Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-08-29
Another Letter From France.
AT home. August 4, 1915

vice, and | hope they can keep II up.
Our mail has been coming better late
w, and if the reports are true we Will
soon have regular system working
over here. hope they do, for the way
the mail has been handled has been
disgraceful, to say the least. Things
are moving along about the same, eX-
cept that we are sure giving the Boone
a nice little warming up at the front.
He does not seem able 10 hold his lines
at all. and | hope we will just keep
right on going toward Berlin. III we
can hold up as We have been going the
mast month il won't take long to settle
the argument left.
We had a payday few days ago, and
since | drew more money IMAM VIII VII
need this month, and knowing HiySei,
| decided that the best thing couia
do was TO put the extra francs IN oank.
So | hied me to town and went TO inc
Societie Generate, the big oank Oh
France-and what a time | mao oveI
that small deposit. ! went IN ana tlle
interpreter took me to the manage
and | told him how much | wanted 10
Senosit. and he took my name ana RANK
and organization and filled out plank
form Of some sort, and | signed that
Then he got down big book and open
"a INV account and signed that. lhel,
he made out another paper WHICH !
took 70 the cashier and | signea tilal.
The cashier then gave me recelPt loi
NV money and we both signed thar. !
,hen returned TO the manager ana TIC
made me out my bank book ana natur,
civ signed that. Then l ASKED
ahout check book, and was told tnat
| had to buy the check oook, Wn i'II
contained twenty-five cheeks ana Tou,a
cost me two francs and a-hat., VI
about fifty cents in our money. oiiiSe
that was the only way couio gel VI.
money out of the bank, | deciaeo tha'
I had better buy me one, so we coni-
nleted that deal, and signed my nallie
aoain Bv that time about mao
writer's cramp, and was beginning 10
wonder whether or not they were KID
ding me. but | saw another fellow 60,
mo through the same process, SO
decided that that must be the regular
wav. II took the better part OF an
hour to make the deposit, ana II II
takes that long to get the money OUT
hone we don't have to evacuate IN
hurry | understand that when you
present a check for payment they 60
r. the big book and first find out II you
have the money to back 1t up, ana tnal
os soon as the check is cashed II IS
taken off your account-tney ~ no'
| even wait until after business houis,
but make the deduction right on 'lie
snot. Some system they have, out II
SIRE takes a lot of good time, ana |
am glad that my banking business IS
not going to be very large.
The most surprising thing to me IS
the unfailing cheerfulness OF the french
neople. With all their troubles ano
with all the weight of the war pear
ing heavily upon them, they never
sion smiling and always have WORD
of greeting and a smile for everyone
II IS of course the women who are
doing all the work here in their homes
and business, and you never lind them
down-hearted or sad, and when you see
q Young man in civilian clothes you
Immediately wonder what is the matter
with him, for it is only on very rare
| occasions that you ever see oHe. i
saw one the other day, and as ne pass
ed said to the Military Police" u won,
der why he is not at the front, ana
the M. P. told me that the man hao
lost his right arm and he had sucn
good artificial one that | had not no
ticed the difference. The interpreter
al the bank had a noticeable limp, and
| happened to say that he spoke good
English, and he told me that he ought
TO be able to speak well, for he was
part American, and explained that his
right leg was an American one, he nav
ing lost the original at Verdun. And
that is why the only young men you
see are crippleS, for the rest are all at
the front fighting, and when they are
not fit for active service they are used
in factories or in clerical positions.
And some folks have said that this is
weak nation!
We are sure getting some Ameri-
cans over here now. During the last
month the population of our own camp
has more than doubled, and more men
are coming in every day. Just heard
some music down the road and here
came marching another regiment OF
Motor Mechanics, with their band
leading them and flags flying and
line of real Americans that makes you
wonder how they all got here. Cap
tain Peters, who was my commanding
officer at Camp Hancock, was the first
familiar face saw, and then as the
men marched by | saw any number
whom | had known back in the camps
in the States. We have enough Motor
Mechanics here now TO carry on any
sort of work most, and if they all ever
get in town at one time there won't be
much left of that little burg, for there
are three times as many soldiers here
as there are people in the town. On
Sundays and in the evenings the town
looks like there is some sort OF cele-
bration on, for the streets are damned
with soldiers and the life that our
fellows put into that old town sure
makes it sit up and take notice. The
Storekeepers should be getting rich, for
they do an enormous business and
charge enough for what they sell, and
practically all the money that the men
get is spent right here. And for a
few days after payday the town looks
like circus day, but toward the end OF
the month when all the money is spent
things are kind of slow and time
drags, and not so many of the men go
TO town. This new Motor Mechanics
Regiment is in the Department of
Military Aeronautics, and all their
baggage and equipment is marked D.
M. A. Someone asked what the let
tiers stood for, and one of our men
answered thusly: 81 amt quite sure,
but it is something like Detachment OF
Military Agnostics." You should have
heard the howl that went up from the
bunch around him. He sure made
stagger at what it meant anyway.
There is some talk that our COM
PAW is liable to leave here and 60 up
close to Paris, and sure hope we do,
for it is sure monotonous where we are
now, and there is not much more to be
seen or learned around here. The only
objection is that we have gotten so
comfortably fixed that il seems like 60