Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-10-18
BOSTON KIMERER IN FRANCE
LONGS FOR CORN BREAD
Vnrnel11I Franco nuu % 1913


Verneu1l, France, Aug. %, 1918.
Dear Folks:
Will take little time and write
you a letter, although il may be a
little short. l received yours written !
shortly before Earl left for camp; be-
lieve you wrote it on the 22nd of July. |
1t may be that Earl will not stay at
the camp if they should classify them |
there. Some times they send some Of
the boys home for some of those draft !
boards do not know what their in
structions are. |
Hope that you have had rain by
this time and that the crops turned
out fine. Would like to be home and
help you with the crops, but as it is
it cannot be done. 1t is awful warm
here and has been for long time now
the nights are cold, though. Really,
| haven't thing that l know that
can tell you. We are way out in the
country here and do not see a thing.
Reading the papers and letters when
we get them is our pastime. The
mail system that we have is fright
They keep harping about writing let
ters all the tine and then they do
not care whether they get home or
those which are sent to US get here.
We have big bunch of Germans in
here now working, something like 900,
and they want about that many more
expect they will be here before win
ter sets in for they are taking them
right and left up on the front.
We have some big shops here now,
but then they are not turning out
much work. Some of the men are
working on construction yet. Then,
we are short of parts, and, of course,
that holds the work back.
We only work nine hours a day
now. We started on the new sched-
ule Monday and hope that it keeps
up. When we were working ten
hours day we would not get up to
the barracks, which is three quarters
of a mile away, it would be 7 o'clock.
We would leave about 5:45 in the
morning. So you can see how much
time we were at the shops. We have
lots of things to eat. Have pumpkin
pie now quite often. The other night
we had some rice fritters and they
surely were good, but at that l wish
that l could have some good corn
bread. o, l could name a lot of
things.
They are lining up the Germans
outside here now; that is cut in the
street that runs down through the
plant. Each night they line them up
tell if any of them are missing. The
other night two of the new ones were
missing. They could not be found.
They had laid their coats down back
of some boxes and while they were
trading to find the coats the rest OF
the bunch had left and they were lost.
They are getting too many good
things to run away, so they came back
to the barracks in the evening.
We have not received mail for some
time now and it is a fright. Did not
get any today for one of the boys went
up to the barracks with a wheel and
he Just got back and his report is mo
mail" Would like to go to Paris on the
truck train running between here and
there. Three of the boys have been
up there already and each one of US
is going to get chance to make the
trip, providing they can drive truck,
and am going to try and learn so that
1 can see Gay Paree.
Well, this is Friday afternoon, it
will soon be time for the mail train,
or the train that brings in the after
noon papers; the news is going
around that they are going at it again
at the front, and as a matter of fact
know that there is something brew
ing.
It is terrible hot again today, but
there is a rain coming up and that
will cool the atmosphere off somewhat
hope so anyway. The people surely
need rain here They all have their
grain cut and have it in stacks. The
French have someway of cutting their
wheat and oats; use cradle, Of
course, but instead of cutting, or
swinging the cradle from the inside
out they swing it from the outside
in and only cut half swath, then the
fellow that follows along behind does
not have a rake but sickel and that
is what he rakes the grain with-O,
they have some way of doing things
around here.
There is one thing funny tho, and
that is, we do not see any vineyards
around here. Back in Nevers there
we're all kinds of grapes but down
here we never see any, do not know
why it is. Of course, this is not a
very prosperous part of France, but
a person would think that they would
have grapes all over France, for they
have tank cars (Railroad Tank Wag-
ons over here) that they use to haul
wine the same as we have cars to ha.1