The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-11-16

messed an important event in the his.
! tory of Queenstown, The news had
| been printed in no British or Ameri-
can paper, yet in some mysterious way
| it had reached nearly everybody in tho
town. A squadron of American de-
stroyers, which had left Boston on the
evening of April gath. had already
been reported to the westward of Ire
land and was due to reach Queestown
that morning. At almost the appoint
! ed hour a little smudge of smoke
appeared in the distance, visible to the
crowds assembled on the hills: then
presently another black spot appeared.
and then another: and finally these
flecks upon the horizon assumed the
form of six rapidly approaching war
| ships. The Stars and Stripes were
broken out on public buildings. on
private houses, and on nearly all the
water craft in the harbor: the popu-
| lace, armed with American flags. be-
gan to gather on the shore: and the
local dignitaries donned their official
robes to welcome the new friends
from overseas. One of the greatest
days in Anglo American history had
dawned, for the first contingent of the
American navy was about to arrive in
British waters and join hands with the
allies in the battle against the forces
of darkness and savagery.
| Arrival At Queenstown.
The morning was an unusually bril-
liant one. The storms which had toss
ed our little vessels on the seas for ten
days. and which. had followed them
nearly TO the Irish coast. had sudden
/ ly given way to smooth water and a
burst of sunshine. The long and grace
full American ships steamed into the
channel amid the cheers of the people
and the footing of all harbor craft:
the sparkling waves. the greenery of
the bordering hills the fruit trees al
ready in bloom, to say nothing of the
smiling and CHEEKY faces of the well
looming Irish people, seemed to prom
Use a fair beginning for our great adj
venture. Welcome to the American
colors," had been the signal of the
Mary Rose, a British destroyer which
had been sent to lead the Americans to
their anchorage. Thank you, I am
| glad of your company answered the
| Yankee commander; and these mes
sages represented the spirit OF the
whole proceeding. Indeed there
lsomething in these strange looking
American slips, quite unlike the
British destroyers, that necessarily in
/ spired enthusiasm and respect. They
were long and slender; the sunlight
falling upon their graceful sides and
steel decks, made them brilliant OBJ
| jects upon the water; their business
like guns and torpedo tubes suggest
ed efficiency and readiness. The fact
that they had reached their appointed
rendezvous exactly on time. and that
they had sailed up the Queenstown
harbor at almost precisely the moment
that preparations had been made to
receive them emphasized this impress
sion. The appearance of OUR officers
on the decks in their unfamiliar, close
Iy fitting blouses, and of our men. in
their neat white linen caps. also at
once won the hearts of the populace
Sure an it's our own byes comm
back to u.s." an Irish woman remarked
as she delightedly observed the unmis-
takably Gaelic countenances of con-
siderable proportion of the crew. IN
Ideed the natives of Queenstown seem
ed to regard these American jackfes
almost their own. The welcome
provided by these people was not of a
formal kind; they gathered spontane-
ously to cheer and admire. In that
part of Ireland there was probably not
| q family that did not have relatives or
associations in the United States
There was scarcely a home that did
not possess some memento of America
The beautiful Queenstown Roman
Catholic Cathedrals, which stood out
SO conspicuous1y, had been built very
largely with American dollars, and the
prosperity of many local family had
the same transatlantic origin.
| 1t was hardly surprising. therefore,
that, when our sailors landed for a
few hours liberty, many hands were
stretched out to welcome them. Their
friends took them arm -in-arm, march
ed them to their homes and enter
tanned them with food and drink, all
the time plying them with questions
about friends and relatives in Amer
ica- Most Of these young Americans
| with Irish ancestry had never seen
Ireland, but that did not prevent the
| warm hearted people of Queenstown
from hailing them as their own. This
Icordialfty was appreciated. for the trip
across the Atlantic had been very Sc
Ivere, with gales and rain storms near
i ly every day.
4 The senior officer IN charge was
Commander Joseph K Taussig whose
| flagship was the Wadsworth. The 9TH
er vessels of the division were the
IConyngham. Commander Alfred w
Johnson. Porter. Lieutenant-Com
mander Ward X. Workman; McDou-
aal