The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-02-08
LETTER FROM ENGLAND
Some First Hand Information Of Life
There hN Former Guest in Dorset

There by Former Guest in Dorset
The following is from recent letters
from Mr.. Marshall Of the Frederick
Crane Chemical Company Of Birming-
ham, England, who has twice spent
considerable time at Dorset, once with
his only son, Spencer, who is now "a
lieutenant IN the artillery, and who has
been on the firing line Somewhere in
France" nearly nine months.
1--WE have had the stormiest Deem
Der and January that We have had for
many ycarssnow. rain, frosts, cold
winds, have alternated through the
whole time, but am glad to say that
! have kept wonderfully well consid-
cring all this and all the other varying
anxieties which the present time brings
with it, We have no definite news as
TO when Spencer will be home on leave
we are expecting him towards the
end Of this month, but whether he
will get away is still uncertain
as his battery is hard at work day and
night Immediately behind the firing
line. They are 20 or 80 miles away
from any place where they can buy
anything, and he says it is about the
worst job and the worst place for
wearing out clothes he ever came
across. He gave us rather a comical
idea Of what he looked like at the time
he was writing-a steel helmet, his
own cap had been blown off into a
shell hole, a mufI'ler, as he had got no
collars, a jacket out at the elbows and
a pair Of breeehes which had been
patched at the knees. We are rather
hoping that this it not his best suit,
for he certainly would look rather
war-worn if he came home in that con-
dition. Anyway, everybody is pretty
out there, and it is a wonder
to me, knowing the conditions, how
they manage to keep it up, but as the
Allies have definitely pointed out to
America, we are going to win this war
and every man is firmly imbued with
that desire.
1--WE have undoubtedly a difficult
task with terrible loss of life and
but what would the world be
like if we stopped now and allowed
Germany to have her way? Nothing
would be safe--nobody would be safe
because / do not believe that official
Germany has even an idea of what
honor means, and for the world to be
1T the mercy of such INSCRIPTIONS
and sanctimonious defenders of hui
nanity' would mean a life of misery to
everybody.
81 wonder if you will be very much
surprised to learn that | am going to
,ome out in a uniform? There has
,een great movement throughout the
zig cities in this country to establish a
arge force of special constables to
AXE the place of the ordinary men in
,lue, and so release them for service
IN the firing line. We in Birmingham
ire doing the same thing, and have
enrolled as a special constable, and
AVE undertaken to do certain
Of beat work. The time have
elected is from 10 o'clock at night to
o'clock in the morning every Fri
lay and Saturday-two beats of four
lours each. These special constables
70 their rounds in pairs on the night ,
,eats, so that it is not so bad as wan
ering around the dark and dismal
treets by yourself; but anyway am ,
lot expecting any fun out of it. But ,
cit that had got to take my share of .
he responsibilities, and as | am too :
Id to go into the firing line, ! am glad .
o be able to do anything that will re-
ease others to go there and so clear 9
p this horrible state of things quicker !
han it otherwise might be-"