Show tad d adventurers CLUB 0 Z 4 HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 undress parade in the navy by FLOYD gil GIBBONS BONS famous headline H HELLO ELLO EVERYBODY all aboard boys and girls clamber right up that gangplank there and make it speedy were bound for the panama canal on the united states destroyer satterlee see those big numbers on the side you can read em a mile away our number but for the love of mike be careful of those depth bomb racks on the stern the world war is just over and those things are loaded with T N T all of which brings us to frank edward hanke who is taking a bath in the destroyers washroom as our story opens frank resides in new york now but dont forget that bath you see frank was taking that bath when he had the most exciting adventure of his entire careers here goes the story gangplank gang plank frank has been through many narrow squeaks but his closest shave took place during the joint maneuvers of the atlantic and the pacific fleets in 1920 destroyers then still carried full fall war loads of explosives in the depth charge submarine killers that hung in racks on the stern of the ship the fleets were passing through the panama canal at the gatun galun locks franks destroyer the satterlee had already entered the locks and was waiting for the U S S mason to follow her in the docks were lined with beauteous damsels come from far and near to get a gl glimpse dimpse of uncle sams natty sailors and frank was primping up in the washroom with three or four other gobs getting ready to give the girls a treat what if they should collide frank glanced through the washroom window at the mason which was flying through the water at a fast clip he stopped soaping himself for a second and pondered absently as to what would happen if the mason accidentally collided with the depth bombs in the stern As he pondered and watched tho commander of the mason shot his ship into 0 L F F r the soapy nudists rushed for the stern reverse but frank to his horror saw that the reverse lever or something had gone wrong and the ship was still coming on A COLLISION WAS CERTAIN in those depth bombs frank knew was enough T N T to blow up the locks and everything in them lie ile let out a yell and pointed uis his shipmates in the washroom saw the danger too and with one common accord they shot out on deck well sir frank says he think the explosion itself would have caused half the commotion his little sailor nudist colony did when they appeared on deck the locks are very narrow at that place and it was just as though they had strolled naked on a ballroom floor in the middle of a dance he and his pals though thinking of that they had no idea the sensation they were causing the ladies of the canal zone their idea and the idea of any self respecting sailor was to avert by any means possible a catastrophe the soapy nudists rushed for the stern stem of the ship ready it necessary to place their gleaming bodies in between the oncoming ship and the T N T scolded the girls for lau laughing hin on came the mason while the crews of two ships groaned and the spectators ashore laughed at the unexpected parade on the satterlee frank thinks they thought it all part of the show he never gave it a thought in the moment before the collision but as the prow of the mason swerved at the last moment and instead of hitting the depth charges smashed into the heavy four gun mounta to one side he turned and gave them a piece of his mind for laughing at a tense moment like that then he and his pals went to work at a barked command from an officer and they worked hard on the docks the laughing went on frank looked around for the cause of it he see anything to laugh at in a collision that might have taken the lives of hundreds of people and he went right on working and growling at the strange sense of humor of these panama janes the collision had been a serious one it took the combined crews hours to clear up the wreckage ive got a photograph of it and it must of been pretty bad frank in the picture or perhaps he might get a laugh now himself then ile he saw the joke finally when things had quieted down a bit and frank felt he had done his duty he reached for or a cigarette holy moses where was his pocket he glanced down at his legs where were his pants he looked now with seeing eyes at his pals of the washroom they have a stitch on them they looked at him and were their faces red frank says his nudist detail made one jump for a companion way they hit the entrance all at once and jammed hysterical feminine laughter rang in their ears once more and then they tumbled head over heels below well sir frank and his pals came in for a lot of kidding after that but he says he notice any gobs kidding him at the time of the accident officers and men were all so excited at what they knew might happen that they even notice any sailors working without benefit of clothes and come to think of it I 1 guess most of us would forget all about clothes it we saw tons of steel speeding toward enough T N T to undress the whole navy in one blasel copyright service |