Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1917-12-06
Baraboo Officer in France Censoys
His Own Mail

Mr.. and Mrs. J. E. Stekl have re-
ceived several letters from their son,
Lieutenant Clausen Stekl, who sailed
for France several weeks ago. His
first letters were evidently lost en-
route, and the others all came togeth-
err All mail is censored before being
sent from the war zone and Lieuten-
ant Stekl in his official capacity occu-
pies the unique distinction of censor
ing his own mail, the envelope bearing
the censorship stamp and o. K. of
Lieutenant Stekl Extracts from his
letters read as follows:
Sunday, November II, 1917.
Dear Folks:
Well, today. is the twenty-sixth day
since I have received a letter. 1t
seems strange to be out Of contact
with everyone and is apt to precipitate
a bad case of blues. So far have
steered clear, but Mead was hit hard
yesterday and Dad Cole had a touch
From now on until we are perma-
nently assigned address my mail as
follows: Lit. G. F. Stekl, D. O. r. c.,
A. E. f., France, via New York. Then
it will go to Paris and be forwarded
to us. It>sure will be good when the
mail does start to come.
Collecting Various Coins
I have been collecting coins just to
see how many varieties I can get.
Have got about So or 40-French, Eng
lish, Belgian, Portuguese and Italian.
You see this is seaport town and
sailors of all nationalities drop their
coins here, and of course are given in
exchange. I imagine will have quite
a collection by the time we go home.
Their franc, the standard, as our dol
lar, is given out in silver one and two
franc pieces, in paper, l., 3, s., 20, so
and 100-franc notes I have got a
pocketbook stuffed full and imagine
all have is about $40. We have mon
ey belts and carry our 10O-franc notes
in that. Have an awful time trying
to keep straight. Every time we
want to know how mucn we have left
we have to sit down and figure it out
with pencil and paper. One franc is
about Is cents.
This town has been spoiled by
American soldiers as far as prices go.
They don't stop to count the money,
but simply jam it into their pockets,
and Of course the shopkeepers got wise
and are putting the prices up. under
c4a al i,,1o ,ro1
more reasonable. One thing, though,
we got a bargain on was our Sam
Brown belts. In America they ask
from SIS to $40 Here we paid about
So. They are regulation here You
remember how we read in the paper
that the commanding officer at Rock
ford had put swagger sticks and Sam
Brown belts out? Here the officers
have to wear them. mot swagger
sticks)
Sunshine in France at Last
November IL: Well today we have
nice, sunny day. If this weather
keeps up another day they will break
the record here for sunshine
Had nice breakfast this morning:
Prunes, oatmeal, soft-boiled eggs (nice
fresh ones) Clipped beef with toast
(creamed), bread, butter and coffee.
HoW's that for army life?
After breakfast I took my serge
down to the tailor and my washing to
our washerwoman, and then went
down to the quartermaster department
for some clothing. Bought a pair of
trench shoes for 1921. They are
built heavy, waterproof, hobnailed
with an iron extending clear around
the heel. The hide is turned inside
out; that is, the rough part is on the
outside. Ought to wear for at least
couple Of years by the looks of them.
/ also bought new hat, s104; six
pairs socks, heavy, $156; shirt, $238;