The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-09-07
RAILROADING In I
FRANCE BY
U.S.. SOLDIER
His Scant knowledge of
French Helped Him
When the Train
Got Separated
VILLAGES WELCOME
SOLDATS AMERICAINE
Already for the Celebration
of the Fourth of
July

July
Thro the kindness of Mrs. H. F.
Warren of Lunenburg we are allow
ed to print the following interesting
letter from her nephew, Donald A.
Thomas:
France, Sunday Evening,
June 80, 1918.
Dear All:
Well, I've been up there-nearly
to the tront-and / want to put
down all my impressions while they
are fresh in my mind. l got back
early in the afternoon and have
spent part of my time cleaning up
and removing the dirt and dust, and
with bath and some clean clothes
on | feel quite in the mood to write
and l only hope l can put on paper
ali that is running in my mind.
1t all came about this way; it was
necessary to convoy several cars OF
material to a regiment at the front
and I asked for the opportunity to
go. Before | go farther | must ex-
plain that practically all shipments
of whatever nature going towards
the front are conveyed. That is,
man is sent along with a group of
cars under his care. Otherwise, due
cars are quite liable to be set off OF
to any one of a hundred causes, the
delayed. Ir fact this matter Of con-
voying cars is quite common thing
among the French and it is because
we have found it quite necessary un
der the present conditions that we
have adopted the same method To
begin with, as do all the rest that
&c up, l hauled down my tin hat,
gas mask and gun, rolled up my
blankets and thus equipped / went
down to the yards and got on to my
charges shortly after noon on Fri
day. Trains are made up in the
yards by American crews, but are
taken to their destination by the
French. Everything must be just so
before the French will accept the
train. All clearances must be right,
all loads fastened down Especially
with references to wagons, etc., on
fiats(, all tarpaulins securely tied.
| might say here that great many
shipments are made in open gon-
dolas which are covered with tar
paulins and lastly but far from least
all couplings must be screwed up
and the two chains on each cal
which serve to hold the train in an
s. emergency or through failure of the
coupling, must be hooked up. I'm
like the makeup of our trains, there
is a caboose, such as it is, at either
end, that is, one just behind the en-
gine and one at the end The con-
ductor stays at the head end. The
conductors dress much the same as
passenger conductor does in the
States with long frock coats with
many buttons, red stripes down then
trousers and the name of the roac
elaborately worked into the collar
And the brakemen are quite as fas-
tidious. They are really quite i'm
portant personages. | tell you al
this just by. way of contrasting The
French methods and the American
and shall continue. to do so as I gC
or because those things, too, formed
a part of my observations.
Soon we were rolling northwarC
over a country that l had never seel
before-a hilly region, now full.
clad in its coat of green, with here
and there lighter Scolor from tn,
fields of ripening grain in the val
leys. Now we crossed a highway
one of those white ribbons of ma
cadam which reach everywhere. Usu
ally the highway crossings are al
underground or an overhead one bu
when at grade there was always
gate and this closed, the attendan
living in nearby house. Wit
all these provisions and precaution
one can readily understand why it
that the percentage of grade cross
ing accidents are practically moth
ing.
Gradually the country becam
more hilly and rugged and the SUI
roundings were such as 1 knoN
you've seen pictured often before
little hamlets, clusters of houses an
chalets snuggled away on the hill
sides, wide level valley skirting tn
hills, and swift shallow strear
winding and twisting about.
seemed, too, that never had / see
houses so white or roof tiles so rec
The letter SHRDLUedwinseeETA TAI
The beauty of the. whole scene wa
emphasized as the sun sank low
the west, the last rays lingering o
the hilltops while below in the vale
one could sense a certain peaceful
ness that came with the twiligh
Darkness came. Having been al
sured that the caboose which wa
next to our cars would go straigl