The 90th Regiment "the little black devils" of Winnipeg was a very
fine body of men indeed; they were drilled by the hour on the decks,
and were given lectures. They entertained themselves in their spare
time by getting up boxing bouts and concerts. The antics of a bear cub
and a monkey, the battalion mascots, amused the men for many hours at
a time.
One night the officers gave a dinner party. The first plan was to
invite no nurses at all. Then other counsels prevailed and invitations
were to be given to a limited number. As this would have caused all
sorts of petty jealousies and heart burnings, a compromise was
effected by--asking them all.
The dinner was a great success. An eight-piece band, for which the
instruments had been purchased the day before we left Quebec, had been
practising assiduously on the upper deck for days with effects of a
most weird character, and there made its first public appearance. With
the aid of a pipe band it helped to drown the popping of corks and the
various other noises due to the consumption of many bottles of
champagne and hock. The dinner was followed by a dance and the nurses
were allowed to stay up till midnight instead of being chased to bed
at the usual hour of ten o'clock.
One of the unique and most interesting occasions of the trip was when
the famous battle cruiser, the "Queen Mary" came up about dusk one
evening and ran through our lines amid great excitement.
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