The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1917-10-04
REV. AND MRS. SPeRRY
Get LETTER FROM FRANCE

Rev. and Mrs S. III. SperIy are in
receipt OF a letter from their son.
Herbert +. Spery, who is with his
regiment somewhere in France
He was among the first TO enlist in
the Spanish-American war and served
thruou, iha; conflict, making three
trips to Manila and return. He was
mustered out as a sergeant and with
distinc; honors. When war was de
CARED he was an engineer in the
employ of the Santa Fe Railway com
pany out of La Junta. He immediate
~ enlisted and was honored with the
position OF sergeant and placed in
command OF troops for drilling. A
regiment was aoon formed. composed
entirely of railroad men. This regi-
ment was ordered 20 Chicago, where
Z remained several weeks. drilling
and preparing for service in France
When the regiment was started for
France IL WAS almost l1oe strong. all
railroad men.
Ar. Sperry's war experience gave
him official recognition and he
proved quite valuable in the training
Of troops and in rendering other offi-
cial services. A cabiegram. received
some weeks ago announced the safe
arrival of the regiment in France.
without any serious mishap. They
ran n gauntlet, however. OF the dare
deyil U-boats. but with no serious re
suits.
In writing 20 his parents. among
other things. he says:
We are located somewhere in
France. but we cannot tell you where
or what town we are in. We have
not been assigned any active duties
yet We are patiently waiting orders
and viii then operate certain
amount of railway tracks. This has
indeed been wonderful trip 10 me.
FAR beyond anything ! ever expected
certainly enjoyed IL. The trip
across the ocean was delightful except
,or two or three days of stormy
weather. We We're on the water three
weeks. The monotony of the trip
was enlivened by being chased by
;wo submarines. The attack was
harmless. however. and we escaped
without any damage or loss of life.
"we were the first American troops
10 pass in review thru the streets Of
London. We had the honor as well
rs a great pleasure to see the king
and queen of England. II was es:i.
mated that about a million and a half
people gathered, or rather lined. the
streets OF London and such cheering
and shouting T never heard before. l,
was simply grand. l would not have
missed IL for a great deal. II was an
ovation that the soldier boys feel
proud OF and will always remember
and with gratitude to the common
wealth OF London who so honored us.
And we can say as much OF France.
On every hand Is the hearty welcome
the glad handshake--the hurrah for
Uncle Sam and the American boys.
And the girls. the pretty French girls
but you know the soldier boys fail.
ing. daddy.
While not engaged in actual war
RS yet. We have seen some OF the Of
fects. From our headquarters we can
hear the firing of artillery, the heavy
cannonading. Ai-planes flying Is q
common. every day sight. Have seen
TWO airplanes fights. To me It was
stirring occasion to witness battle
IN the air. Saw the shells expode
when nred at the German planes. II
certainly looks like business over here
and we are likely to zee some ex-
citement before the war ciosee. But
I have experienced soldier life before