Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1918-10-31

mans had set fires all along the hills
in front Of us. These lit up the sky
for miles around and surely made
the picture of destruction complete,
as we knew the Hun was burning his
own stores as we advanced and that
the victory was all that we could
have hoped for. That night we slept
in German officers billets and they
sure had fine places. Never slept
better in my life and | needed the
rest, too, as a drive is tiresome work.
The next day we dug and roasted po-
tatoes from the German gardens. Old
Fritz never thought when he planted
them and hoed them that u. s. boys
would eat them and that gave them
even better flavor for us.
Those Germans had thingss fixed
up fine around here. Nice barracks
and even had a canteen which we
soon were using ourselves. Mr..
Buckley, our Y. NJ G. A. man, gave
out cigarettes and cookies there,
, while the Germans were still On the
run. The Germans simply can't
stand up when the U. S. troops al
vance. They are outclassed in every
way when it comes to fighting. was
carrying orders from the major to the
different companies during this push
and it sure is tiresome work as one
has to not only keep up with the
troops but make trips back and forth
besides, but then everyone has lots
to do in the army. l ain sure glad
am not on the German side as they
must be catching the dickens all the
time. | guess they will get it worse
and worse as time goes on. YOn
ought to see the soap they use. /, is
the poorest stuff | eve,' saw. L. is 'uSt
like stone and do;'t lather good.
The coffee is made of cereals and
has no coffee in it at all Tie bread
is made of acOrnS, bran and other
stuff brown in color and as heavy
as lead. It has very sour taste. |
don't see how they can eat it at ALL
They are very short OF rubber, too,
and have to make most Of their gas
masks Of leather lns-ced, which is
not nearly so good. The Germans
must have an awful heavy load when
they are fully equipped as all their
equipment is very halIv and I don't
see how they could cardy it ALL On
one hill we took there were some flat
rocks and on them the Germans had
carved little notes to us. One said:
3: "We fear no one except God =
= and obey none but the kaiser" y
BY the way they neld up their
hands and shouted "kamerad,
though, it looked as though they were
a little afraid of us, too.
TIE letters the boys write in the
paper are interesting to me as by
them | can discover their addresses
and SO can write to them. | wrote
Frank Kuhns a letter yesterday but
haven't mailed il yet. | wish | could
send sCme Of the souvenirs home that
l saw UP here but doubt if l can as
they are SO hard to- carry back | will
send some buttons and cap though
as they are easy to- send. It's kind
of hard to write ayuInd here, as usu-
al
Milford Suster just interrupted me
to give na a package OF cigarettes
and some chocolate. He is from New
York City But such Interruptions
are always welcome and then too,
MalCra of the same place is
singing. He is a wonderful singer
and knows all the best songs. He
Knows all the grand opera songs OF
any value and can SING them in Eng
dsh or Italian, so You see we have
some music 1t sounds just like
theater here at all times. Malora is
singing, "The Shadows are Falling"
E{e sang, "Just Before the Battle,
Mother" as we were on our way to
the front and l never knew what that
song meant before. Also, I'VE are
Tenting Tonight" l :2now what that
song means, too, now as / never d1d
before. He knows many Of those old
fashioned songs which are so beaUtl-
ful Melora is the majors orderly.
There are only six in our bunch,
four runners and this orderly, and the
Sergeant Major. We sure have some
good times together as they are all
good fellows Well, I'll have to close
as the paper is getting scarce. Hop
ing this finds you well and hGppy
from your ever loving son.
PVT. DEWEY ARMBRUSTER.
Co. E, 18TH Infantry,
Am. Elk Forces.