Henderson daily dispatch., 1941-06-23
June =, 1871
Cintra, Portugal

'NSti
Dear Dad:
Received your cable to Madrid,
Iut was impossible to answer it be-
lone today. | am writing you this let
L., NOW Us 1t is necessary for it 10
b, mailed tonight to catch the clio
PEI.
About Ned-He and Harry were
Iuumlng together and their cabin as
were all of ours. unlucklly, was on
the ~ldc of the ship that was shelled.
Haly says he doesn't know when
Ned was hit. but we found out from
Ned that he was hit in the cabin. A
.i,Il hit a llieboat which was out
side them door and evidently shrap-
rel got Ned. He went from the cabin
t. The other side of the boat. down a
rope ladder into a lifeboat and sat up
by himself until picked up by the
raider 20 after. | understand he
lost coi> ciousness when he reached
tine deck Of the raider. When | got
1u The raider | found out he was hurt
ond went Immediately to the nos
T.tai The ships doctor operated i'm
ncdlately and Ned recovered con-
seriousness the next day. The doctor
Told me he had a $3.50 chance.
Ned has his clothes, passport and
Travellers checks.
About OurScireS-We were all very
lucky not to have been killed. The
sheIllng began at daybreak and the
rough estimate was that fifty shells
were hurled-ninc direct hits we're
scored. Two others beside Ned were
badly hurt as were several minor
~liurlcs. Absolutely no warning Of
any kind. | was o rudely
aHukcned in my life and | hope
never like it again.
Dlr boat was the last to leave and
w.. saw practically everything. The
Egyptian crew We're absolutely ter
Iilcd. But the passengers We're all
quite calm. One llfeboat sank with
quite Il few children in it, but all
We're picked UP by the raider. Things
happened so fast that you had no
my cabin dressing-trying to pick out
the correct pair of pants for my coat.
It was dark in there and ! picked
out the wrong pair. left just as soon
a. | realized that was on the wrong
SIDE Of the ship. All in all it was an
experience that | shall never forget if
! i've to be a hundred.
" spent the night on the raider
and then were transferred to a prison
ship. 1t was supposed to carry IS pas
slnGors and there a 23O passengers
and 1870 crew Off the ZamZam. The
women and children We're put in the
,....a,nnr ,,,.,torr ,nI tho r,a>I lnd
men passengers put in two freight
holds. A mor miserable existence
you can't imagine. We slept on pal
iet9 on the floor With one thin blan-
kct. We ate NJ of the same bowls
We washed in. About a pint of fresh
wafer a day TO wash in and even
down the equator we seldom got oVel
Il Quart of oily water Il day to drink,
The food was terrible, beyond dc
scfIplion. The bread was sour and
brown. Gave most everyone cramps
and dySentery. The food was soup
always made out of buggy food. The
We got. We lived like that for five
Weeks-sunk on April II and landed
at st. Jean de Luz, France, May 20,
Constant danger from the British had
us sleeping in our clothes for las
olght days. The cold had me doing IT
any now.
Some of the people were right sick,
Lat our group faired fairly well,
Harry got a little sick and lost 20
25 pounds, | lost Is from the diet.
/ haven't shaved since the sinking
and everyone stares at me as il | was
a curiosity.
We were sent from st. Jean de
Luz to Biarritz and stayed there foi
ten days. The change where we were
finally given the freedom of the town
was almost too much. You can get
what you want there, except meat
if you have money and fortunately
We had plenty and by a little trad
nag got 100 francs for S LOO the Of
fetal or German rate was so francs
ior 100. Our quarters were not
good and the food was not good but
Harry and | kept a room practically
all the time at a big hotel n ate
out and Jared better than the Ger
man offices. A German general
makes about as much as | do. Things
are very cheap-champagne, the Des'
could be mad at 40 cents a quart and
bottled in bond Canadian whisky at
Sl,O0 a fifth. The French would sell
us stuff the Germans dldnt eve