New Britain herald., 1917-11-28
THERE IS THE MALI
 EXCITING MOMENT
Boys in France Hungry for
 Letters From Home

How young man somewhere over there'' feels when he receives a letter from the States is fully illus trated in the following letter which has been received by Miss Elsie M Hopkins from her brother, Corporal William M. Hopkins, who is a mem Der of the Expeditionary forces in France. Incidentally, he mentions that some good American cigarettes would be appreciated.
 Hopkins is the son of MT. and Mrs. Willis c. Hopkins, of 432 West Main street, and enlisted in Company I, March 27, 1917. At the time of en- listment he was employed as book keeper at the freight depot.
 The letter follows:
 Somewhere in France,
 "Oct. 30, 1917. Dear Ell. and All:
 II received your most welcome let ter this noon dated Sept. 28th-just a month past-so you can imagine how long it is since we've heard from the States We had just returned from drill when someone said that Company I received a bag of mail. Now guess we weren't delighted With joy! I found a nice letter in it from a certain girl back in the States but I decided not to read it till I got a letter from home and, a few minutes later in came another bag containing your welcome lines. I bet I read them over two or three times a day. Say! It makes us all feel as though we were back in old Connecticut when we hear from home-so much for the letter. We'll, Cream, Callahan, O'Brien and Hintz are all feeling fine-and so far I still retain my record of not going 1 on the sick report. I think this French atmosphere is going to agree l with us all.
 Well, FL, don't blame you for l envying my trip, because it has been a wonderful one. This certainly is an old country-about 100 years behind in improvements, just as We read in 1 stories. There certainly are some quaint old towns over here, with their old clay houses and beautiful churches. 1 Most of the people wear wooden shoes, and everything else is ancient 1 and antique.
 With all the letters combined which the fellows received today, I 1 guess we are all we'll posted on doings in New Britain, because we read each others letters. That is the first time l they are read or opened from the time you seal them.
 1T suppose all of Pas spare time and Saturday afternoons are spent | hunting now. So are mine, but I'm not hunting squirrels, although this l looks like a good game country. l have seen a number of birds so far.
 Tell Ernest that he isn't the only one that has to do his own washing | now. I have just finished a family | washing' We haven't any laundry here yet.
 1T don't know about that jam you said you sent. It may arrive here if some hungry individual doesn't in- spect it and eat it.
 But some good cigarettes would go good! The ones we get here are so strong that they make our hair stand up straight when we smoke them and we have to bite a nail to keep down our tempers-you know the kind l like
 Did Pa invest in a Liberty Bond I took three and don't think it is a bad investment. Five dollars on each bond is taken from our pay each month.
 Gee! Tonight is Halloween and no ones windows to smash with to- matoes. But we'll have to celebrate in some way if we have to break our own windows The French don't have there are no gates we can steal
 Well, think I'll have to stop now. Don't forget to write, and write