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Show Shore Leave For Tars A BIG section of our battleship fleet visited Cherbourg, France, the other day and the Admiral, Ad-miral, without notice to the people of Cherbourg, Cher-bourg, gave 2,000 blue jackets shore leave. There were no inn accommodations for a fourth of them, and by law all restaurants and other public places close at midnight in Cherbourg. A gale was raging outside and the harbor was so rough that no boats were sent off from the ships to take the sailors back. The night was wet and cold and when those sailors could find no shelter, they first began fighting among themselves and then began to break windows. Cherbourg is not so large as Salt Lake; that is, it Is a city of 80,000 people and every house is occupied and no houses are in course of erection. The tars had to walk the streets all night and it is not wonderful that they were in bad humor. Next day special accommodations ac-commodations were prepared for them and by special spe-cial edict the inns and restaurants were ordered Qj to keep open all night; then we suspect that with the warm food some warm beverages were administered, admin-istered, for by noon perfect harmony was restored re-stored and the American sailors were full of endearing en-dearing phrases for the French. That reminds us that a Mexican boy who was born and reared in Acopulco, told the writer that when he was a small boy one lovely Sabbath morning a French frigate came Into the harbor. An hour later the sailors had taken possession of all the nine stores, were drinking wine and singing sing-ing the Marseillaise. About that time an English frigate steamed in. Her sailors captured every place where ale and porter were for sale. Still a . little later an American sloop of war came In. "' Her sailors engaged all the horses in town and went out to some picnic ground four miles out of the city. About 4 p. m. the American sailors returned, re-turned, two on each horse and sitting back to back on each horse, one holding the reins, the other the animal's tail, and all singing the "Star Spangled Banner." |