The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1917-08-31
Kate, Man Tells Of His Labors
'sae In the War Zone
CHEERS FOR AMERICANS
Yankees Are Joyfully Received
Everywhere In the Country
a., Of Lafayette
From THURSDAYS Daily.

LAZY.
Rebuilding and remaking of faces
shot away in battle is graphically de-
,scribed and the work of the ambul-
ance drivers is told in the following
letter which was received yesterday
by, Mrs J. H Baker from her son
James Baker, who is with the am
,bulancer corps in France. It's most
Interesting descriptive letter and
should be read by everyone:
Somewhere in France" July 80,
1917.-Things have been moving at
an amazing speed since / wrote you
last and this is my first opportunity
to write real letter. Forty-one of
MS, some selected from the men at
camp and more picked up in Paris,
have been assembled as section sixty.
We have received our cars and are
now on our way to. the front. OF
course was delighted to get started
so soon. Only seven Rechambeau men
were chosen, but what pleases me
most Of all is the fact that Ed. Hard
ing has been designated as my part
ner on an ambulance. .
You will remember that he was
selected to drive a Red Cross staff
car In Paris and that it seemed that
It would be impossible to carry out
our plan of driving together. When
our section was selected, Ed. begged
so hard for a chance to come that
Mr. Norton acquiesced and then was
80 kind as to request our section
chief to pair. US. I've been so happy
ever since that I've been acting like
a kid at a circus. Ed. is wonderful
chap and I'm pleased beyond words
to pair with him.
=. Grant Wizards Unit.
Section sixty one, Grant Wizards
unit, is filled and Mr.. Norton said
that it was quite impossible for Carle-
ton, Ed. or myself to enter. Much as
should like to be with Grant, Pm
more than satif1ed with our bunch
which includes seven Minneapolis
men, Ed. and Irving Fish, Carleton,
Allen Rogers, Cummings, Nat Chad
bourne and myself, Bud Riley from
st. Cloud and Charley Himbache OF
Duluth, making nine men from Min
nesota. They are all fine chaps and
our. crowd averages up rather well
we think, In doc" ,Woodell, the
Florida cracker, we have real clown
and SO. long as he and his rare drawl
and humor are with us, the "Yanks"
IN the party will be in good spirits.
Our officers are a fine group Of
men. Singer, our chief, has been In
the corps since the war began and
speaks French like native. He is
the older son Of your old friend, the
sewing machine man. Paul Hughes,
our sub-chief is soldier Of fortune
who has been in half dozen South
american revolutions and who served
In section eleven through all the
hell at verdun Mr.. Norton declares
that Hughes is the best mechanic
the corps ever had. The French lieu
tenant and his lieutenant are
splendid gentlemen whose first
thought seems to be for our comfort
and welfare The French lieutenant
must be- a person of some influence
at Headquarters for we are attached to
any army, an honor accorded only two
other sections in the Norton arjes
corps. This means that we shall re-
main with this army, moving with it
wherever it is sent. Under the
French military organization, the army
is the major unit and is made up OF
divisions consisting of about $4,000
men each.
.a, Have An Excellent Cook.
fortunately, we have an excellent
cook and the fare is vastly better
than any of us had been led to expect.
For dinner today our first as sec
ton in the field, we had sardines,
huge slices Of delicious boiled ham,
beans, bread and real butter, wine,
cheese and coffee. Not bad for army
rations. Mother. We were greatly
pleased with the dinner and were in
formed that it was only an average
meal! The coffee is vigorous stuff but
1t tastes mighty. good after the Sandri-
court brand.
The cook and his assistant felt hurt
when some of US volunteered to wash
our own dishes after dinner! They
won't permit us to do anything OF
that kind if they can prevent it and
even refuse to allow US to carry food
from the stove to the table. We are
treated like lords at every turn and
nothing is too good for their Ameri-
can comrades.
Our section consists Of twenty am
6ulances, two men to each car, one
touring car for the officers and one
truck for carrying a repair OUTFIT
tents, tables and trailer for the kit
chen. Each man has a cot and where
possible these will be set up in
barn or other shelter but we car
steep comfortably on: stretchers in oul
amhulances. Different ambulances arr
designated to carry a supply OF gaso-
line. OH and the like and this is un.
loaded at our base when we are
working.
The Cars Are Fine.
I'd, and are seated in our ca
writing. We receiv ed our cars yester
day at q large automobile base, som'
distance from Paris, and spent thu
day 0verhauling them for real WORK
I'd and 1 found ours in excellent con
dition save for minor adjustment
and expect little trouble with it. Al
orr cars were formerly driven by
French ambulance unit whose worl
va arc taking over.
Rumor about camp is that we ar
togo to verdun but one cen hear al
most anything and the officers hav
made no announcement. We are nov
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