The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1915-04-13
Numerous Letters Of the Tom
mics" to Homefolks Reveal the
Human Side Of the Fir
ing Line
COMBINE PATHOS
and LAUGHTER
Printed Daily in British Papers and
are Read with Keen Interest,"
Tho Trimmed by the
Censor
BY WILRuRN S. FORREST.


Omitted Press Staff Correspondent
London, March 24.-(By mail to New
York THE human side OF the
trenches and firing lines with their
pathos and laughter combined is no
better told than by the "Tommies' at
the front, thousands Of whose letters
are received weekly by the folks back
home"
Though interest is intense in the big
news developments, second to this
comes the soldier letter. sections in
daily newspapers and columns appear
daily. The British censor scrupulous.
ly eliminates all mention of troops 10
cations in the soldiers mail but this
fails to detract from the interest in
the subject matter.
How an old Belgian woman refused
to leave her home though German
shells had cut great holes in her door
yard, was related by private in the
First Wiltshire regiment He called
her Mother Cavelier,' and added:
I'VE tried to get her to go, but 1t
was no good. 1t Is her home and she
means to stay at all costs. She looks
upon us all as sons and does every
thing for us-gives us food. dries our
clothing and even washes our under
wear.
How terrific battle of words
ragged between a Belgian and German
trench along the User was told by
Belgian infantryman who wrote Lon
don newspaper about it, The trenches
We're fifty yards apart. The opposing
soldiers contented themselves with
hurting abusive language until the
battle" became so violent that the
Belgian colonel forbade his men fur
ther verbal exchanges with the Ger
mans. The soldier concluded
1T was a pity, too, as it was great
pleasure to tell ones enemy ones con
tempt and hate
A private of the Seaforth Highland
ers wrote home how he had labored
to scratch out few lines on piece
of paper with a pencil when he slip
ped and fell into water and mud in the
bottom of the trench. He crawled out,
spent half an hour finding his pencil
and cleaning the paper and resumed
the letter.
THE fearful condition of the
trenches is best revealed he wrote,
"by the part of them am sending
home on this letter"
A wounded London Territorial
wrote
Picture yourself, in all your clothes,
clotted with blood and dirt, as dry as
blotting paper. aching all over and
breathing forty to the minute. taken
from a Red Cross cart and carried in.
to a clean dressing room. Then the
first Englishwoman you have seen for
months cuts your clothes off and sends
you to bed 1t is like crawling from
hell to heaven.
A lance corporal who was wounded
at Ypres and is again in the fighting
line wrote
''The more men we get here the
sooner the game will be at an end
The Germans are almost sold out
We captured few the other day and
they told us they didn't want to fight
They were mere boys. We only want
nice dry weather and | am quite sure
we can finish up with brilliant vic
tory.
An Australian trooper in Egypt said:
I'VE are camped Just below the
Pyramids. not the best place in the
world. although the great Napoleon
chose il once. The great drawback Is
sand; we drill on II. sleep on it, even
eat it. II causes sore eyes and bad
language and would eventually break
your heart"
Commenting on the British fur coats
furnished the troops, London pri-