Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-10-30
CORP. ED. KEEFE
TELLS OF FRANCE
Writes Us Very Interesting Letter
About France and the Way They
Work and 1--we Over There
HAS SEC OTIS SOLDIERS
BUT So LIKE U. s. BOYS
Saw Tratnload of Ge, Ns Prisoners
and Says for Cigaf, You
Could Get Anything The., Had
Somewhere in France
Sept. 20, 1918

Somewhere in France
Sept. 20, 1918
Dear John:
/ suppose you have put my name
on the shelf for not writing sooner,
but have been on the go most of the
time since We landed on this side of
the pond. But enjoyed the trip,
every foot of it, but was surprised
at the ways of the people over here
and in England. OF course they have
had four years of war, but | am
making allowances for that. We
have passed through some very pret-
ty cities and the country is just like
a big garden with hedge fences. But
the further they can get horse
away from it's load the better they
like it. Most all the wagons are OF
two wheel type, and / have seen
as many as five horses, one ahead OF
the other and the driver always
walks. He never rides, as every
wagon has brake on, and to apply
the brake is like cranking Ford car.
The driver is kept very busy keeping
his horse in the road and applying
the brake. They also have quite
few oxen, or milk cows, hitched up.
Instead of a yoke like in the states
they pull the load with their head or
horns. They have fine horses and
cattle, but very few hogs have seen
in the real grey hound type, not
very many hogs. All the stock is
herds at this time of the year.
/ also had the pleasure of seeing
them do some threshing quite q
bit different than home. The thresh
ing machine was a one horse power
tread mill and on the other side was
the machine that did the work. 1t
took six men to run 1t. The bundles
are all hand tied and feed into the
machine and the heads are the only
part that gets hit by the machine
and the straw is bundled, tied and
stacked. The chaff is also kept and
put away, and when they get sack
full of grain everything is stopped
and it is weighed and stored away
The houses and barns are all to-
gether and are thousands Of years
old and made of stone; some which
were built in late years are of brick
or tile and some are very pretty.
The streets are very narrow and the
sidewalks are about wide enough fol
one of our hob nail shoes, so its
nothing to walk down the middle OF
the street Most all the people wear
wooden shoes and 1t sure looks funny
to see them hobbling around with
them. They always leave them out
side of the house. Three or four
pairs would almost be car load,
especially for the cars over here, as
Z they are very small; about ten ton
IS their capacity and they have the
old link couplings. Most of the
brakemen carry long poles around
with them, as they have no air
brakes on the freight cars, and never
have place or car for the train
crew They ride any place that they
can hang on to; but they run fast.
They move troops in box cars, 40
men, or eight horses, so you see how
large the cars are.
We are not very far from the
front, but do not know much about
the war, only they are making 1t
pretty hot for the boches. Saw a
train load of captured prisoners the
other day. about 1900 that they
were taking back from the front, and
for a cigarette you could get any
thing they had. They were very
glad to be captured, as | guess they
would have got all that is coming
to thems
Most all these people wear black
and have not the happy look the
folks back home have. 1t is very
hard to buy anything; milk and eggs
are the only things you can buy, and
this time of the yehr the hens take
life easy. The French bread is of a
darker color than ours, but has a
very good taste, and is made round,
like an automobile tire. Everybody
is allowed so much, but not any
more. 1t is very hard to get sugar
and you could not buy any candy on
a bet. But cigarettes you can bus
very much cheaper at the canteen
than in the states. We are issued a.
bout two small packages OF Durharn
a week.. but the French people can
not get any tobacco at all.
We are billeted in a very pretty
little town. Our quarters are hay
loft, and | sure did enjoy last nights
sleep, only two or three mosquitoes
made a call on me and tried TO tell
me a few funny stories until
captured them. We stayed in a COW
barn for a couple of nights on nice
cement floor. i didn't rest as well
as il I had an ostemor mattress.
saw Emmett Mcconnell the
other day. He looks fine, had quite
a little visit with him. Also saw
John Dotseth several times; John is
not as fieshy as he was last winter
Had quite long chat with Captain
Harry Baker one night last week
and got a glimpse of Lieutenant
Bierman, butI did not have a chance
to talk to him. am trying to kesi
tab on. q few of the boys, or they are
keeping tab on me. aswhen we move