Milford chronicle., 1918-06-14
LETTER FROM CARLISLE COLLINS
Tnesdav Nav q. 1s1s.

Dear Mother and Father: Yesterday
received three letters from you-April
26th, 2S;h and May End: also one from
Aunt Mary. Tell her I appreciate IL very
much and will write her in a few days.
AS your slip shows. have received,
think, an the letters and cards and all
the money and packages. except the last
one containing pajamas and tobacco.
which have no doubt VIII reach me IN
due time. The papers. Chronicle etc.
am not sure that have received them
ail. but ! think the large majority OF
them. ! received a very nice letter
from Dr.. Stephenson yesterday, also
one from Mrs. r Wilson You address,
ed the letter on Stokes stationery, so
must know who she is. Bill Foulk also
wrote me; he expects TO be called in
July, as he has passed the examination.
At my first opportunity / will look up
Lieut.. Shawuck. know where the hos
pital is located. Tell Mr.. Roux / will
write him shortly ! think his nephew
is fine / havt just returned from din
ner az the soldiers & Sailors Club. it is
now eight o'clock, but ia reality only
seven The Champs Ulysses Avenue is
crowded just at this time OF day. and 1t
Is a beautiful walk down TO our hotel
on this avenue from the club, which is
just on Place de Ia Concorie The ave-
nue. runs due east and west and the sun
set seen through the Arch OF Triumph
just now was beyond description; it is
sight one can never forget. Yesterday
I made the trip 10 the beautiful Palace
OF Versailles; made the trip on the cleo
trc tram, forty-mlnute ride from Par-
S. and a beautiful one too This old
castle dates back as far as the Sixteenth
century, and has been rebuilt by Louis
XV and XVI. Practically everything Isl
10 an excellent state Of preservation and
just as Louis XVI LETT il; even the mag
aihcent paintings which cover the walls
are intact through all these years. IT
takes about two hours 10 explore the
castle. and also about the same time
20 see the grounds. saw the bedroom
Of Marie Antoinette. the numerous
throne rooms. the beautiful chapel: but
The most magnificent room OF them all
IS the Galerie des Glaces. This room
IS more than $50 feet long and about 25
feet wide The walls and ceiling are
covered with paintings decorated with
gold. silver and bronze. Originally there
were % chandeliers here. but all except
two were destroyed by the mob when the
king was assassinated or rather murder
ed. One Of these remaining chandeliers |
they have in the room OF Peace, at one |
end Of the Galerie, and the other in the |
room Of War. al the other end.
The spacious gardens are terraced and |
lead down to an artificial lake and just |
at this time OF the year when all the 1
flowers are in bloom. the grass green /
and the trees and the shrubs in full /
leaf you can picture nothing more beau
nful The lake was dotted with canoes
and motor boats. Immense gold fish
swim there, too. Around the sides Of
the lake are walks. and OF course the
ever present cafes are there too. They
we're crowded Sunday; singing, but no
dancing. there, as that is barred since
the war. for which l am very sorry.
The stables in connection with the PAL
ace are real palaces in themselves. Old /
horse flesh. and had over 5000 horses
there at one time. Can you imagine
what he did with so many?
1 hope by this time you have received
al the postal pictures Of this palace,
which sent you a week or so ago. You
can then form some idea Of its magnih-
cence; IL cannot be expressed in words.
After returning from Versailles took
dinner with a Mr.. Graud, a large fur
dealer. / met him through a friend OF
mine In the Office here. who is related
10 him. We had a fine dinner-soup.
amb, caulihour. asparagus. potatoes,
cheese, real cakes, ice tea cigars.
met at this dinner a French captain. He
has invited me TO dinner with him next
and then again on Sunday we
are invited to Mr.. Graud's. / have been
extremely lucky in meeting such nice
people. They all speak fair English, too,
which helps immensely. sometimes.
Last Wednesday / visited Gaumont
Palace. the largest cinema theatre in the
world Mr. Millou took me there. They
had fine show and a wonderful orches-
ira. Toward the end Of the performance
the alerte for an air raid was sounded,
20 we all took refuge in the Metro. 1
wish you could see the crowds there on
such a night. They come thick and fast
ject is to reach safety quickly. and be-
.eve me they do that thing. too did
not reach my hotel until after y that
night. as ! had 10 wait until the sub
way cars started. They always stop
during a raid. shutting of the current
,n the third rail in order TO allow the
crowds room, If necessary. and IL usu-
Ally is.
General Pershing was in our Office this
afternoon. 1t sure does send thrill
through one to see this fine soldier; ne
means business. This is his first visit
o our new hotel.
am sending a view Of one Of the
'ooms Of our ''Y" just around the cor
Ter. VIII send some more pictures OF
myself Thursday; they should have been
orwarded today. Am asking that you
'end some articles; am attaching slip to
his letter; sent one some time ago for
bookings etc. Hope you get it, Am .
tin waiting 10 hear from my promotion
do