Evening star., 1945-10-31
McLennore
Ponders 81 Dreum
Of Return to Pocific
By Henry McLemoYs

n COuLlloA QuCStlOh uoACu 1OiIuST
GIs, Is this:
When things get back to normal,
or thereabouts, would you like, as a
tourist, to retrace the travels you
took as q soldier.
Speaking for myself, the answer is
yes and no. I certainly wouldn't t
mind reliving those few days in San
Francisco before We took of, with
Dan London of the st. Francis Hotel
helping us store up some lovely
memories Of the country we were
about to leave. And a soldier who
wouldn't like Honolulu would COM
plain about Heaven just because the
Marines were guarding 1t.
But after that, I'm not sure. My
first stop after Honolulu was when
the B-24 settled on Canton Island.
Canton Island is all coral and a yard
wide. There is only one stree" on
the place, and 1t is bush that a
midget contortionist would have
trouble finding shade under. The
island is bleached coral and sand;
the glare is all but binding, and,
because of the sharks, the only safe
way to swim is in a double e-breasted
diving bell. Canton you can have.
With IA points.
Passaic to Fiji.
Then came Fiji. This may be
very lovely place, but 1t will remain
in my memory as the place where
a PIX sergeant sold me some "genu-
Inc Indian ivory carvings, straight
from India" for price so high that
1t must have included the made in
Passaic, N. j." labels I later dis
covered.
Guadalcanal, I won't even discuss.
Suffice to say, Guadalcanal is one
place that won't ever have a real
estate boom. Even the monkeys and
the pythons try to sublet their
apartments on that place.
New Caledonia, and its capitol,
Noumea, are not SO bad. A man
could, If he tried, spend half an hour
in Noumea without seeing all its
sights more than twice. What I
chiefly remember about Noumea Is
that all the women weighed 800
pounds and wore flaming red dress
es, and recall distinctly the mess
sergeant I shared a tent with at
Camp Barnes-his name was Anon
who could cook a lizard so BEAU
tifully that 1t tasted exactly like
a lizard.
II I ever went back to Bougain-
Vile, it would be to see the rain
fall and an animal or insect which
the soldiers nicknamed Barking
Charley" No place has rain like
Bougainville. 1t once rained so hard
that the GIs walked out OF the
open-air theater when Betty
Cradle picture was showing. No
one, to my knowledge, ever saw a
Barking Charley" To this day he
remains a mystery. But what a
noise maker! The minute the sun
went down, and man crawled In
his foxhole or tent, Barking Char
ley" would begin. One night he
would sound like an elephant with
its trunk caught in a revolving door.
The next. he would give off a cry
as If he were Napoleon on Elba with
a toothache. And he was always
right under your cot or In the bush
nearest your foxhole. His lungs
were of tempered steel and his en-
ergy was boundless. Not until the
sun came up over Empress of Au-
gusta Bay did he stop his yelling.
Goose Takes a Gander.
Brisbane is in many ways lovely
city, but to me 1t will always be the
,own where I won goose.
I landed there at In the morn
ing. At $50 took a chance on q
sidewalk rattle and 9;31 I was the
owner Of a big, live goose. I was
determined to keep 1t and get i'll
cooked for me. I kept that goose
two days, under my cot in the Red
Cross center on Adelaide street.
Two hours before ! was to take 1t to
a restaurant where I had arranged
for the chef to prepare it, the goose
I am not one to sus-
pect that any man who serves in the
United States Navy would steal a
fellow serviceman's goose, but that
COB bunking below me had a mighty
greasy look about the corner of his
mouth the morning after the goose
disappeared. I thought of writing to
Admiral Halsey about by suspi-
ciol1s, but I moved on the next day to
New Guinea.
Space prevents me telling you
about New Guinea at this time.
Anyway, no one should be told
about New Guinea.
You know, the more think about
1t, the more I feel that will take
my travel money and pay back some
OF the money put the bite on my
syndicate for during the war. I
have heard that 1t Is fine feeling
not to be in debt.
Distributed by McNaught Syndicate, Inc.
Every man in the armed forces
- T.