The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-07

buNN unti tntif nhtttfl'h WIT" tiptuiti
have been told that the appearance
of our killed was very peaceful. and
| many had smile ON their faces. They
went into the attack With merry jests
on their lips, and died, many Of them
laughing.
While king and country and empire
have men who 20 To their death with
utmost and perfectly natural sang.froid,
or nonchalance Il am not sure II these
words are CORRECT, but you know what
| meanl aud ohesiful indifference --weh.
there Is absolutely no iea' of the fnal
result. The German soldier as hc exists
today rs not up 20 much, and again no
wonder. because there n no human
being can stand our artillery fire and
he human being afterward. From
what | hear the Germans wer, just "a
crowd OF gibbering imbeciles with sna :.
tered nerves but of course they w.ll
recover when away from the ruckCt.
The whole thing must have been a
great surprise to the Boche. as many
Of the dead had the appearing OF men
who left their dugouts in "a hurry
tunics open and no boots on their feet.
We are miles past the famous brid.;
now. and old Bill might as well throw
up the sponge now and save what he
can out OF his ruined. wrecked and bat.
tered empire.
You will see by this letter that | re.
oeived one Of your magazines with the
notepaper. The parcel. OF papers did
come up to the trenches but the boys"
told me they commandeered them and
used them To lie ON, as they had neither
overcoats. blankets nor waterproof
sheets. and the papers came in handy
80 have been requested 10 tell my
young lady" 10 forward AZ many papers
as she likes while the advance is in
progress. The weather was terrific.
believe during the attack-snowstorms
blizzirds, and rainstorms-and the fel-
lows lying out in that without any COW
included---but such is
war.
II is a big change from the Gun
School and its comforts. but must take
my innings and medicine now and shoul-
der the responsibilities that have fallen
on me through the death of better fel-
lows and better n. G.. O's than | am
or ever will be | did not thank you
yet for the papers-and in addition to
my thanks, accept those of the fellows
also When mentioned that you were
not my young lady" In the sense they
meant, but merely "A very kind hearted
lady who tried and succeeded in cheer.
ing up fellows who have to go through
indescribable times in and out of at
tacks. | was told to tell that yarn to
the marines" and write for more papers.
They read them first and then used
them to lie on afterward. as ! said. an
the damp dugouts In conjunction with
any sandbags that can be picked up.
Well, TO 20 back TO lie Tourquet-we
had concerts there. The Duchess of
Westminster sang to us and took part
with the camp adiutant in bits from
the comic operas and musical comedies.
OF course | could not attempt 10 de-
scribe lady's dreas but each time the
Duchess came out she had on "A differ
ent style of costume. The camp al
iutant is a bit Of a spark" and If he
had not gone in the army would have
made his fortune or his mark on the
stage In comic opera. The Duchess Il
big robust young woman-is daughter
of the Mrs. CORVALLIS West, who was
prominent in papers "A few months ago
over some war office affair Mrs"
Duchess seems to possess n like temper
ament She also would have made
successful musical comedy actress, as
she sings and acts well. Other officers
song "A Little BIT Of Hcav.
en-
April "a. We are now "out" for an
uncertain period and the fellows had
a tough time of it, | received your
letter of March LIST at the transport.
Your letter Of March 30 was handed 10
me close to our objective" beyond :hc
third German line. Most of the casaal.
ties are buried just here and a large
cross announces the fact. The Names
etc, will be placed over tie graves later
on. By this the advance has gone miles
ahead of that third line, and over IA
nous ridge where one can view "A beau
tiful country. all green fields and pretty
villages and towns. II IS such ,ol-
trast to the shell.torp horror of coun.
try we have been used to for months
past.
D. s. O.. besides standing for damn
smart officer" sometimes stands Cor
damn silly officer"
have heard nothing more regarding
the "big news" 1t concerned three Of
us. and II was nothing more than q
decoration for long and continuous
trench service and good service. or. IN
plain English-three of us were to be |
decorated with some order for being |
lucky enough to be alive-over two
years of service in the field and so on |
the three of us were never saints. |
There was one other matter concerning |
myself which | should hear something |
ibout by now, and will tell YOU abou: |
/ another time--it is not much in many |
ways.
/ understand | am TO be n. G. o. II |
,harge of the company machine guns
/ nice old Job. right enough. Some of
your military acquaintance will tell |
you about it. The big push" is still |
IN. You can imagine a few large fouu
Tries in full blast and suddenly gone !
,razy, and then you will have some idea |
If the noise; for days and nights the
ground around for miles has been shak-