The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1917-12-20
FROM OUR BOYS OUT THERE

Mills, Hampstead. n Y, writes "a
his old friend p. w. Mitchell, I'M
der date lof Dee. 3;
Sunday is our day of rest. We
may sleep until s O'Clock in the
morning and leave camp, within
the five-mile limit, until 9 in the
evening. / always take advantage
of the day. This is my tenth letter
so far to-day.
Last night we experienced some
of the real joys of tent life. We
had a big rain storm and it took
foresight, strategy and a whole lot
of peculiar maneuvering to get
our hunks located between leaks
Glad to report we succeeded. The
tent next to us had eight inches
of water on the floor (ground)
and one of the fellows anchored
his bunk with his pick mattoek
To-day is cold and windy. Thanks
again to the Red Gross, we are
comfortable as possible. They
shipped in q big box of knit muf-
flers. and we can tie our head and
ears up and keep from getting
'nipped anyway.
Our drill has been hiking in hea-
Wy marching order. It's amazing
to see how much we can get in a
pack, and it's still more surpris-
ing to feel how much it weighs.
Yet / have always kept my posi-
ton and give mp has never en-
tered my mind. We little fellows
carry just as much as the big lads,
but it ism t strength with us; it s
grit. My rifle seemed heavy
and bungles0me at first, but now
it s like a toy, and ] begin to feel
toward it as a friend. The bay
onet is not my favOrite, as / al |
ways did shudder at cold steel,
but if I ever get a chance at the
Hun l viii let them know what
cold steel is good for.
Had letter from my brother,
who is in the Philippines. Hel
wants to exchange places with me
and go to France. But / told him /
mix. There II probably be two
oceans separating us when he gets
my letter, for it takes mail Just |
40 days to reach the Philippine
Islands.
The people of Hampstead have
opened their hearts, and we have
a nice Y NJ. c. A. where we may
read and write in comfort.
Let me send big congratulations
to Lewis county for the most ex-
eellent campaign and results for
the T. NJ. G. A fund. No one need
have any regret for giving his bit
10 the 7. The Y provides the one
bright spot of an army camp, and
# it were not for the folks back
home to keep the home fires burn
ing our life would often be pref
" desolate.
We were given final physical
.ests this week and / came out IN
order and am ready for
.eal service. Both of my grand
served four years in the
Cos, and it's up to my brother
md me to hold and keep the rec
nd. Il
Martin L. Thompson writes i
rom Hq. Dept. 316 Engineers,
lamp Lewis, Wash, Dec. 10: 10
Dear Herald: Viii write a few t
ines to-day to show that we are
live. All are pretty well, except a
most of US have colds, as it is near Il
Y always raining and if it isn't
aiming it is foggy. But we don t t
nit for rain. We work every day. b
see lot of Lewis county boys
early every day. Some are In +
he machine gun company, some v
a the depot brigade, some in the
eavy artillery and just two of ~
S are IN the engineers-JOhn Mil r
sr and myself. / am IN the barns,
branch of the engineers; so lie
Ide every day We have 40 hor- c;
IS IN our barn. Sven, my broth
- II tA1r AldCNAllc gun CUT D5- an
hey have a bunch Of mules in Iii
leir barns to attend to. IN
We are going to have big re-
lew Saturday afternoon and Sun h,
ay. The engineers will build a Al
ridge under fire, and we horse G
en- viii make mounted attack.
fe have lots Of fun and also lot m
hard work. D,
This is a fine place for boys that =,
went learned to do kitchen q
ork. They viii learn fast here,
we get turn at it every two g
eeks. We also do our own ~
ASKING which isn't bad fun. se
We get mail twice day, and /.
e boys rush to the mail boxes y
see if they have been remem- -
red. / think the most of us ny
ink more about this mail than n
" thing else. ~
TT~-.1I Il 4