LST (925) - Naval Cruise Book

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cigl deluxe cgke. After chow cr little sgck duty is the order of the dgy, otnd the crgp-out session in the crew's! gugrters corn be topped nowhere. l hegr the big- gest sgck-wgrmer is Cogtney. Of course, there is one other noon hour pctstime. Let's see, what do they cotll thott gorme? Ch, yes! Poker! You ploty it with mgtches. For most of us the l3OU TURN TO' comes too soon, lout with ct little boost we find our- selves toiling CP! dggin. Out on deck Storm is fgshioning gtnew fender with the orlole ctssistgnce of lrforsul, gnd the contents of the burn logrrel. We use quite g few of these for one regson or gnother. And there is Prest- wood giving out with his lgtest gripe. l like to go' up into the bow cmd stick my nose into the breeze. Now there is C1 plgce where you cdn find or good bull session gt otny hour- the how lookouts who see nothing, hegr nothing, cmd tell dll. Whgt or tecrm-l-lgggdone, Brygn, Kodcmko otnd Gordon. Evening chow consisting of horse megt,'.' !thgt's right, thort second word is megtl hgs come cfnd gone, ornd I settle down to heotr Mr. Molloy forecgst the next moves of our sev- enteenth division gs it preporres to invgde Mug Mug islgnd. And, of course, Mr. Cooke hors to tell his lgt- est jokegwhich is still pretty new. l-ie's only told it six times so fgr this month. l crm gbout to get rectdy to hit the sorck when A. L. Dctvis reports thgt it is now time for me to relieve Mr. Flynn. l mgke or mgd dgsh for the Conn Cit torkes me ten minutes to get therel, gnd with the customcrry lt's yours, l find myself sitting in the O0D's chorir with the rginlSory, this is where l cgme in. West--whgt time is it? Midnight! Oh, well, there's nothing like or mid- wgtch to stgrt or perfect dgy. A y Stores Division

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MY DAY All right! All right! I'm getting up. After all, this is only the third time you have called me. What do you want, blood? Some one of these days I'm going to invent a watch, bill with the 00 to 04 left out of it. Sooooo-I fall out of the sack, put on my clothes, down a cup of Ioe, and stumble up to the Conn. With the customary It's yours! from Mr. Flynn, I find myself sitting in the OOD's chair with rain streaming down my neck, a cold wind blowing right out of the north into my frozen face, and ships all around.'I am told the 1028 is just ahead of us, but as I can't see it I am a little dubious un- til I hear a familiar voice over the radio, I say old chap, aren't you a bit close to us? What's the distance? West hol- ers over the phones. , - One hundred yards, says Ham- ill All engines back full, left full rud- der-port ahead full, s t a r b o a r d ahead full, r u d d e r amidshipsu- Whew! We missed himl After four hours of dodging the l028, listening to gab from West, and trying to keep the aft lookouts awake, I climb back into the sack exhausted. As always, I dream my favorite dream, but I refuse to comment on it. Too embarrassing! I lie there clutching the pillow with all my might until a familiar rap on the bulkhead awakens me, and Camp- bell says, Time to get up. After considering the possibilities from all angles for half an hour, and after a personal invitation from the Captain, I have my breakfast of Beans a la Bender, eggs, aged in pasteboard for a year, and milk, straight from the cow on the tank deck. At 0800, if you listen carefully, you can hear Shumake's lovely voice tenderly pleading with the USNB boys to TURN TO' Cno trouble with USN ment. You may see Big Dave and Shorty Iustis racing to see who can move the largest fender, Freese, Reed, and Cooper leaning on their favorite broomsp Gordon trying to swab the deck but dreaming of Ar- kansas instead, and there in the height of his glo ry is Chief Davis cracking the whip, coffee in hand. The black gang, the boys who live in the bilges, also turn to-some- times. I take a peek down in the en- gine room and am amazed to see my own image staring at me. Noth- ing to be alarmed about though, just a reflection from 'I'aggart's head. Ashton is stroking his beard and lis- tening to McDermott's fascinating story about his rich uncle. And there is Chief Bailey with a sheepish look- ing grin staring at a pin-up picture. With the assistance of Dailey I find my way out of the bilges and up into the Conn Girls territory. CDon't tell anybody, but I got lost.l Cunningham is trying to find out where we are, H. B. Smith is reading Ten WIQYS to Avoid Work , Bolin is tearing up the radar while Fekete cheers him on: and Tomasso is lis- tening to Little Orphan Annie over the radio. After Iensen has given me the latest dope, I find my way down to the main deck where Rogers is tangling with a twenty millimeter. I-Ie is trying to tell Chief Kutz and Miller how to fire the gun without a firing mechanism. About this time I am getting hun- gry so I amble back to the galley to sample some of Chief Ienkins' con- coctions. 'I'oday's menu confronts me, but I am hardened to its rigors of Cx-Tail soup, stewed sow's rump, asparagus butts, and I-Ioover's' spe-

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IT WAS AND SHALL BE The tale which l am about to tell is one which has haunted me for months. lt has stirred my deepest im- agination and has made my inner being revolt against itself. lt was re- lated to me by a corpulent Furr trad- er during my most recently fishing expedition in the far reaches of the Mediterranean. He seemed to have been empowered by some supernat- ural being, for his mind and his tongue were not guided from within. That was impossible. The year in which the events took place must have been about 70 AD., as closely as l can estimate, and the setting for this adventure was the country of Usa, a small province in a remote corner of the then civilized world. ln order that this story will seem as real to you as it did to me, l shall relate it, not as if it happened hundreds of years ago, but as if it were happening now, and l were there to see it all. And it came to pass that as l went down into the land of Usa, l was accosted by a traveling sales- man, and his name was Yunker, and he was known by every farm- er's daughter, and he saith unto me, VV hither goes thou and whom dost thou seeketh? And l answered him saying, l seek the three Great Prophets, Bell, Kelley and Hoover, that l may learn of their teachings and become great in wisdom and honored by all men. And Yunker giveth to me of his sam- ples after which he directeth me to an lnn, wherein dwelled the keeper Smith and his two faithful victualists Bender and Higgins. And when l had entered in, they didst feed me and nourish me and didst give me of their company. And 1 while l didst talk with these men, be- hold, there didst enter five merchants selling feathers. And their names were revealed to me as Molloy, West, Gooding, Hamill and House- holder. And l saw that they argued and they could not agree. One- as- serteth that they were all sure to make millions, yet another said it was useless, and he bathed himself in mountainous waves of self pity and waileth and bemoaneth his fate at the hands of the notorious money changer, Carnivale. ' And then l didst perceive that they were sore afraid, for'the almighty, ever-powerful and omnipotent Foyle had declared that all feather mer- chants who breathed the breath of life should be stoned to death. When Smith heard this wailing and gnash- ing of teeth, Cstore teeth? lo, he didst call upon his singers, Shumake and Graddy, for entertainment, that their spirits might be gladdened. Now their spirits were revived with music and spirits, and it came to pass that the heralds, Fekete and L ath a m, an- nounced the arrival of those three great, wealthy, lovable and hand- some Rajahs of the Realm, Lovern, lVlcPhall and Tomassog who entered straightway in and were seated on silken cushions and didst order wine. And when their thirsts had been assuaged, lo, they didst summon their harem attendants, Furst, Holden and Galloway, and straightway bade them to make all things straight, right away. And l could now see that Smith's lnn was a meeting place for many of the people of Usa, and as l sat, hoping that l should see others of these people, there didst enter three sinister looking, cloaked figures who slinketh about, talking sternly and threateningly, and they