Evening star., 1941-08-08

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and came up Cne Bay 10 baltlnOTe.
There we loaded with chemical
fertilizer down to the plimsoll line,
and shifted our ambulances to the
well deck forward. We left Balti-
more for Port of Spain, Trinidad,
on March %. We were an oddly
assorted lot of passengers. There
were many missionaries who sang
hymns. We of the ambulance out
fit, I'm afraid, spent more time in
the bar than listening to the singing.
The crew, too, was a mixture
Nubians, Arabs, Turks, hybrids.
There were few seamen among this
riff-raff from Near Eastern water
front. The captain, however, was
English and the chief engineer,
oddly enough, Scottish-another
GlencannOn, he seemed to us. Early
in the voyage we heard rumors of a
blackout, for which the ship was
equipped
The Zamzam Gets Excited.
After leaving Trinidad we ran into
a terrific squall going along the
coast of South America. The ship
was still rolling and pitching when
we had the usual rough-house and
initiation" of noFices crossing the
Equator for the first time. One of
our men fell down companionway
on mis- head. He developed a severe
conclusion and was put to bed. This
was our first hard luck on that
strange ship.
Nobody seemed to know why we
put in at Pernambuco, Brazil. Two
magazine correspondents got on
there, but SO far as We could see no
cargo was loaded or landed. Then
the Zamzam headed southeast for
Cape Town. We were about five DAYS
on our course when. one afternoon.
the Zamzam suddenly turned west.
The engines Speeded up. checked
them with my wrist watch. They
got up to 80 revolutions a minute
The zamzam, it appeared, was doing
her miserable best.
There was a place on ton side
which gave a view of the engine
room far below We watched the
Eastern black gang toiling like mad.
Even "Glencannon'S' cat seemed ex-
cited. incidentally. he later saved
the cat. We passengers knew some
danger threatened, but We couldn't
learn anything from the officers.
sounds Like a She'll"
That night the ship turned south
and by dawn the next day was back
on her southeast course. I expected
trouble and was on deck before dav-
light. All the officers were on the
bridge intently scanning the horizon
with binoculars.
They told us they shifted the
course to check the compass"-an
unbelievable maneuver so far at sea.
Later the radio operator said a
Norwegian ship had mesSaged she
was being chased and shelled by a
German raider. We never knew if
this ship was sunk, and the sailors
we met on the raider did not mem
tion the incident. 1t seems probable
the ship went down with all hands.
Before dawn on April II I was
asleep with two men of our outfit
In the little cabin we shared amid
ships. I was awakened by a dis
tant bop" 1t sounded like a
champagne cork. and was followed
by a whiz that died away. In the
half darkness of our cabin, some
body said:
That sounds uncommonly like
a shell"
l was still partly asleep. 1t was
moment before I realized the
| others had never heard q shell
and it must have been who
made the remark One of my ROOM
mates got up and ran to the port
hole to look out. I pulled him away
because that was bad place to be
with the shells coming from that
side.
! The Zamzam Shakes
The other chap was a heavy
sleeper. I was trying to get him
awake when the next shell fixed
that for me. 1t hit close alongside
and sentta showerbath of salt water
through the portfolio. We all lay
| fiat on our stomachs.
The French have an apt phrase
for this belly flop" maneuver, ont
of the first I learned under bonn
bardment. I hesitate, however, te
use it here, as I am not quite Ger.
tain of all its implications. Flat or
our cabin floor We remained while
j the gunners sent over shell after
shell. The zamzam shook from the
impacts.
Ours. I believe, was the safest
course under the circumstances. AL
the ships people hit were upright
moving about the corridors or or
deck. One shell struck amidships
on our side. The smoke rolled dowr
the corridor. At first we thought
the ship was on fire, but the .odol
of the smoke reassurei us. II
smelled like an explosive.
The hit amidships, we learned
later, got Vicovari as he was goinf
into the corridor with his suitcase
The shell opened 3foot hole into
his cabin, and steel fragments broke
his leg, ankle and. elbow.
Search for a Baby's Hat.
The three of us stayed put until
the shelling ended, and the Zam-