The Seward gateway and the Alaska evening post., 1917-09-14

| banks, from jim MearS, formerly OF
the interior metropolis
One OF the interesting features Of
the letter is that the writer, who has
been ON the western front and is now
| in military circles in England, be-
|Heves that the war will last at least
two more years. The day when peo-
pie expected to see the war ended
within a few months has passed and
| all are evidently preparing, both in
America and abroad to fight for
years.
The letter reads:
Lewisham Military Hospital, Lon
don, S. f., May 29.-Dear Art: l
sent YOU a field postcard about three
weeks ago, which was a foolish thing
to do, seeing it was to let you know
! had been wounded, l guess that
i'm the time which elapses between
that card arriving and this letter you
will have been pretty anxious, but
there is no cause for worry, old chap,
| will soon be fit again as a fiddle. l
only got a bang through the feshy
part of the thigh, and if it had not
been for a touch of fever which de-
veloped in the hospital / would have
been out of bed a week ago. left
the line on the Sth of May, and after
passing through a casualty clearing
station q went through our own am
bulance station frsO, l eventually
landed at a Scottish hospital in
Rouen, about so miles from the mouth
of the Seine. / was there a week be-
fore being sent to England, and could
YOU guess what my feelings were to
get back to old "Bhghty' again? AT
ter those horrible months in La Belle,
France, to be whirled once again Lon
donwards in a luxurious hospita.
train. watching the green meadows
on each side. Should YOU ever hear
anyone running down the Old Coun-
try again, give 'em one for me, will
YOU.
have only discovered England dur
ing the past twelve months; l am
sure never knew it before, although
/ spent the first seventeen years Of
my life here. l am hopping around
now as gay as a lark, and Pm begin
ming to think that shell of Fritz's did
me a real good turn. l heard hun
dreds Of them during the days proceed
ing the 8th, but when I heard this
particular one coming, l thought it
had my number on. We had just
changed ends Of the stretcher, one end
is considerably heavier than the
other, so we change every two or 800
yards. We had just started again
when this shell came; they make a
noise something like an express train
dashing across the end of a country
lane: lust a roar and a rush of wind,
and then-Obivion My pal was kill
ed. and the Scottie we were carrying
and the stretcher went-well, l don't
know where. Two infantry in a sap,
or communication trench, dragged me
in and brought me down. We were
at BulIecourt, in what they call the
Hindenburg line, and were in a small
salient comprising the heap of bricks
and debris which for military purpos-
es they still call a village, so we were
enfalded on both sides by artillery
and machine guns, not to mention the
snipers. A man simply takes his
chance. and we were working -four
days and four nights. On a strip OF
what had been a country road three
| quarters of a mile long 100 of our fel.
lows were killed and wounded in the
four days, so you can imagine with
what feelings we went up that rOaC
so many times during the days anC
nights. A man feels that he viii
never get out of such corner alive
| A Huntsville lad was lli'leJ; we useC
to hang together, as we were the only
two from the village and came away
together. Poor old chap, ne was al
ways singing that song, when ! gel
back, to my home in ~ S. W." elm.
mating the Tennessee. 1t makes {
man into an agnostic or a fatalist.
They should not be anxious about
me at home, as l sent the mater {
cable. Yesterday was Whit Monday
and the weather was like sunny New
South Wales, but they would not LEI
me get up, and today is my first day
out Of bed. l hope to be out of the
hospital in a couple of weeks, or tire,