The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-07
>an's letter Home.

I
he leaves for France. But l may not b
able 10 20 To his camp at all, II seem
our men are expected To do as the Brit
ihh soldiers and disappear when the.
leave home. There In no jolly weelS.en'
visiting In the English camps. as Their
used 10 be- In the camps at home. Bu
the English use the postoffice here In
way that would surprise YOU and ever,
,lay wires and volumlnous letters arr
exchanged. I'm afraid our men vii
ind their mall meagcr compared viii
the bulk, mass Britishers get from thei
home folks.
Until actually see Ned I may put
down . few little hints have gotter
place the comfort bags presented tt
the soldiers before they leave America
are a comfort IN every respect but one
/ Those given 10 our regiment were oi
! pink lowered cretonpe. made with
drawstrings. They were handed out ~
the last minute and the poor boys had
~ march through the streets and up
the docks carrying those awful things
on their arms. They would nave thrown
them into the gutter, hut orders were
strict that they were 10 he presented
for inspection. Even the earnest faces
OF volunteer regiment could not out
shine the incongruity of those pink and
blue lowered chintzcs slung like l>n 1.
ting bags from olive drab arms.
over here the comfort bags are made
of tape bound dust colored linen or rub
berized drab twill. They have eight
pockets inside ana fold up like an en-
velope The flap buttons down and is
also finished with strong tapes which
may be knotied and hung on peg. If
there is one handy. OF course the pocl-
cts all open toward the flap. so that
the bag becomes a handy wall pocket
and the articles are kept separate. Men
hate bags, anyhow. and / prefer to FOR.
get the mess inside of some OF those
on board before we were half way across
the ocean. In the first place. the needles
were all rusted fast in their cases. ard
handkerchiefs and .washcloths had been
used indiscriminately. I would sug-
gest the addition Of a couple Of sticks of
shaving soap. the kind in which the
stock of soap is attached to the box
cover. There is no more of this sort TO
be had over here. and II is considered
a luxury.
When | think Of your busy fingers
working all day long | hate to add one
more duty. but | must tell you how bad
il made me feel to find that only thirty
privates IN one of the companies of our
regiment had the warm sleeveless sweat
ers we American women have pledged
ourselves to provide. Many of the other
did not average so well and
some none AT all. These sweaters are
their only extra covering The officers
were pretty well provided but the men
need sweaters muiilers and socks above |
everything else. At dinner the first eve
ming after arriving in London / hap
pened to mention the need Of our men |
for knitted things, and the next thing !
| knew a group of dear old women had |
organized themselves into a society for |
knitting woolly things FOR American |
soldiers | was touched 10 the heart. |
lf course. but all the same / did not |
want them To do it, | want our boys |
% come here with everything they need |
so that they will not feel that the wom !
N of England had to do just those little |
personal things which only women can |
10 for the army
But one thing the English women did
IN board was fine They exchanged adj /
lresses with dozens of our men, They
ire going To write to them and send
hem chocolates and cigarets and little
hings they have learned are acceptable.
Three charming women who have
louses i'm London invited our officers
o let them know when they got leave
or France. If ever they do get il, 50
hey may entertain them. one woman [
Who has lost her two sons in the war
aid ii was "a privilege she thought aha
deserved since she no longer had any L
'oys Of her own to have home on leave
In America we read good deal abo1t
ne extravaganza of women in Lon Ion.
nd I was prepared to see a lot Of lis
lay in Bond street and Piccadi,v, out
We not seen IL yet. OF course. this
5 the dun season, but the whole place
5 shabby, not to say threadbare, com
ared without our shops in AmeriCa.
III the shops are full of soldiers trap
ings, beautiful, expensive cloaks aud
tockiugs and luxurious equipment, nut
iomen's and children's things are sim
ly ignored | went out to buy some
ashmere socks for a little boy and
Dund they were eighty cents pair and
was Obliged to take a varied asSprt-
lent Of colors in order OF get the ri,gir
ize. Mems cashmere socks. on the
ther hand. We're of every imaginable
lie and color. and cheaper than ,vcr.
/ am ashamed 20 go out i'm my bgaati-
al American tan pumps. Most wbme1
eve given up wearing tan leather. iust
$ they have stopped nibbling choco-
ties. When | asked girl why every
ody was wearing such ugly old-s.yle
lack shoes. she ~ a carelessly that II
.ni.n, ,,..,,-l.l nnl.. !, .l,..,