New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1917-12-19
FIRST Man TAKEN
in DRAFT WRITES
Harold Stotts, Now in France,
Breaks Teeth on Hanback,

Harold Stotts, son of Mrs. Lillian
Stotts of Is West Pearl street, New
Britain's first man to be examined and
passed for the National Army and,
incidentally, the first local man in the
National Army to reach France, has
written to his mother from somewhere
In France under the date of Novem
Der rs and in this letter he makes q,
number of interesting, not to say,
humorous, observations. The letter
follows:
Sunday, November 25, 1917,
Somewhere in France.
Dear Ma
"Just few lines to let you know
am feeling well and hope you and
the rest can say as much. Have a
hard cold but it's nearly gone now.
Things are getting settled here quite
rapidly and we have a. regular sched-
ule to follow. We drill every day,
rain or shine and it is no joke drilling
either. We had a picnic at Fort Tot
ten compared to here and most of us
have already got sore feet from hiking.
The drilling here is more serious and
much moro strict and, of course,
'.Stottsey'' "gets it, quite frequently
on account OF his poor hearing but
nevertheless. am getting along pretty
good Just the same We haven't any
stove for our room yet, but hope to
get one before long and as we haven't
had any real cold weather yet it's been
alright.
The French women over here are
pretty nice to US and this morning
some of them brought us some apples
to chew on. Talk about eats-I'm get
ting now so I can eat almost any
thing except rice, and that I can't
seem to get used to. AS we are not
allowed to drink any water that has
not been boiled, I drink coffee all the
time. At the present time our regular
food Is much better than it was but
I have already broken off one tooth
and Clipped two others eating hard
tack. The weather here Is wet and
the roads are muddy. 1t has been
raining all day today, but now the sun
is shining, it now being $3.50 p. m.
Probably it is about 1880 a. m. back
in New Britain and you are at church.
Am I right? I am in bed about 6
o'clock every night and so get almost
- hours of snooAng.
Last Sunday I saw Philip Randall,
from East Hartford, and hardly knew
him he is so fat AS for myself,
haven't lost any weight as far as I
know We have not been paid since
October 10, so money doesn't bother
me much. Have seen considerable
French money, but haven't had a
chance to handle any of it yet, but
expect to as soon as we will get paid,
but, then, there is very little to do
with it once we do get it. ...
How is everything in New Britain
Still the same old burg, but with a
ell
suppose. I haven't received any news
from any of you since I left the
States, but expect to soon. I did get
some newspapers that Bert sent. to me
at Aver and they proved just as inter-
esting as though they were just off the
press They are dated September 10,
20 and Fl, and all the boys are read
ing them. AS there are few papers in
this place, We don't hear much of the
outside world. We hear reports over
here that the United States is now at
war with Mexico, but that don't worry
us any, for we have plenty to take up
our mind. We see the French SOL
diers quite frequently, but they can't
talk English.
I'VE are now CHARTERED in a small
peasant village in a cottage. There
are four of us fellows in one room
so we are HOL OV0IC1O"UOu. w . oAA
! eat in the army mess hall. Still, we
find this to be an awfully lonesome
place compared to where we have
been staying. Sherman Taylor is To-
Gated about five miles from where I
am. Believe me will have lots to
| tell you when I get home for I'm see
| ing more of the world than I ever ex-
pected to see, having already been to
Canada, England, and France. How
ever, find that none of these places
compare with the q. S. A. Most of
our travelling over here has been done
! in freight cars somewhat smaller than
ours For two days I sat on wooden
benches without the comforts of a
pillow and couldn't sleep. Towards
| the last of that nevertobeforgotten
ride some of the boys got pretty
grouchy There were 40 of us in one
car but we finally arrived safely.
We'll, I hope you and all the rest
! at home are feeling fine and I sure
wish 1 could be with you again, but
wish you all a Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year.
| LAS ever yours
HAROLD"