The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1918-08-31
An Interesting Letter

1<Abt WccA, NltBe LLou9 w 10
ceivsd the following letter from Earl
Tyler. It 10 one of the most interest
ing We have seen, coming from the
"other side:
Somewhere In France, July %, 1914
Dear Edna-We are now At Camp
DeViile. "Somewhers In France"
After a very delightful trip through
England, we crossed into France and
came here In "side-door pullmans.
Some trip. This country 10 Just ~
you have read about In books, with
its many vineyards, figtrees and old
chateaus. All the buildings are made
OF atone with tiled roofs.
Their system Of irrigation here Ia
rather crude; usually by means Of
numerous shallow wells kept full
from main we'll from which the
water Is pumped by hand. The water
10 then dipped from these shallow
wells and sprinkled on the ground by
hand. The figs and grapes are still
green but Will begin to ripen pretty
soon.
Passing by low places where the
water settles, 1t 10 common to see
bamboo growing. similar to what you
have seen used for fishing poles.
As We passed thru England 1t was
very interesting to see the neat little
farms, most Of which are we'll kept
and surrounded by hedges. The Eng
lish railroads are rather old-fashioned
beside ours, and we laughed 1t the
trains rs they looked like toy trains |;
of course they ere not very small, but
the construction 10 entirely different
from those wa are used to.
1t was surely interesting to visit
such q quaint and pretty country.
We were surprised to note the amount
Of mistletoe which grows therA Al
most every tree Of any size has At
least one bunch Of 1t hanging in the
branches somewhere. Some Of the
men mentioned the fact that the Eng
ltsh lads must meet their sweethearta
under the rnistletoe pretty often.
Rather an advantage over our country
At that, Ell?
The weather here has been fine and
the climate Ia sOmew hat warmer than
what we have been used To; however
there are breexes blowing most Of the
time SO we do not mind the heat
much. We are canped 1t an old
stone chateau which has bout twenty
rooms and 10 about three hundred
years old. There are fields oil around
us 40 We have plenty Of room for
drilling. We are all we'll and happy.
and the outlook 10 good 10 We are .
pretty cheerful crowd. We have some
athletic goods and musical instru-
inents along, 80 we keep things NOV
ing during our spare momenta.
OF cOurse, We meet = good many
French people no consequently have
lots Of fun trying to understand them
and speak their language. tits laugh.
able to see the men with their books
In their hands trying to find words
to express themselves. There 10
French family living In the lower
part Of this building and they have
about 20 head Of cattle and flock OF
about 10 sheep.
This country 10 not nearly ~ thick
ly settled as We expected to find 1t
and the towns are small altho they
are pretty close together judg ing from
parts We have passed thru.
They do not drive horses or mules
much by means of reins, but mostly
by speaking to them, a. we would
say gee. haw, whoa, etc. In fact the
reins do not extend back farther than
the names. Most Of the Carte are two
wheeled and are drawn by small dom
keys The people take their stuff to
market In willow baskets. When
they go shopping usually they get
bottle or two Of wine) they put their
purchases In q small sort Of sack
made by weaving twine into sort Of
netting.
know q fellow who lie In camp
near here and II get chance will
go to see him. Hope you people are
all well. Suppose the weather is
pretty hot there now. Have you had
chance to go to the lakes yet, or are
you too busy? l imagine you must 10
to town pretty often In "Liz" rs Art
has likely taught you to drive by now.
Who is walking ditch this season?
Do you plan on going up to Doors, OF
have you something else in view for
the summer? BE sure and write me
how Paul, Bill, and all the rest are
getting along and what they are do
ing. Expect to get some mail before
long and hope there will be some let
tsrs from you, Art, Daisy and mother
Of course. Daisy wrote me In her