For the first few hours after sailing, thoughts of home lingered in the minds of most of the boys, but these were hastily banished when we had our first life drill. This took place at 2 o'clock on our first day out. The drill was a thorough one, and it soon became apparent to most of the boys that even if we should be torpedoed by a submarine while going across, our troops would have no difficulty in getting away from the boat before it took its final plunge toward the bottom of the sea. In the life drill, every man had his place. He was assigned to a certain boat and could take no other. The lower decks were emptied first, and then those above, one at a time. I was bunked on the fifth deck, hence, as the liner had six decks, would have been among the last to leave the ship, in case of disaster. The object of the life drill, of course, was to make it possible to empty the boat of troops quickly and in military order in the event that the boat became a submarine victim. Every man was instructed at the sound of the alarm to go to his bunk and stand there until given further orders. In the meantime, he was to put on his life belt. The boys marched out to the life boats only when they received orders from their superiors to do so. After a few drills, we mastered the manoeuver and it would have been possible for us to have emptied that boat of 1,500 soldiers in twelve minutes, if such action had been necessary. We had life drills two or three times a day all the way across. The signal for the drill was four siren blasts, and when we heard those blasts, there was a lively time on deck for a few minutes, until the ship, in theory, had been abandoned. American people, who believe in giving their soldiers the right kind of treatment, and particularly wholesome food, would have been righteously indignant, if they could have known how poorly we were fed while on that transport. Those at home were buying Liberty Bonds and paying heavy war taxes so that the boys in the fighting forces would be well fed and clothed, and yet, it is hard to imagine how men could have been treated worse, so far as food is concerned than were the men of this boat. I am going to be just as frank as I know how in describing food conditions with the hope that by calling public attention to this petty graft, such practices will be stopped, so far as American fighting men are concerned. To any who have weak stomachs, I suggest that they skip over the next two or three pages, as the details may nauseate them. The kitchens and mess rooms of the transport were on the top deck. Meal tickets were issued to the men, and when they went to mess, the tickets were punched. This is the way the Government kept track of the number of meals served, as these tickets were collected when we left the boat. The white men were fed first, and the colored troopers afterwards. This was done so as to keep free of any possibility of racial trouble, and apparently it worked well.