Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1918-09-10
LETTER FROM
FRANCE.

We have received the following leu
ter from our friend DR.. nj. Clayton
Thrush of Philadelphia, who is now
Medical Officer in the United States
Army in France:
July 18th, 1913.
Dear Clayton
/ am now in France and over 1000
miles away from the dear old u. S. L
left Hoboken about three weeks ago
and after a delightful ocean voyage
of 81a days we landed in dear old
France. The weather was delightful
and except for two exciting exper-
fences we landed safely. Several
ships were in our convoy and an addi-
tional naval escort Our ship was the
largest and cost $6,400.0O0 to build
and equipt. 1t was all steel and beau
tifully furnished and complete IN all
its appointments. We had evacution
drill twice daily and could empty the
ship in nine minutes not withstandlng
that the ship would not sink in less
than an hour if struck. 1t had double
water tight compartments. We wore
our life preservers constantly day and
night and slept with our clothes on
even our shoes. had the largest and
most complete inhrmary on the ship
and treated so per cent more patients
than any other surgeon on board. We
had xcellent meals, six course lunches
and eight course dinners. and French
crew and service, including officers of
all kinds. Thousands of soldiers were
in the convoy and the sight was beau
tiful as the monster ships plowed their
way along. Sunrise and sunset were
indescribable in their beauty and ma
jesty and to me they displayed the
greatness of God and his handiwork
more than anything | have ever seen.
This ship even had compartment
for cats and dogs and all kinds of ex-
ercising devices such as racing and
horseback riding apparatus.
The first sight of land was glorious
and we saw it through our field
glasses first. We landed the same day
and went to a Rest Camp after four
mile march. The children gave US
flowers and everyone welcomed us in
the most cordial style. l was i'm
pressed with a group of small children
about five years of age singing as we
passed by, "Hail! Hail! the Gangs all
Here; What the H Do We Care 2"
and in excellent English.
| studied French on the way over
and having a French crew, | can man
age to speak enough to make myself
understood. The children wear wood
en- shoes and every where you see
women of all ages in black (mourning)
which indicates how France has been
bled of her manhood All the work
and cultivation of the soil is done by
old people and boys and young women.
The able bodied men are in the army.
In the Rest Camp | saw a number
of men who had been "gassed" and
were suffering from "shell shock. "
One of them was from West Virginia
and he talked necessarily about his
kinds of corious ways.
| was appointed Senior Sanitary Of
ficer whilst here Our barracks had
been built by Napolian and were the
quaintest buildings | ever saw.
From here we journeyed by train to
the active zone. We travelled through
France passing through several prov
inces and over hill and veil, passing
through large cities and villages and
the various types of people and occu-
pations were especially noticeable.
We saw numerous German prisoners
and conversed with them, and when we
reached the War zone we saw many
being evacuated to the rear
Our train consisted of 43 coaches
and 2 engines. | was Senior Medical
Officer in charge of the train. We ar
rived here last Monday and will prob
ably remain in this neighborhood, as
we are in the active zone near general
| field headquarters and this camp is
enormous in size. 1t covers several
miles and has enormous shops and
millions of dollars worth of supplies
Aeroplanes are as common as autos
at home. Often see from five to eight
in one group. We assemble them here
We have the Germans on the go and
with the grace of God we will not stop
until we whip the devil out of them
and down that beastly, hellish military
machine which is controlled by the au-
/ tocracy. All the men are in the best
Of spirit and there is no question about
our winning. If you mingled with the
men and saw their spirit as | do you
would agree with me. | am Senior
Medical Surgeon of the camp that
am in and have several medical and
dental assistants. l treat all nations
including a number of Chinese which
we use in our Labor Battalions. One
Of my Surgica! clerks is from West
Virginia.
The spirit of the men is great, we
are here to win.
Send me the spirit" as it will be a
great pleasure to hear from dear old
Charles Town. By best wishes and
hndest regards to Mrs. Haines.