Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-04-23

TT rs hard job for a newspaperman
censorship. cramp. Sergeant Ralph Eb-
bert, first of the EVENING PUBLIC
LEDGER's staff TO enlist. Is back once
more, along with a number of other
joyful Philadelphians. lie cssaycd. as
most of them probably didn't diary on
shipboard. The hand of unhoy fear Of
censorship still grips him. but he man
ages to write what he thinks. Censor
shock, the open minds most dangerous
malady, has not gotten him.
Several Philadelphia officers and on
listed men were among those who came
over on the United States ship Great
Northern along with Sergeant Ebbert
who was member of Evacuation Hos
pital No. 3.
A number Of the men brought medals
and citations for bravery. Incidentally.
there were eight stowaways aboard.
Their discovery caused no end of OK
citement. for they all belonged to Til
lie." the ships mascot Tilic is an
Irish setter. but very popular. The men
did all in their power to make nor aud
her family comfortable.
lHesC anu OInPI lD'lu'HlS hl' lnl'I
estingly set forth in Ebbert's diary Of
April IS and IA. Here it is
Choppy-Eh, Choppy?
April 13-"Choppy is hereby ap-
proved as n descriptive adjective. To-
days sea chopped off the appetitcs of
two thirds of the men on board and lelt
most of the other third with suggestive
4 ,,,it tn
1t has chopped off canteen sales of
candy and cigarettes. and has annihll =
I ated the music Of the infantry band.
The army musicians are sick bunch
especially the bass drum player VINO is
sure than many man has died VINO
did not feel half as bad as he does.
The sun came up bright but was soon
pbscured by rain clouds. Then the wet
decks brought back memories OF camp
Poptapezen with it's duckboardS and
its mud. Duckboards were always pres
ent at the embarkation camp, and 1t was
appropriate that tho camp newspaper
should be called the blackboard. and its
editorial paragraphs grouped under the
caption. "Mud Splashes.
. The wind has been increasing steadily
all day and the waves gaining in vol
ume. The combination was too much
of a handicap for the ma jority. as shown
by the fact that at tonight's movies for
soldiers and sailors only sailors were
present. The Y. NJ. G. A. and Red
Cross representatives on board have
heen ministcrng to the afflicted ones by
passing out occasional oranges ana
lemons. A lemon is priceless just now
with the demand far greater than inc
supply.
The return trip on this shin brings
back TO active service the old lines:
"In my uniform of blue.
I'll como marching back to you.
because the troops are clad in blue once
more--bluc ovcralls and jumpers, Of
ficially designated in army orders as
suits of blue denim.
Right You Are. Buddy
.On boarding the ship each man
was given denim outfit, to be worn
until lust before the boat docks at
Hobokcn. Evidently some previous
troops had landed in the states WIN
clothing that. as the result OF u week
or more on a crowded ship. looked as II
II had come from salvage dump, and
was third class salvage. at that.
Returning vessels take special care
to guard against the presence OF stow .
D aways on board. On the Great North :
ern's last trip marine was discovered
present without leave on the ship, and
absent without leave from his COM
mand. He landed in the brig. and was
never allowed to set foot on United
States soil, but was returned to France.
StOwaways
No captain likes to have stowaways
found on his ship, so there was some
excitement this morning when eight ol
them were discovered. "Tilly,' the shir
mascot, was responsible for their pres
ence ON board. She smuggled them on,
and this morning revealed to an ad
miring crew eight puppies, who didn
rare if the ship rolled ope degree oil
fifty.
Medical officers looked everybody over
to make sure that there were no stow
always of the cootie species sccrcted in
the seams of issue underclothing. Sc
far there are no reports of the presence