Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1917-09-26
CLARENCE C. BAILEY
LIKES ARMY LIFE IN,
FRANCE VERY MUCH
On Active Service
with the

American Expeditionary Forces
Somewhere in France"
Dear Mother:
Another Sunday and it sure is a
nice day. 1t seems as though the
weeks are days and as though it were
not week since | landed in France,
but it is going on the second month
now. | am getting mail quite often
now.
Well, was boosted up little the
other day, from private to first-class
and that gives me three dollars more
a month. Every dollar counts you
know and / can stand the boost, you
bet.
The people over here have had
very good season and that sure does
encourage them. Every night you
can see the women and children COM
ing down from the hills and going to
their dwellings. They do their farm
ing very funny here, but it is on ac-
count of the war and when it is over
/ think you will see them carrying on
farming like we do in the good old
u. s.
Have the boys gone to the training
camps yet? l guess they will be
sent Ito that country they call Texas.
b Il
lows letters that the boys in the
south were changing color. Well, we
got outt ttDfa the warmest part of the
weather there and / am glad of it
for | was tanned enough to suit me.
If we come back to the states / hope
they won't send US to Texas to camp.
We are having a, good time here
and are drilling from morning till
night. The Y. M. c. A. is doing
grand work for the boys here. j am
at the building all of my spare time
and it sure is. crowded most of the
time. They have all kinds of amuse-
ments for us. A piano, so we can
have music and there is always some
one that can play and there are 9TH
er things that take up all of our
spare time. 1t is a great help to us.
We have a speaker about two or
three times week and / tell you
their talks sure do put the pep" in
to the boys. They are going to put
on some educational classes and / am
going to take up a few things so /
will be a little more educated, as they
say.
Has Belding run out Of boys, or are
there some still waiting for the
draft?
/ guess the other fellows are count
ing the time before they will be over
here. / would like to run into some
of them just to hear how they enjoy
ed their trip over the ocean.
saw one of those old-time thresh-
ing machines the other day that work.
ed by horse standing on something
that looked like a moving stairway
and it did look funny.
The other day when we were out
on a hike i found bush of black
berries which tasted pretty. good to
me and when / went down the street
or an alley, would call it, l saw a
box of peaches and right away l
bought couple of francs worth and
they tasted like the good old Michi-
gan peach,
would like to send you box from
here, but can't do as / want to now,
as / am "in the army and not behind
the plow," Ha! Ha! / have seen
nearly all of France and ! am ready
to go back, but it is just like the boys
here say when anybody says any
thing about going back-"Your in the
army now and not behind the plow,"
and / guess there is lot of fellows
who wish they were behind the plow.
Well, guess / had better stop, so
hoping this finds all the family in
as good condition as it leaves me,
with love to all Your Sammy"
Clarence.
Give my regards to all my friends.