Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-01-28

<AiherlCdn L. M. y. A., ol Avenue
Montaigne, Paris, France.
Dear Mother:
Have changed my quarters from
the hayloft to an humble cottage.
The room reminds me of my lqdg-
ing in New York--take too long a
stretch, you'll break an arm. Any
how. it's a nice, soft bed and, hav-
ing another American with me, we
don't suffer from the cold. 1 hesi-
tated some time about changing
quarters, however unpleasant my
hayloft was, because my financial
condition was pretty low; in fact, so
bad that consultation of doctors
would have pronounced it serious
and ordered an operation immedi-
ately. for only possessed ten
francs ($2.00), and there were a
number of things 1 needed worse
than fit sleeping place; at least, /
thought go, but that was before
began getting a sore throat. MY
American friend used this as an ar
gument for a quick change, saying
that sleeping in such an unVentilated
place with forty other men caused
1t. / could well see the point of this
argument, because there was but
one window in the loft, and the oc-
cupants being all Frenchmen, that
window was closed at night, for
whoever saw a Frenchman sleep
with d window open?
They seem to have a superstitious
dread of night air-as well as water.
OF course, l don't blame them so
much in the winter, but when they
close everything up tight in the sum-
mer as well, it begins to appear as
though the custom was pretty old.
Anyway, when the window was
closed there was no ventilation ex-
cept what came through the hole in
the floor, which one had to be care
ing home, and that was not very
big. My throat continued to get
worse, however, despite treatment,
exterior and interior-the former by
Naseline massage and the latter by
salt water. Getting that salt was
quite job in itself, as I had to go
into the mess" kitchen to ask for
1t, for they don't serve this neces-
Sary article with meals, you know
someone might eat it. And you
should see what I got when the chef
finally discovered where the salt was
seems he wasn't very familiar with
the hiding place-not the kind you
sprinkle on an egg, but the kind /
used to freeze ice cream with, only
little coarser and dirtier.
oh, no, it did not shock me, as iti
no 1oubt will you, it merely causing
us to remark that with that sort of
seasoning in our food we were quite
sure of eating our peck of dirt
year. Even the salt water refused
TO help the sore throat, and since it
was getting worse, ] was getting
worried, for / had no desire to spend
any time in a French hospital. So
let my friend ersuade me and
that night moved n + baggage to his
room. Incidentally, W. both his
and my luggage tSNoom is pretty
well filled. OnsA~ould stretch both
arms and legs before. Now even
stretching a leg is dangerous.
Financial Difficulties
My roommate's finances are even
lower than mine, and here we are
paying a franc each day for the
room. with cafe au lait" every
morning, which is another franc.
| guess the old lady thinks we're
rich like all Americans, and we are
in no hurry to relieve her of that.
impression. In fact, we plead guilty
of helping it along, for we just came
home" from class and, being hun
CRY and "ordiRaire" being a whole
hour off. we ordered some hot coffee
with bread--and butter. Cost us
one franc twenty centimes, so we
gave sher two francs and called it
square. We could pretty well pic
tnre her thoughts as we climbed up
the stairs to write letters home, and
1t made us laugh aloud to think of
how much we actually possessed
which she, fortunately, did not
know-with no other sources of in
come except the French army pay,
which has not made any million
aires as yet. Speaking about the
olden' days, think l have Travelled
pack some ways, for / use candles
for illumination.
This is December, you know, and
to-day we had quite a few snow
hurries, flying going on between
them. 1t sure was blowing, but
that don't matter in this school.
We are all supposed to be good
hiers. No, l did not get up, although
| sure did want to, since | have
flown in every other kind of wealth.
er but snowstorm and was curious
to see what the sensation would be
like. 1t certainly could not be as
bad as rain. But that has vet to
be seen. Meanwhile, | am still
waiting for coveted ride in Spaa.
Three days have L waited, but never
been called, and, indeed, I'm getting
tired of waiting and If / had some
money would most certainly beat it
for Paris-without permission-like
most of the Americans, who have
more money than patience. oh,
yes, they get Jail for 1t, but 1 have
yet to see one serve it.
Dinner at II. NJ.
Just came back from dinner-yes.
were real stylish, eat at D. M
and we had prunes for dessert, too.
You needn't laugh at my enthusi-
asm, because l never looked on the
despised prune of boarding house
lore so affectionately before. There
were others present who considered
it a godsend as well and cleared
their plates in anticipation of get
ting some of the juice. Some, not
being fast enough eaters to "clear
ship for action" dumped the con-
tents under the table. So much for
American resource. What was the
| difference, anyway? 1t was only a
| stable with dirt floor, and a little
! irrigation, even with meat gravy
wouldn't hurt it any; in fact, would
give the dogs which prowl continual
ly beneath the table something to
eat. Yes, indeed, prnnes look like
l a1.sx l..Aa l.