The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-11-22

never miss, as they feed us in fine
shape over here. We have our own
chickens. and then go hunting fol
deer and wild hog, SO you see we get
some swell meat. | am a reader
now, that is my work for one hour in
the morning, to read the Asimuth
instrument. You would not usder-
stand what this is unless / went into
detail about it, which we are not per-
naittsd 10 do. l do not have to row
boat TO go after oranges, bananas
! rineapples, ETC., now as / can walk
! intest the jungles a few rods from Oul
shack and pick them until get tired
| wrote Meredith last night that
was out here. suppose he has
| been in action by this time, and has
gone lover the top" wish could
be with him, but that is impossible
He said Ne would like to be dowr
here with nae, and l sure would like
to have him down here with me in
the jungles where l am now Just
wait until l get back home and / will
tell you all about my rice home here
in the jungles, and what times we
used TO have here. / just wish you
We're down here to hear the wild par
rots sing in the morning. There is {
big bunch of them that hang around
| our shack all the time. ~
October goth, 1915. / wrote you "a
few days ago about my new place
here in the jungles and my work, sc
now this will be little more on ad
venture / went after lines the
| other day and oh! / wish you could
have been along, big lines as big as
lemons lying on the ground, and sc
nice and yellow. In the States yor
people have to pay fifty cents doz
en- for them, while down here they are
so plentiful that they go TO waste
and the same with the rest of the
of lines and came back, but / mus
tell you OF the trip over and back
We followed along small trail, anG
! once you get off the trail you are
lost las the jungles are so thick vol
cannot see a foot ahead of you.
never was in Africa, but they say
! these jungles in Panama arc
just as bad. Well l think there are
none that beat them anyway, and an
living right in them now, some sport
| You can hear the wild cats screecl
at night and lots of other tropica
animals talking to each other in theil
own language. We followed alons
| the trail until we came to what i.
known as the Mud Flats, and say
talk about mud, up to your knees al
/ the way through. They told me tt
look out for alligators and crocodiles
but We did not see any, although they
say there are lot of them ovel
there in the Flats We did sot SEE
any deer that day or any wild cat
to shoot. l saw a couple of wilt
hogs, but they scoot away pretty fas
in the brush and tall grass. Yo,
said you were very lonesome for {
letter from me. / know l did no
not write to anyone for a long time
after that sick spell had, but yo,
should not worry, for if anythins
should happen to me you peopl,
would be the first ones to be in
formed. The camera you sent m,
was very small, and ! have treid i
out several times but the pictures dt
not come out good so / have given i
up as bad job. When Aunt Annie
comes to visit you folks give her m,
best regards. suppose she is yer!
lonesome now with Uncle Evan gone
and Meredith away / will try Il
write you a little more often nov
/ than l have been doing, once o.
twice 4 week / wonder where
Florence Jones is located down here
See if you can find out She j.
likely in the interior, as am under
the impre 'sion that she is not a
either Balboa or Ancon Will lots O
love, Owen.
A. L. Lorentz received the follow
ing letters from his sons, Peter ant
| George, Somewhere in France,
Somewhere in France, October 10
! 1918. Dear Father: Just "a line t,
let you know George and l arc @. X.
and feeling fine. How are you ant
all the folks? No doubt you ar,
kert quite busy these days. Toda!
] is fine day. the sun is shinin,
bright and it is nice and warm, hav,
had quite bit of rainy damp wealth
er. We are in barracks now and j
sure is lot better than those small
tents. Haven't received any mai
yet since we are over here, as w,
have been moving so much, but the,
expect some soon The far-merc 1iy,
different here, they all live togethe
in village and go out every day ant
work their land They are busy dig
g1ng spuds and blowing. They plov
very shallow here as the soil is yer,
rocky and has a very thin coat O
soil on the surface 1t is hard to blu,
much of anything in these villages
Eagle Lake has more than dozen O
these over here. The country i
full of these villages, there is on
every mile or so. Another thin,
which seems so different the hous
and barn are usually under tn
same roof. How is everything il
kato? Spose everybody is anxiou
for news. Well it looks very favor
able now. Can't write much. VIII
tell you all when we get back. How
is Sonic? Spose he is around t
get his candy every day. No doub
Catherine has changed quite a bi
since we left. How is grandma
Give her our regards when you Sc
her also give all the neighbours m
regards Will hovo to close fo, +b;