Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-28

they fare 100 per cent better than
the best-of there, but also they have
all these little luXuries that are dis
appearing or have disappeared at
home. 1t will not be long before the
American soldier. wherever he is.
will have the highest living standard
Of any group in the world.
Our whole trip so far has been
very little, but a series of beautiful
days. Sometimes the water is so
blue it hurts. The other dav a
school Of dolphin followed the boat
along for about Is minutes, jumping
2 feet out of the water and then
making perfect dives back in. They
were cruising along just under the
surface, where you could see them
going the same speed as the
boat-and were apparently coming
out just to see what it was all about
or else putting on a show for us.
Every day we see lots of flying fish
hitting along, and one day a huge
shark followed our wake for several
hours. Moonlight nights - which
means. a lot of them-are so wonder
tul they are very much appreciated,
even though we suppose they mean
greater danger from submarines. to
some extent
Lifebelts Carried Regularly.
Under these circumstances it is
hard, if not impossible, for us to
remain aware of the fact that we
are in any danger. You can realize
1t vaguely if you stop deliberately
and think about it, but a minute
later the idea is gone. I don't mean
by this that we don't take all rea-
Sonable precautions-We have to do
that Blackouts are scrupulouslv
maintained and life belts are carried
pretty regularly-on occasion they
are worn. If you sleep on deck,
which most Of us have done for a
large part of the trip so far. YOU
take your bag, packed with all the
necessary items of equipment, I'D
with you. That all this Just becomes
second nature. like looking up and
down the street before you cross it.
In fact, the feeling we have is
almost that you are in about as
much danger when you do cross the
street as We are in here.
All this is true. and yet the aware
ness of some danger turks in all our
minds. This is given away, cornily
enough, only in dreams. Most of us
aboard have had at least one hair
raiser, featuring torpedoes and much
tp-n
has become something of a minor
classic here. AS we fought our wa.
up the companionWay through
water and smoke the lights went
Out. Some one said. in typicallv
exasperated tone of voice, There
goes the fuse and I woke up.
Refuse to Quit Quarters.
On, we'll, it's queer world When
we came aboard, we beefed loud
and long about our cabin accommo-
datlons, which. as I think I told
you. were third class. So long and
loud did we beef that the unit lead
ers decided it was only fair to have
those OF us in third class swap with
those in first when the voyage was
half done. Oh, the bliss of it to
nave cold water in thermos bottle
and have the bed made every day
ana, according to rumor, get clean
sheets once week Yet-When the
day came for us to leave our soualid
quarterk3l8 men strong-we grew
homeslck, Wept and finally refused
to go.
Small wonder, too. I doubt if any,
thing has ever had quite the solid
muSty charm of our casbah. There
those three aragons-Ahmet, Mo-
manned, Sala--and above all, the
incompatible Hassan Abdel-Aziz-I
minister to our every need, and boast
the ship over how much nicer we are
than the other passengers, even
though they are the only stewards
ABOARD who don't get tipped Here
Is the place where, Shirtless. Won
wander in to breakfast three GUAR
ters OF an hour late, and a beguilinp
black Waltzes up to you wanting to
know whether you would like rye
brlsbies or rye puff, or perhaps even
corny flakes. CThe first two, we
have decided, are rice crispies and
puf1ed rice, respectively Would
you like your fried eggs with hem or
with selslges. Where's the coffee?
Caf1ay comma now, or, sometimes,
becomma now. This is the land of
the clean sheet avery two week"
Where else could you find all this?
And how, having once found it,
~ j