Norwich bulletin., 1917-09-26
WITH PERSHlNC'S FIRST TROOPS
Leslie Tracy Gaser Made Trip France With Vanguard of Uncle Sam's Army-Twice Attacked by German Sub narnes-Norwich Boy Now Intesne at Base Hospital in France.

I yond the occasional reach of the American soldier).
 1 For two weeks we were in this de- | lightfui spot, high up on hill over
 looking . great river valley: then service at Base Hospital No 1, and then one night, detail was chosen to go ahead to our base hospital and prepare for the coming of the unit to its permanent location. was one of the pioneers and the next night saw us marching through the streets of Paris. A week before the first Amer ican troops had reached there on the Fourth; and our little band was across the city from one station to an- other. We saw the Eiffel tower, the column of the Bastille. the opera, a score of famous things, but we were the cantine of the station Maintained by the French Red Cross and it's friends and got a hot meal a hot bath. and a warm bed. We slept six hours end we found ourselves where we are today-a unit reunited and ready for any service that we can give. It is another beautiful valley. with a river flowing through it that Is well known to you. From the hills that sur round 1t you get long vistas of forests and fields and little red. d.roofed vil- lages clustered each around it's CnurCn, some or JAom centuries old. From these same hills, too, you can get on still night the distant bombs of heavy firing on the front and :.eroplan- es overhead are no longer a novel, ty.
 Quartsrsd in Quaint ViIlaass.
 This is the country which our Amer ican troops are occupying and which very likely some of the boys from home will eventually see. They will find themselves quartered in some of fhaGo nj wills uI,f fr,17 011 all connected by railroad lines and by splendid roads maintained by the state. which have apparently done all things well. They will find here people ing to meet them more than half way in all things.
 On the fourteenth of Juiy-the day of the fall of the Bastille-the great national fete in France. our little de- tachrnent was the guest of band of French soldiers, who were here at the hospital to help in getting it ready for the Americans We had our dinner together on tables underneath a big maple behind the chateau which Is our headquarters and then we pro- cceded down to the cafe which is the center of many of the public social activities of the village. We gather ed in an ancient upper room and the soldfers-men in many uniforms from many branches of the service, with their chansons and the clinking glass; es of co1nradeship made up picture as from some old opera. ful1 of action and color and melody and freshness. In those days, nothing could have been more stirring than the Marsellaise as sung by those men back from the trenches-now, hard at work, we are enthusisrsin or of appreciation of our allies. The Americans and the French take to each other we'll.
 have written more than I i'm tended. I have even had to steal a little time from the surgical wards where happen to be interne just now We operate one day generally and clean up things, and have a day or two before the next batch of cases. This is one of the off-days. But the has brought in more of our soldiers from the field hospital and tomorrow, perhaps. as yesterday, we operate These now are just the or dinary troubles of civil life, being tions. We shall have service of anoth-
 Not Quito Like Summer. | CT sort we do not know how soon.
 This has not quite seemed like sum- ner to me this year. For one thing, | the weather has been tremendously cool. at any rate when first call has | routed us out at 5.30-a foretaste of l what winter may be. But another l thing is that I wasn't quite used to1 during the summer to getting much 1 telephone. The newspaper life was | great, particularly in the days when | Gene Sullivan advanced his hypoth- | sses, and the "courteous and affable" | Harvey Briggs retgned at the city desk and Charlie Whitney was doingl sports in a city where there wast none: but the army life has it's sunny ! side and I'm having the greatest ex- oeriences of my life and we all are helping on great idea and ideal. And wouldn't change if I could. With the nope that this effort gets by the cen- sor and best wishes to you all
 Sincerely,
 LESLIE T. GAGER.