch, il pos
sible, glimpse of familiar form or
face. So far away, they look like
ants, but every one of that multitude
has a heart aching for him some
where, and his heart is also yearniDg
| for some one.
| saw the Leyiathan, the biggest
ship ia existence, come in the other
day. with eleven thousand soldiers or
board. 1t moved majestically up in
to the mouth of the river to the din
of myriad of sounds; the whole har
Dor with it's thousands of vessels had
found voice; the monster slid along
| its smokestacks big as big houses.
and it's nearly one thosand feet Of
length, on the side, painted in cur
ious stripes and checks, all crooked
and twisted; big. black lines that were
calculated to fool the Germans seeing
it at distance, where it looked like
lot of waves chasing each other Ov-
er the surface Of the sea. Three at.
tempts were made to sink the Levis
than by the German submarines, for
this ship was once the Vaterland, thu
pride Of the German fleet, the king Of
all ships that sail the sea, and which
we took over along with other YES
sells chat were here when the war
broke out and were not allowed tt
leave. Ten thousand dollars was Of.
fered to the submarine crew that
/. sank the Leviathan, but one Of them
got caught in the attempt, sunk with
depth bombs. This continuance proved
to be the real thing for fighting sub
marines. It is well known that wat
err increases in pressure very rapidly
as the depth increases, ard it was
easy to contrive bomb which would
be exploded by sinking it, say in sew
enty feet Of water, when the water
pressure overbalancsd spring inside
and TOUCHED off the T. N. 7. (trinitrai
toluol, most powerful of all explos-
iyes.l AS water is incompressible,
/, the explosive force was conveyed 70
the submarine by transferred force
through the water, and it smashed
the tiger of the ocean" like an egg
, she'll, even when the bomb was con-
!, siderable distance away.
The boys have been coming in at
the rate Of many thousands day,
and New York is good to them. Or
the Leviathan were many wounded
they were at once taken to hospitals
and given the best of care. But many
!. of the brave fellows in splints and
bandages joined in the cheering and
waved whatever they could, as they
steamed into the harbor and saw the
Statue Of LiberY raising her arm into
} the blue, and star-tickling monsters
Of buildings at the southern end OF
| Manhattan Island, the most Impress
i've sky-like in the world. The boys
will be tenderly cared for and given
a chance to make a living when they
: are able. It is hugh problem to
deal with. for many have lost their
So, and the use Of their limbs, but
our country is used to meeting great
problems and settling them right. and
III do not fear for the "doughboys" Of
Uncle Sam, no matter how they have
been hurt. The war risk payments
will feed and clothe the really dissb-
led, and the great men Of our nation
will do everything they can to help
, the brave BOYS in khaki, so that mons
kof them will suffer. No money can
ever pay for what they did, and they
have laid humanity under obligation
to .hem and to their country for ages
to coma.
The Secretary of the Interior, Hon
Franklin K. Lane whom | have met
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