The Washington herald., 1919-01-04
ALL SAVE 200
SAFELY TAKEN
OFF TR0OpSH|P
Turbulent Sea Causes Post
ponement Of Rescuing
Those on N. Pacific.
WATER SUPPLY LOW
Navy Bossed Days Task of
Getting Stranded Soldiers
Safely Ashore.

Fire Island, Jan. 3.-All save 200 Of
the seriously wounded men aboard the
stranded transport Northern Pacific
had been safely removed tonight when
renewed turbulence of the sea caused
those in charge of the rescue work
to postpone further activities until
daylight.
All through the day and through the
gathering gloom OF the winters night.
boat load after boat load of troops
had been transferred from the trans
port in which they had been impris-
oned since early Wednesday morning,
and carried overland not infrequently
through-high tossing waves that
drenched them with salt spray, to
other craft of various kinds.
The hospital ship Solace received
many stretcher cases. These were
handled with exceptional care during
that part of the day when Neptune
was somewhat Off his guard and the
sea had Quilted down somewhat. When
the breakers again began to pound
the rescue work was confined largely
to getting off the sound and some of
the slightly wounded men. The trans
pvt lNODtiN ItNtINtu d
number of the slightly wounded after
which she steamed away TO land them
at Hoboken.
Lark for UninIured.
The uninjured soldiers, who had
from the first regarded the entire
adventure as a huge lark, were car
ried in cockle-shen boats to destroy
ers and submarine chasers They
laughed and shouted and cheered and
sang. Rocked in the Cradle of the
Deep" as they were tossed about in
the frail craft and after being landed
on the destroyers and chasers.
The latter are proverbially no boats
for landsmen, as they are built for
speed rather than stability and are
tossed about like eggshells by the
waves. But the Yanks took it all as
part of the days work and enjoyed
every minute of it-except those
whose stomachs went unaccountably
on strike.
Today the navy. which had safely
conveyed the passage of the Ameri-
can millions. so- France determined
to boss the job of seeing the strand
ed soldiers safely ashore. And as
efficiently as they had performed
their first hard task. its officers and
men addressed themselves to the
work in hand. And when tonight
they had information that all but 200
of the transports 2,4S9 souls had been
removed without a single serious
mishap, they grinned and frightened
their belts for tomorrow's work.
Fire Causes Excitement.
Some excitement was caused late
today by a small fire on the North
ern PacifiC's after deck. but a khaki
clad bucket brigade quickly extin-
guished the flames and the men con-
tinued centering their interest in
aiding or watching the passage
down the Jacobs ladders of their
companions as they clambered into
the craft dancing Crazily below.
The Crests of the huge breakers
were smoothed somewhat by oil. It
was poured upon the seas surface
in considerable quantities and had
an appreciable effect upon the water
also upon the uniforms of rescuers
and rescued alike when a frolick-
some wave sprayed its oil-laden
surface over an entire boatload.
Gee. me for a hot bath" said a
bronzed young veteran. grinning
through an oil-coated face as he
climbed with a landsman's uncertain
step upon destroyer. Look at my
uniform. too. You think I'd been
doing X. P. for six months and had
been boiling my outfit in greasy
soup"
"Ah. whatcher speckt?" reported
another. When a feller's ship
wrecked d'y think he's got a guar
antee signed by Uncle Sam that he'll
be rescued on a feather bed?"
A rapid fire of questions were shot
at the gobs aboard the naval vessels
by the doughboys as they scrambled
aboard. Here are some samples:
When do we eat?"
"Is this our welcome home?"
Hey, Buddy, is the subway FIN
ished?"
who's sitting on New York's lid
Is he too big to be pried loose?"
"Djever see a more ladylike ship
wreck"