The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-11-02
INTERESTING LETTER
FROM The OTHER SIDE
Corporal Alan Angelo, With the Photo
Section, Writes of His Impressions
of European Countries.
IMPRESSED BY FRENCH MANNERS

IMPRESSED BY FRENCH MANNERS
The following letter to the President
of the Atlantic County Christian En-
deavor Union will be read with much
interest by the many friends of the
writer, both here and throughout the
County generally.
October 3, 1918.
Dear Friend
am doing my best to keep in touch
with all my friends in the States
while over here. l have often thought
deavor friends, wondering what you
were doing and how our work was
progressing in Atlantic County. 1
have written to Ida Somers asking
for the personnel of the County offic-
ers. Whoever they are, l wish to ex-
tend to them through you my best
wishes for a great year of progress
and success in our work for the Mas
ter. | have often and do whenever
possible, read my c.. E. Daily Compan-
ion sent me by Ida Somers as | near
the hour of our meeting at home. The
life of a soldier at times is such that
he must have implicit faith that all
will end for the best, and that God is
watching over all. l wish | might
have the privilege as well as the time
to tell you all of my experiences but
that is impossible. However, l shall
do my best. l am mighty glad that l
have an active part in this fight for
humanity. | have had and enjoyed
experiences such as | never dreamed
of. The trip across was great. My
five days of sea sickness were not so
pleasant. but with that exception the
trip was fine. After landing We made
a nine hour journey through England
by daylight and it is sur a beautiful
country; very billy but mostly under
cultivation with fine farms and long
stretches of woodland. After reaching
France we had one grand continuous
sightseeing trip, partly by train and
the rest in trucks. This country is a
succession of hills and valleys with a
string of small villages lying in the
latter. The cities are not so attrac-
tive. being poorly laid out with mar
row dirty streets. While the villages
are by no means spotless, the inhabi-
tants appear to live like n big, hap
py family. They have long concrete
troughs and there n sees dozens of
women doing their washing and at the
same time keeping up a continuous
flow of talk. Where a stream flows
through a village, as frequently hap
pens. they have places built and do
the washing there. The town crier
ome out beating his drum and the
people all flock around to hear the
latest news. l have already seen a
good bit of France and it looks as if
| might see much more as the Photo
Section is not located permanently in
any one place, but is moved round to
keep in touch with the front. The
work of this Section is to print h
films that are taken by the Aviators
and when finished to send them to the
various branches of the service where
they will be of the most use and give
the officers outlines of what has to be
done. 1t is all very interesting and
important for the fighting forces. Our
work depends to a great extent upon
weather conditions, as perfect pictures
can only be obtained on clear days.
Ny part consists in building up or re-
pairing anything that may be needed
and believe me, | am a very busy
man. We are all glad to do what we
can towards building bridges across
the Rhine. The American soldier is
F fSIN wei ldhCh kol0 OAs NPRAN0
the best of arms and ammunition and
plenty of good clothing and warm bed
ding. together with three square meals
a day. What more can a man ask?
The Y. M. C. A. is doing a great work
and besides supplying stationery usu-
ally has plenty of eats, candy n
smokes to sell. Just at present our
Section is not able to buy anything as
we are a little camp to ourselves, but
smokes are issued once a week the
same as regular rations. AS a rule,
however, one can get anything he
needs from either the 'Y' or Govern
ment Commissary.
Since | have been here have learn
ed that the Americans have accom-
plished wonders through their several
organizations in the equipment and
care of their forces. And believe me,
the French appreciate and show their
appreciation of what has been done.
find one thing here that we cannot
bring back home with us and that is
the universal polite manners OF TINS
people. Under all conditions they are
ever courteous and thoughtful in their
dealings with us and with anoth-
err. | regret extremely that so TAR L
am not very well posted in their Ian
guage but hope to become more famil-
lar with it before my return. Give my
best wishes to all the c. E. workers
of the County. l would greatly ap-
preciate any letters they may care to
send. We are all hungry for news OF
home, no matter how trifiing. Up to
the present time I have received only
two letters. both from my wife, proba-
bly, on account of our moving around
so much, If you all write will get
the letters in the course of time and
then what a treat l shall have. | sin
cerely trust you and your family are
in good health and spirits, enjoying
the blessings of God. Personally l
never felt better.
Corp. ALAN ANGELO,
End Photo Section, First Observation
Group, First Army, Amer. EXpedit.
Forces. Via New York.