The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1917-10-13
SOLDIER WRITES
TO HOME FOLKS
YOUNG MAN DESCRIBES Gus
TOMS SEEN IN
FRANCE

A letter that is typical of many
now coming, and of many thousands
that 500 will be coming from oul
soldier boys in France, has been
published in the Lewis County
News, of Ewing, Mo-, the home
town of its author. and forwarded
to the young soldiers uncle, A. F,
Hotchkiss of Goldfield, 20 whom
the Tribune is indebted for tie pri-
vilege of publishing it.
The letter, which bears the o. x.
of the censor and is dated July "a,
is as follows:
Dear Folks;
How is every body at home?
| am feeling fine and am hav-
ing a pretty good time. | lave
plenty of work il the Office t.
do so / don't ha ye aLy lime TO
get homesick, / hope you have
want to study up a little On those
things. l hope to hold this job
il it is possible to do so.
| cannot tell you where we
are stationed except it is an old
French village, and believe me, it
is old. There is one water foun-
tain, the water runs all the time
and keeps a watering trough fill
ed and it has the date, 1929, on
it, and several buildings are old
er than that. Everything is done
just like it was long ago. There
is an old Catholic church here,
too, in fact, every town has a
church with a clock in the tower
and chimes to strike the hours.
One can hardly find a place in
France that chimes can not be
heard.
There is also a village wash
house where all the women bring
their washing and kneel around
a pool of water, lay the gar
ments on a stone and scrub them
with soap and brushes. They
have a paddle they use to pound
them with. 1 don't know what
the object is in that. We get
u laundry done cheaply, and
it sure comes in handy for we
have no time for that now.
At night you can see a herd
of sheep coming up the village
street, they usually have only
one, and a girl that takes care
of them during the day, out in
the pasture. AS she goes up the
street, the dogs run out the few
sheep that belong at each house.
1t sure is a strange sight for us.
l have a dictionary and am
learning all the French l can.
| can go into a store and usually
get what l want. l bought my
self a good wrist watch and sev-
eral other things l need but |
could not get any strong writing
envelopes, so if you would send
me some good linen envelopes, l
would be sure my mail reaches
home.
Oh! yes. There is an old nan
comes out in the village with a
big drum and raises a racket
until somebody appears in the
doors along the street and then
he either reads or tells them the
proclamation or war news, for
he goes every day as close to the
front as possible and brings news
to the village. | sure al tickled
the first day. He has a drum
almost as large as himself and
he sure is a sight to behold when
he makes his rounds. In fact, he
is the village newspaper.
I want some towels and hand
kerchiefs and some American
candy. You can send packages
to me at U. S. rates not to ex-
coed twenty pounds in a package.
Well goodbye and good luck.
Tell everybody hello and my adj
dress. Will write as much as
possible, and don't worry, for it
takes a letter about three or four
weeks to make the trip.
1t is supper time so will close.
Lots of love from the soldier in
France,
LOYS HOTCHKISS,
HomDapv X 18Th Inf