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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1917)
TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND. SEPTEMBER 2, 1917. WbmanfWoSfiippedMtfr Sadffomaomin: MM In r BT MRS. HAZEL CARTER. . JMltonal note This la the final article In the aeries by Mrs. Hazel Carter, wife of Corporal John Carter, U. S. A., who, rigged out as a soldier, smuggled herself aboard a transport of the PerBhing expedition and was not discovered until, five days at sea. In the first three articles Mrs. Carter told how ha smuggled herself from Douglas. Ariz., onto the transport with her husband, of the thrilling voyage over, her discovery, and the final parting with ber husband whom she had followed so far. w HIL.E Lhad been saying rood- bye to my husband on the deck of the transport the guards turned their backs and pretended to be busy. They told me afterward that when they saw me rush to the rail they had the scare of their lives. They thought I was going to Jump over after him. They reached me as I crumpled tip on the deck. They picked me up and carried me back to my stateroom prison. One of the boys of the medical division came In and Bet about trying: .to bring' me to. The first thing1 I remember hearing was the voice of a seaman who had been sent on an errand for the "-medic." "A woman makes a hell of a soldier," he was complaining. "If they ever got out in a good stiff battle and things began to look tough for them the whole d army would' go to work and faint" "What are) you biowln' about?" said lone of my personal guards, who was always willing to give me all the best of it. I was his prisoner, and be was a. soldier and didn't want an outsider picking on me. "A lot a license you have to bawl out somebody. That time the boys kidded you and said they were going to draft the sailors Into the Army and send them out first I thought you had the ague." "I wasn't feelin' well. I had a chill." "TJh. huh! A chill In your feet, that's Iwhat you had." "Well, maybe I did. A guy's got a right to his own Ideas about fightin". I ain't afraid of no submarines nor anything else on this here sea, but I ain't hankerln' to go chasing Germans across No Man's Land nor none o' them strange places. If I'm gonna get mine I want to get it on the ocean." This is often the case. Sailors, who no not know the meaning of the word fear on the water, will back out en tirely when it comes to fighting on land. They seem to be born to the eea, A lot of soldiers hate the water. They would rather fight four years In the Army than four days in the Navy. I've seen campaigners who would wade into a machine gun show a yellow Streak from seasickness. "The kid's all right," said my guard to this sailor, recommending me. "She made a darn good doughboy. If she wants to take a flop because her old man has to go out and maybe get beaned by a piece of shrapnel or some thin', let her do It." It all came back to me then, why I was here, the goodbye to my husband, the failure of my plans. Just when it looked as if I were going to get through clean and maybe go with him to the front. I guess I moaned. I couldn't help it. What did I care now whether they thought I was brave or not? My Eammie soldier man was gone. That's ell I could think of. "She's coming to," said the "medic," feeling for my pulse. "You'd better 'clour out, all of you. I'll give her some thing to keep her quiet. She'll feel tetter after a good night's rest." I honestly did not know whether I wanted to come to or not. Life looked pretty hopeless with me back there on the transport, not knowing what was coming off at the camp. Then I thought of my husband. He told me to wait for him. Well, I wouldn't disap point him. There was every chance he would come back and we could be happy again. Since I got back home I have heard of several cases where the wives or sweethearts of boys who have been called away committing suicide. This is hard to understand. If a woman is lucky enough to win the love of a man who will shoulder a gun and go out and fight for his country and her country, Bhe ought to have enough grit to live for him and do her bit in the meantime. He wants to come back and find his home or the girl he left behind him waiting to welcome him. This is one of the things which keeps him going the thought that the sooner it is over the quicker he will get back home to her. It didn't take me very long to find out the captain on the boat suspected I might be one of the quitters. From the porthole in my room I could look out and see the deck. Kept Tnder Guard. A sailor was walking guard up there. He never took his eyes off the porthole. When he saw me come near the opening he looked mighty wor ried. The captain thought I might try to Jump overboard and drown myself. It would be up to this guard to dive over and rescue me. "Don't worry," I called to him. Tm not going to do the Dutch, as we say ' In the Army." "You'd better not." he grinned. "The water is awful damp this evening." But he kept his eye on the porthole Just the same. They brought me everything for din ner they thought would tempt me. I did not touch It. All I did was to walk the floor. Most of the time I cried. For five days and nights I never slept or ate a mouthful of food. The very sight of it choked me. A guard was stationed outside my coor ana another on the upper deck. The one at the door was a soldier, and the' one on deck a sailor. The sol diers belonged to the hospital corps They were detailed to duty on the transports and go back and forth with the ship to which they are assigned. iow, ail the troops were ashore. I spent most of the time allowed ml on deck dally for exercise, watching and hopi-.g for a glimpse of my husband. yes glued to the spot where I knew the camp to be. The boys must have been kept pretty close, because I did not see them again. Now and then I could make out a familiar uniform or figure hurrying along on shore going to or from the ships on official business, but none of them came close enough for me to find out what was " happening. My husband had promised he would do everything In his power to get them to permit me to land. I knew he would keep his word. I still hoped they would relent, and I could go and Join the Red Cross, even if I could not be a regular soldier. Every time a boat put out from the pier. I held xny breath and prayed I 1 s Trsa-s it was someone bringing goods news for me. Then, when It didn't. I was so disappointed I would start crying all fresh again. Maybe you can Imagine Just how I felt. There was the shore, only a stone's throw away. I had braved all kinds of hardships and dangers to reach it. My husband, the truest and best Sammie that ever wore khaki, was there. And here I was a pris oner. I had come all the way, fooled officers, faced submarines, worked and sweated and the best I was to get was a look at It, It drove me crazy. No wonder I - could neither eat nor Bleep. A hundred times a night I walked to the porthole and watched the lights twinkling in the town. It seemed closer some way at night. One even ing the officer of the ship was walk ing by with a soldier. My llg was out and they could not see me. He wn nnnnrfntlv n uestioniner the private. I did not recognize the silhoutte, so I took him for a rookie. "Carter said he tried to get her to go hnplc. but she wouldn't do it." said the officer. "She's one of those babies who always "nas her own way. 1 wisn sne had been my wife for about a minute. What he should have dona was to knock her cold, call an ambulance and take her to the hospital. Maybe after that she'd listen to reason." "Yes. After that there would have been two of us in the hospital." I called throueh the porthole. "And Uncle Sam would have been minus one perfectly good soldier for a while.' The officer wheeled around. He looked as if he would sell himself for a plugged penny. He started to beg my pardon, -but I ducked back into the stateroom in the dark and left him flat. Mv husband went asnore on fiionaay. Wednesday one of the boys told me he had been back on board the day before, but the Captain had refused him per mission to see me. He begged for it, of course. They kept me in my- state room while he was aboard. I was bluer than ever. To think he had been right there on the boat, and I had missed him! That night I kept my eyes on the sailors on watch. If one of them had fallen asleep or gone inside after some thing. I made up my mind I would go over, take a chance and ewlm for it. They were the most wide-awake watchers I ever saw. If I had to wait for one of them to weaken, I would die of old age. You've got to hand it to them for that. Soldiers) Get Great Welcome. They told me the boys were having a great time ashore. The people had given them the keys of the town and were doing nothing but showing the Sammies around. France was turning ltaeil upside aowa to welcome them. m u rJr i.i jn'ss??s. t ii i t in i i n i 1 1 n i 1 1 il i i i ii jr a - .1 w w t i L'l Ml s&Z?tK(lr&i . 11111111(11. II. -II AVh I IP The French girls were bombarding them with kisses and good things to eat, and the men were slapping them on the back and calling them comrade and more in French as best they could, which was none too good. "Don't: it get your goat to think maybe one of them .French dolls is planting a kiss on your old man's brow?" said the guard who brought me the news. I knew he was trying to tease me. "Goat, nothing," I laughed. "Let them go to it. A soldier deserves all the kisses he can collect." The fifth day after I said good-bye to my husband I was up on deck watch ing, as usual, for any sign of someone coming to get me, when a transport farther along the line of ships began to move out. In a few minutes it was followed by another. That meant we were about to start our voyage back. My heart sank Into my shoes. I would not see my r sband again. I was not to go with the Red Cross and take care of the boys when they were woun led. Coming over the ocean did not seem so wide. Now it looked like a million miles across to me. "Orders are to take you to your quar ters and keep you there until we are safe outside," said one of my guar?3. I don't remember how I got there. I guess they half led and half carried me. I heard a bugle blowing somewhere over in the town. It was manned by an American. Every note came clear across the water. The next thing I knew I was on my berth with my fin gers stuck tightly In my ears and my face buried In a pillow. The boat was moving out. On the trip over I was not afraid of submarines. Now, for the first time, I was nervous about them. The ship seemed deserted. Beside myself, the only persons aboard were the crew that worked the transport, the gunners and a sergeant and four privates of the hospital corps. It was rough, too. With all her cargo gone out of her, she pitched and tossed most of the time. I paced the deck for hours at a stretch. My guard was always with me, the sailor on one side and the sol dier on the other. I certainly looked like a popular lady. Many a girl back home would have envied me this escort from both branches of the service. I guess I almost walked the poor sen tries to death. Once, after a long hike, I heard the sailor complaining: "If he don't put on the brakes, my dogs are going to be worn off right up to the ankle. I Joined the Navy because walkin' never appealed to me. The way I'm goin' now I might as well have signed up with the infantry." I was still "he" to the Jackie. One sailor in the gun crew on the way back kept complaining all the time because we did not meet up with a German sub. He was a nice boy, the one who had picked me out as a woman on the way over wnen he saw me try ing to roll a, cigarette, but kept It to himself. We got very friendly. . "Why do you want to see a U-boat?" I asked him. "Aren't you satisfied with the surface of the sea?" "We'd stay on top all right with that baby we've got to shoot," he replied. "All we want is Just & look at one. You know, the gun crew that sinks a submarine gets $5000 from the Gov ernment, to be divided among the nine men. I guess my share of that wouldn't look good to me and my folks back in Iowa, besides the fun of nicking one." That boy typified the spirit of the United States Navy afraid of noth ing, filled with supreme confidence in the ability of the men to shoot quick and straight. After I landed I saw him In Hobo ken, and he was having a romance. He went at it in the same way he would go after the submarine. "I've got to go up the street to meet my girt," he announced, proudly smil ing. "Where is she?" I asked him, "She works up here at the vaude ville theater," he answered. "She gets through now pretty soon." I thought he had done pretty well, grabbing an 'actress. "They'll be calling yon a stage-door Johnny the first thing you know," I warned. He blushed. "Oh, she don't come out the stage door," he defended. "She's an usher, and she's got my wrist watch. 1 only met her at 10 o'clock this morning, but I let her wear it today." "You're a fast worker," I suggested. "Oh, we've got to be In the Navy," he answered proudly, "whether it's girls or submarines. We sailors don't stay in one place long enough to be slow." He went off up the street smiling fine boy, typical of the U. S. Navy clean and wholesome. The sentries were not supposed to talk with me. but they were good fel lows, and didn't mind breaking a rule or two when it wasn't hurting any thing to unbutton their faces and loosen up a bit. My doughboy outfit was beginning to show the strain. I had worn it all the time since we left Douglas. It was cold, too, going back. I mentioned feeling cold to one of the sailors. He offered me an extra sailor suit he had. It was warmer than the soldier's uniform. I put It on.' It fit as though it had been made far me. They told me I made an even better Jackie than I did a Sammie. No girl with closets packed full of smart clothes could be prouder of her wardrobe than I was of my uniforms. Part of the time I was a sailor and part of the time a soldier. Those two suits, with pants, were all the clothes I had, but they put me in both the Army and Navy. There was soma ri valry between the two as to which uni form .1 should wear. All the while I kept begging the guards to tell me why Z had not been allowed to land. They always an swered, "I don't know." and then changed the subject. Finally, after we were out a couple of days, one of them came across. "I don't know for sure," he said, "but I heard it was General Pershing's or ders. He said it would set a bad ex ample." "I heard that, too," volunteered my other escort, "but I also got a rumor it was the French authorities who turned you down. One of the boys told me they put it up to the General bo strong he finally agreed to get you a place in the Red Cross, but the Freneh ies couldn't see it. They got more women than they can use over there now. What they're shy on is men." "Aw, what's eatln' them," grumbled the first guard. "She's more of a man than some of 'em back home who can't get away to go to war because they got to support their wife's uncle's sec ond cousin or than some of those scared rookies we took- over with us. I betcha if she ever got a bead on a Boche, blooey for him! Eh, Carter er I mean Mrs. Carter." I was no nearer the reason for my being out there in the ocean, home ward bound instead of peeling pota toes in the mess tent, than I had been before. In fact, today I do not know who to blame. You can't depend on rumors that break out in the Army like a rash. They have a great wire less service. . Up to the time we left, the boys ashore did not know where they would be sent or how soon. All they were told was they would not be sent up to th-afront. green.. When they did go. they would know the game from start to finish, Pershing was taking no chance on losing a single man through ignorance or unpreparedness. He's that kind of a soldier looks out for his bays all the time. We were ten full days coming back. The trip was quiet. I was under guard all the way. After the fifth day out, I shook myself up and made up my mind to make the best of it. The officers sent a Victrola into my room. I gave concerts every afternoon. The programme began and ended with a solo by John McCormack entitled "The Star-Spangled Banner." One of the sentries on deck kept asking for "Maryland. My Maryland." He had a girl down In Baltimore and he was pretty soft on the subject. He had her picture in a leather case and car ried it on him all the time. The U. S. A. Once SI ore. I was glad to see the tall buildings I knew as those of New "Xork loom up glad and sorry. It made me think of how different it was going out, the ship like a bee-hive full of our boys. Now, It was empty. They were "over there." As we passed the Statue of Liberty a sentry came to attention and saluted. "Greetings, old girl," he said. "I see you're still doing business at the old stand. By the way," turning to me, "what are they going to do with you?" "How do I know?" I replied. "I guess it's the guardhouse for you." he said. "I heard they were going to Jug you." "Prison will suit me fine," ' I answered. "Maybe, by the time I come out the old man will btj back. I might as well be in Jail as anywhere else. Of course, if they let me have my choice, I prefer to Join the Red Cross and try to go over and maybe see my boss the commanding officer of the Carter family." I was kept on the ship for a day and a night. Reporters from the news papers were the first to find me. I don't know what a siege is like, but the Government could make no mis take if they set all the reporters to manning siege guns. They'd never stop until they got the enemy. One of them came up to me on deck in a big hurry. "Where's the woman who went to France on this transport with you," he asked. "I'm it," I said. I was still wear ing my Doughboy uniform. He looked me over a minute, scratched his head, and exploded: "Well, I'll be damned " Finally the officers of the ship tele phoned the police in -tcboken. They came down In a patrol wagon to get me. A matron was with them. They all seemed to be anxious to do any thing for me they could. I was so used to the ship by this time, I hated to leave her. The officers and men on board all wished me good-bye and good luck. I guess, if the truth is told, they hated to see me go. too. I furnished a little excitement for them. I had a free ride in the police taxi cab to the Jail. The matron loaned me clothes so I could go out in the garb of a woman and buy some of my own. I 'cried a little, when I peeled off my soldier uniform, thinking how happy I had been in it part of the time. Skirts felt awful funny and awkward to me. That uniform is going to be locked away in a chest and treasured all my life. I'll hand it down to the young Carters If there ever are any. The officers told me the Government would take no action against me. They had demoted my husband from corporal to private and fined him two-thirds of one month's pay, and they thought that was enough. I couldn't convince them he wasn't in on It originally, al though I tried hard enough. What surprised me was people seemed to think I had done something wonderful. I never looked at it that way at all. Moving picture concerns, photographers, vaudeville agents and newspapers came to me with all sorts of offers. I never had any experience In business. I lived on a ranch down in Arizona when I wasn't at any Army post, and I couldn't understand what X had done to bring myself so much in the limelight. I can rope a steer with the best of them, but when this New York bunch began to mill I was sunk. I was alone here, -knew nobody. One of the nswiper men suggested that, if I wanted to get money, so I could Join the Red Cross and go back. I ought to accept some of the offers. That decided me. The money I make from these articles in . the American newspapers will be used for that purpose. They will give Uncle Sam a Red Cross nurse, passage to "Somewhere in France." preferably near Private (now) John Carter, prepaid. Now I'm going back to Douglas to see the folks. I'll stop in Kentucky, as my husband ordered, and tell his mother all about what a fine Sammie she has for a son. My own mother will be waiting for me. She never knew I was going until I had left. I didn't want her to worry. But, now that I am back, she writes: "If you wanted to be a soldier and fight with your man. It was all right with us. We're , proud of you. Tou're an honor to the blood, and that has been fighting blood since before the Civil War." I don't know how long this war is going to last. but. if It gives me half a chance, I'll be "Over There" with a cross on my arm, looking f-. Private John Carter, U. S. I. (I hope he's a Captain then he's got it in him), and looking out for him and the boys. There'll be someone else I'll be look. ing for. too the "rookie" who talked too much and tipped me off. (Copyright, 1917, by the Bell EyndU cate. Inc.) THE END. CHEAPER FEED NECESSARY Fodder, Straw and Other Roughages May Be Utilized. WASHINGTON, Aug.. 27. "It Is time' to quit shoveling grain indiscriminately into livestock. Good livestock farming demands it and the need of more food requires it. Feeding grain to meat ani mals with a lavish hand is responsible for one of the greatest feed losses on the farms of this country. Hay. fodder, silage and pasture are the cheapest feeds and will carry animals along with a minimum of grain. Keep the frames of young animals developing on these cheap feeds. Withhold the full grain ration until the finishing period ar rives. Breeding cattle may be wintered on the cheaper feeds." This advice of animal-husbandry specialists of the United States De partment of Agriculture to stock feed ers is not emergency service only; it ia the sound logic of meat production. which American farmers must learn if they are to compete successfully with European meat producers in the coming generations. These are good days to learn the lesson of feed con servation. In Farmers' Bulletin 873. "The Utilisation of Farn. Wastes In Feeding Livestock." specialists tell how to use these cheaper feeds in rations for cattle, sheep and horses. A tremendous waste of feeding stuffs occurs annually on American farms, according to figures presented in this publication. In 1914 about 120,000,000 tons cf straw were produced in the United States. Of this amount 55 per cent was fed to livestock, 15 per cent was burned. 8 per cent sold and 22 per cent plowed under or otherwise dis posed of. Corn stover produced in the United States is estimated at 245.253. 000 tons, of which SlVa per cent is fed to cattle. CITY LADS HEAR BETTER Marine Corps Rejects More Rural Youths lor Poor Hearing. WASHINGTON, Aug. 27. That the country youth is not able to hear so well as his city brother, and that only about one in five of the former possess the auricular acuteness of the city bred lad is the opinion of officers at the head of marine corps recruiting in this city. Their deductions are based on the number of country boys rejected for poor hearing. Many persons believe that the con tinual Jarring noises of the city have a tendency to dull the sensitiveness of the nerve centers. However, this is not borne out by the figures of the Marine Corps officers, who believe that the quiet life of the country, free from noises, has a tendency to weaken, through disuse, the responsive nerves in the ear. Scientists point to Innumerable par allels in nature where the disuse of an organ gradually reduces its functioning power or eliminates it altogether. The blind fishes in the dark pools of Mam moth Cave are a notable example. i Juice-qf Lemons! How to Make Skin White and Beautiful At the coat of a small Jar of ordinary cold crer.m one can prepare a full quar ter pint of the Jtiost wonderful lemon skin Loftener and complexion beautifier by squeezing the Juice of two fresh lemons into a bottle containing three ounces of orchard white. Care should be taken to strain the juice through, a ine cloth so no lemon pulp gets in, then this lotion will keep fresh for months. Every woman knows that lem on juice is used to bleach and remove such blemishes as freckles, sallownesa and tan. and is the ideal skin softener, smoothener and beautifier. Just try It! Get three ounces of orchard white at any pharmacy and two lemons from the grocer and make up a quarter pint of this sweetly frag rant lemon lotion and masspge it dally into the face, neck, arms and hands. It Bhould naturally help to whiten, soft en, freshen and bring out the roses and beauty of any skin. It is truly mar- velous to smoothen rough, red hands Adv. V llJ ' r ' ' t ' 1 '- i . - i ? . T - K J N V V , if'- C5!P4 t ' V V r"f " s i ... .... . .... --fr. 1 1