New Britain herald., 1917-08-06
FRENCH FORGET HOW
 IF FEELS TO SMILE.
Howard C. Humason Writes of
 Depression Among the Soldiers BUT STILL DETERMINED

Oncers Expect War to End By Christi
 mas But Men in Trenches Say Next
 July-Boy Cries on Being Offered
 Back to Front.
 rrance depressed but determined, is the picture painted by Howard c. nonlason or Vine street, this city, in letter received by a local friend. MT. Humason is connected with a trans port camlon whose duty 1t Is to SUD- ply the front line trenches with mn. nitlohs. The gaiety of the French sol- d1er has disappeared. Mr. Humason writes, but he is still confident of vic- tory and the man in the trenches ox- poets the war to end bv nex+ Julv
 MT. Humason's letter in mart fol- lows:
 II haven't regretted a minute that switched over to this service from the ambulance although the work is con- slderably harder and there is little glory to it. We never know when we are to be called out Or where we are going when we start. Sometimes we are aroused at a. m. and get hack at 4 p. m. or later or sometimes 1t is Just turned around. When such is the case we are generally sure of seeing action, as a night drive means am intuition to the front line batteries. All driving is done without any lights whatever. which isn't exactly pleasant but Is necessary unless you desire Boche shell to land nearby.
 we got Our fret x-Iovy of :, eh.,, swept town yesterday on a trip we made with some barbed wire and lum Der for trench defenses. There were few walls left standing but these were pierced through and through and brought home more yiyidlv than anything yet the horrors of war The village was for some time a bone Of contention and was battered success sively by both the French and the Boche. It Is now in French hands for good and the line of battle has moved onward several miles.
 'I have talked with a n,,mbar of tho Pollus Whllo at the loading or unload ing stations and 1t is always the same old story. All tell of a small but growing business, a wife and one or more children given up to go to work for five cents 8 day.
 Saw 600 Companions Killed.
 'I talked with one young boy the other night at park where the French shells and Boche shells were whizzing back and forth and heard a, story which is fortunately far from usual but none the less unpleasant. He was but 19 and belonged to a regiment which had been fairly lucky a made an unsuspected attack and of the 750 men with him at the start there were barely over one hundred when the fight ended; most of his particular friends were among the missing. Hc was just returning from a 'repos' of four days and actually broke down and cried when he said he had to go back to the trenches the ing killed or wounded as both of these mean a blessing now. It is going back to the same old grind of living in holes with dirty mud and hearing steady boom, boom of guns without one stops kicking about the food we get sleeping quarters, etc. and thanks the Lord he is fixed like he Is.
 "I have read in books of the cheery, optimistic appearance of the French soldier but have seen little or none. That may have been the case when the books were written three years ago, but three years of war has killed most of the cheerfulne SIS. They all, however, have no doubt as to the eventual outcome. We pass every day troops returning from the front oip fa will look at 1t like thing unknown and give you a heartfelt 'mercr Wave and one or two may return it but smile and cheery bon jour are practical ly unknown.
 Ask an officer, who has oompar- atively soft berth back of the line in a loading park, when the war will be over and he will say by Christmas. Ask one of the men at the front and he will tell you by next July-per- haps They all agree on one point, however, and that is if Russia had not failed them the war would be over now. However, the Bear seems to be awakening again so he may yet prove of bclated service".
 Later on in the letter, MT. Humason says he expects to be moved at any time and has heard q rumor the sec tiOn will be transferred to Dunkirk. He says he would welcome the change as he would feel nearer home on the shores of the Atlantic The camion section with which he Is connected had previously been decorated for bravery and has large medals painted on the side which arouse the awe and interest of residents of villages through which they pass.