The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1918-05-16
IN FIELD SERVICE
HARRY oE COOK TELLS or HIS
WORK NEAR THE FRONT

loosa, has word from her brother Har-
~ who is in hospital and relief work,
somewhere in the western front giving
some in ide information of the work
| ings of the hospital unit of which he
| is associated The letter follows:
March 16, 1918.
My Dear Sister:
am newly located again but |
Understand ii will not be long, altho'
one can never tell.
| | arrived at the Base Hospital No. s
A. f. F. so you had better send my
mail here.
We had quite an experience coming
there. We left certain place at four
o'clock yesterday p. m. and arrived
here at Leven this morning.
1 When we boarded our train last
night it was packed to the limit Final
| took my barrack bag and pack and
just climbed into a car going as third
class because of lack of room else
where. Well you should have seen the
people who were with me. They
were of the poorer peasantry class ami
evidently moving, judging from the
amount of baggage they carried
There were twenty-five pas engers
where there was passage for only six
teen in two sections or one compart-
ment. There was family OF six chill
/ lren, the eldest being thirteen and
the baby one year. The mother evil
| 10 Cd no oll i,lo iuo
the marks on her face ana she was to-
tally blind. The old man did not pay
much attention to the children and IL
waj pitiful to see them beg their blind
mother for comfort II was an all
night trip and OF course the children
we're sleepy and cross Finally the
mother, all worn out, pushed her chill
iren off the bench and lay down. After
much crying the youngsters lay down
| n the aisle and went to sleep, but
woke at regular intervals.
| put my bag in front of connect
ng door and sat down on it and tried
o sleep, but people kept using the
ioor o was considerably disturbed.
Once was leaning heavily against
the door, when it opened suddenly and
fell backwards and my feet went up
| n the air, while the crowd enjoyed a
good laugh at my expense.
This afternoon we were given hos.
)ital beds to use, so | unpacked and
slept two hours. am going to bed
soon so can get caught up with sleep.
IN nnn oil faN NIDTs afsYNNtT
}tents. quite natural and different from
sleeping in attics or hay lofts as we
nave been obliged to do.
Our train stopped at large city last
night for about four hours. There was
music in the cafes and general good
heer all around. They have large
Y. NJ C. A. there and a company of
English had put on program. They
lad good singing. clever comedy work
and dancing. 1t waj3 the best / hal
seen since leaving my former station,
where of course they had regular
theatre
There is large "Y" hut and things
are quite lively here | understand.
several American trained nurses are
stationed here.
My letters are coming through In
pretty good time, but so far have not
lreeeiyed a single one of my home pa
lpers.
Some of the fellow; are still getting
Christmas packages, delayed through
their being transferred and one thing
)r another
| | have not received any of the boxes
'ou sent and | was so anxious to get
hem. My barrack bag was lost in go
ng across containing all my personal
hing besides most all of my equip
nent. However, I'm fully equipped
again but all my personal articles are
rene including my rain-proof clothes
Rag. Also my new fountain pen and
he flash light.
/ am in the best of health Tell all
ny friends hello and let me know II
lou get this letter in a reasonably
hort space of time.
Hope you are all WELL With love
rom Harry b. DeCook,
Base Hospital No. 6
Army P. o. No. 7O5 A. E. F.
April 5, 1918.
Dear Sister Rebecca:
have jul finished shaving ana
7 started fire in the heater so | can
take warm bath later. That sounds
like real stuff does it not? Well,
suppose it is as near to the real stuff
as is found anywhere with the A. e F.
A week ago we came here from the
Base H0ipital No. g. There We're eight
of us. and we had all expected to get
ambulances and be sent TO the front,
There was some disappointment when
the cars did not materialize. We were
all assigned to wards or clerical work,
I was given day duty in ward A, a
contagious ward with thirty beds.
There was but one patient when !