The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-11-09
FAIRY STORY FROM
DADDY "OVER THERE"
Interesting Sketch of = Soldiers Life
PIeasingIy Told by One in the Ser
vice to His Children.


The following letter was written by
Lieutenant Halvor l.. Harley, NJ. c.,
now located at Base Hospital No. 70
with the American Expeditionary
Forces in France, under date of Oct.
5th, to his children, and will prove of
equal interest to all children and
grownups of P~leasantville and yicini-
ty:-
To my Bobby and Betty: You didn't
know that your daddy could write fai-
ry stories; but he is going to show
you that he car. Now, one time there
was a big wal and nearly all the kings
and rulers in the world sent their sol
diers to fight in great battles. These
soldiers from all over the world met
and fought in Europe in a country
called France, and they killed and hurt
each other in great numbers, and some
got sick and died from the hard life
they had to live-under little tents,
called pup tents, and in holes in the
ground, and in little old stone houses
and horse stables. Lots of soldiers
from the u. S. went over the great
ocean to help fight for what they
thought was right. And among the
others was a long legged daddy who
was a doctor-man. But before he could
be a real soldier-doctOr he had to be
trained, so he wore a uniform and
played at being a soldier for a while
and her be went across the ocean,,
too, with a lot of other d0ctor-men and
h~elper-soldiers, to make a big hospital
as big as Fort Des Moines hospital,
only different; because this hospital.
that they were to go to was in a for
eign land where peoples ways are diff
ferent and buildings and cities are all
different. And the ship they went
across the ocean in was very big-as
long as from the Reading R.. r. to the
Electric tracks and as wide as u lot
and Gargula's, and it was as high as
the P. O. out of the water, and the
as deep as 8 cellars down in the water,
and every one of these decks, as they
are called, was filled with soldiers.
And this was not the only ship like
this. There were as many as there
are houses from Main street to Frank
lin avenue and 2 more, and they
marched along like soldiers for two
whole weeks, night and day. across
the ocean. So you see how big the
ocean is. After a while at the end of
two weeks they saw some birds and
by-and-by a light house and then some
land. Then they knew that they were
near the end of the journey. Some OF
the soldiers were sick so they could
not march on shore with their COM
rades, so the daddy stayed on the boat
three more days until the ambulance
boat came out from shore and took the
sick men off the big boat. Then he
and his helper-men went on shore, too,
and found all the rest of their friends
who are going to make the new big
hospital. When they marched up the
street through the funny little town
they saw ever so many funny children.
They do not talk the same language
as you do at all. All they know in
English is give us a penny. They
wear funny, big wooden shoes, and
when they go over the rough stone
roads they make as much noise as a
horse. They are called peasants and
there are lots of them. Their fathers
and mothers ride in funny two wheel
carts. The fathers wear broad rim,
fiat crown, velour hats with streamers
down their back about 80 inches long.
The mothers wear funny white little
bonnets of lace on their heads some
thing like a nurses cap These people
mostly live in stone houses, with little
windows that are never opened, and
many places have stone walls 10 fit.
high all around them. The little fields
are divided by fences made of earth
thrown up to 2 or 8 feet, on which lit
tie bushes and vines grow. In the city
close by, the streets are narrow and
the sidewalks very narrow. All the
stores have very snowy windows much
like the cheap part of the boardwalk.
Te a. ~lAD INAnA. chARnla och xOT y
francs for something you wanted to
buy, you may be sure he will take less
if you are not willing to pay that
mach. Every place sells wine in
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