General Sturgis (AP 137) - Naval Cruise Book

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Suave debonairish Vaughn SNOW, pens third class, Chaplain striker, recently adopted two dogies who dogged his heels like Irish Setters, never letting him out of their sight. Everything worked out O.K. until certain members of the N Division were startled to find the G.l. ' s hibernating in their sacks. Arf, Arf ! . . . Casanova CLEGG, Sic, first division lover deluxe may not need lessons in the afore- mentioned art but he should learn to duck when big brothers swing. At the Ringside: With around 1000 mixed spectators cheering, hooting, and otherwise making discordant vibrations, Army and Navy pugilists lightly spiced with Marines squared off in the ring on No. 6 hatch each evening last week. The spectacle would have been complete with loquacious Clem McCarthy at the mike selling Gillette Blue Blades. Hov ever, Clem or no Clem, most fights were even-steven. The shoe leather sol- diers had the right slant on matters when they would wait for the unfortunate swabbie to enter the ring. They would then choose the foxiest fighter at that weight (or above) and the premeditated massacre was underway. All Ship ' s Company men at least got their dukes up. Showing plenty of polish was the dusky flash, Orville PEOPLES, Stm2c. A very fast man with a lightning left jab and a right cross which proved itself, Dead Pan PEOPLES, pound for pound, was by far the best fighter seen. He could have a future in the fight game just for the asking. . . . Two first class men won the honor of pulling in the first fish off the fantail when they hauled in a couple of tuna. The fortunate fishermen were WILKEN, SKlc, and WIL- SON, MMIc. ... Could it be that McWILLIAMS, SC3c, is also a little punchy. He and the barber were standing topside when a ship suddenly opened up at a supposedly floating mine. Said Cookie : Just listen to those guns go BANG, BANG, BANG! ! ! MANOLA ' s only comment: Do you expect them to sound like chimes playing ' My Wild Irish Rose ' ? Late News Flash: Chief Master at Arms loses uppers when piping chow during special sea detail. Do we have to explain? . . . The old saying, Get a horse was aptly put to use by Lt. Roger C. FELL when he was unable to procure a jeep in which to see Manila. For two pesos, (the cheapest price we ' ve yet heard about in the city) Roger says he became proprietor of one of those bright colored carretelas pulled by an indominatable miniature pony, and saw the city in style. »5»

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The belligerent MAA force has been kept busy breaking up crap games lately. But all they get for their efforts is Jap occupation money. . . . Heard below decks — Daniel Paul Cafarelli, GM2c, singing Into each gun tub some rain must fall, but too damn much is falling into mine. What a voice! . . By the way, have you noticed the digestible fodder zee cooks have been doling out of late? Pay them a compliment or two, they deserve it. Cooking on a transport is a long and thankless job. . . . Clancy ' s man, Irish James L. McDonald, GM3c, asked us to put an ad in this week for his book, Stately Timber. When asked if he lost it, back came the facetious answer, That ' s putting it mildly. I was rolled! Seems like he was sleeping with his head on the book, when some sneak thief actually rolled his dome to one side and made off ' Wid de evidence. ' . . . Chattery A la Sinatra Hemsath, S2c. took in quite a bit of beach in Manila. We didn ' t hear about any footba ' l games while we were there, but nevertheless Sinatra came back raving about the things gals wave over their heads at football games . . . POM-POMS At the ringside: (Fool ' s Paradise) Two radar girls, Miller, RdM3c and Larson, Sic. were fluttering about the ring last week waving their gloves at each other. If they had kept their eyes open long enough, they might have landed a punch. Maybe they ' re PIP punchy! Still at the ringside: Painter, GMIc, was the promoter and during his pro- moting he asked plumpless Ford, RTIc, if he would like to step into the ring and spar around. Hell, repied the thin man, I haven ' t enough wind to jump three times and still stand up! The rumor has it that BUSH, diminutive GM2c, is corresponding with the lonely heart club in search of a doll his own size. Just about four feet high. What next, little man? . . I can ' t judge distance WILKENS, stores first class, claimed he could tee off on a golf ball from this ship to the one off our starboard beam. Distance: Only 600 yards. WILKENS should be giving golf lessons to Jimmy Thompson, the longest hitter on the fairways. . . . L. «»

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When he pulled an apple from his pocket while serving on Shore Patrol in Manila, Lt. (jg) Harold C. SMITH found he had something. A crowd, including both G.l. ' s and Filipinos, quickly gathered, and one G.I. declared, That ' s the first apple I ' ve seen in two years. And what ' s this about Lt. Comdr. W. M. HUNTLEY almost breaking up the Junior League when he switched in a pinochle deck on the sly? It is customary for all officers to stand when the executive officer enters the wardroom at mealtime, but last Thursday evening, after the breakdown, Comdr. L. H. RANKIN and ethers at his table stood as Chief Engineer Lt. Comdr. THOMPSON approached his seat. King for a day. Bartering honors among the officers should certainly go to the party which visited Tac- loban the day the ship left Leyte. When the party, which included Maj. J. W. SHER- MAN, Lt. J. R. McGRATH, Lt. fjg) W. A. CLAPP, Lt. (jg) R. H. VAN DOORN and Lt. (jg) W. O. COLLINS returned, there was some doubt as to their right to come aboard. They had turned the Rocket ship into a veritable bumboat with their purchases. Lt. M. R. QUINN, who failed to find anyone who spoke Spanish a la Los Angeles while in Manila, did a little better on Samar. He found one woman who seemed to show some interest when he proposed prices in Spanish, and therefore did most of his pur- chasing from her. Incidentally, Mr. QUINN, what ' s this about the shore patrol fouling up some of your attempted purchases. While decks in officers ' country were being painted, a catwalk passageway was estab- lished. Lt. (jg) BEIN, bull j.g., made sure nobody of lesser rank contested his use of the passage by chanting I March 1944 (his date of rank) every time he took a walk. And getting up to the minute, Lt. (jg) Carl ULTES, Comm. officer, is inquiring of Ens. HOOK as to How do I fill my fountain pen? Seems he grabbed off a fancy one at ship ' s service, and then was unable to figure out how to get the the gadget full of ink. Boatswain Harold G. Martin, who hadn ' t stood a watch since last October, was cal ' ed on duty when Ens. C. Lewis MARTIN entered sick bay. Ens. Paul J. METCALF climbed to the bridge to check as to whether the Boats was still an able watchstander, and soon found out when the Boats ordered him to climb to the crow ' s nest. 70