The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1917-11-16
OF A SOLDIER Rov

we take the following extract fro,,
private letter written by Franz NJ
Daliam, Jr, a member of Tho ,e,N. y"
res'lhent' now stationed at Fort Mile
long island, and which, no doubt will,
sui oe somewhere in France" ,,
Trough 1t Will not be known wbon ~
where, very soon, as strict ordoua Vi
ISSUED that no information be sent or. ~
III ietters, and all Correspondence w ~
carefully censored: '''0e 10
Ihis Is the most interestin. o,n,
yet early this morning aviators fron,
lhe army aviation school here began
ascending, and soon ten macbinos
were circling over us at the Same timn
ana with an hour out for noon thorn
nave been from three to fen flvira ~
oay' me camp site is a lovely strentch
vi open country, with slight ineouali-
'ies OF elevation. Yesterday morning
wheh We arrived, the lower ground
was under water as the resuIt of =
heavy rain storm the previous r;oht
Many Of the tents were flooded. For.
tuhately we were encamped on tho
higher ground, and are cozy as can he
with camp stoves.
There are a number of thouS.rds 90
men mere now. and more coming in all
the time. The provisions for troops arc
not as good as in either Camp FIRE.
mont, Palo Alto. Cal, or Camp Greene
N Z. Every one is on the ground and
we were among the first to get stoves
mere are no mess halls. We eat in the
open, but at present, while we are at.
tached to Co. A, of the signal CORPS. wa
eat we'll The cook is a real chef from
Chauncy Wright's Third Avenue place
We had hot cakes and bacon this
morning. Six big cakes with syrup, and
three strips of bacon and coffee.
Am sending under separate cover
an illustrated pamphlet of st. Georges
church, Hamstead, which I visited to-
day. Hamstead is little, old village
about two miles from camp. It is as
quaint and old fashioned as can be
imagined. Old, old houses, colonial
style, white paint and green shutters.
flag stone sidewalks, narrow crooked
streets and trees dressed in autumn
coloring. The interior of the church is
white enamel painted, with old rose
coverings to the seats. We also wan
dered through the church yard with
its weather beaten headstones, many
of the inscriptions entirely obliterated
by the action Of the elements.
"The trip from Camp Greene here
consumed twice as much time as ordi-
narily, as our trains made frequent
stops of long duration, and travelled on
a slow schedule. The country was not
so interesting through Verginia. but
We enjoyed half hour in Richmond at
night. Pennsylvania and New Jersev
were most interesting states The land
is all highly cultivated. rich soil and
fine country homes, and stretches Of
hardwood forests, with towns and cit
les every few miles. We boast of our
manufacturing, but there is more in
dustry in one small Pennsylvania city
than on the entire Pacific coast.
"The biggest disappointment of our
trip was our failure to see Washing
ton. We arrived there after midnight,
and stayed in the freight yards two
hours where we could see nothing. Our
train ran over the Pennsylvania rail-
road from there to New York. We went
under Baltimore through tunnels, and
saw but little of the outskirts of that
city. But we had fine view of Will
mington and Philadelphia, as the rail-
road runs overhead through those cit
les. At Philadelphia we were marched
through one of the park districts on
the edge of the city for exercise. We
reached Newark after dark, and ran
under the Hundson and East rivers 10
Long Island, coming near the surface
at the great central station, but, OF
course, saw nothing, so we have that
great treat ahead of u.s."
Speaking of meeting his brother
Lawrence, who had just reached the
camp, the writer says: "He belongs to
the finest looking, best drilled regi-
ment here. The End Washington is
regiment that the people at home can
be proud of. The boys look clean, man
ly and away above the average IN IN
telligence and learning. They have II
on every other organization here. our
greatest interest is the airplanes that
sail over us in flocks each day. There
is one big, three-propeller plane oper-
otod nv an Italian"