Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1918-09-27
With Our Soldier and Sailor Boys.

WIN O08 oVsV1CS O14O 0WAAVA DVyOs
The Plain Dealer man received the
following interesting letter written by
Father Whalen while on shipboard:
We are getting over in hurry. Just
. week after reporting for duty we
walked up the gang plank of the trans
port bound for overseas. thought
perhaps would have to remain at
Camp Dodge for a while but all my
fears faded when L met, the adjutant.
When reporting for duty he handed
over telegram that arrived that
morning stating that . party would
leave for someYhere in the east imme-
diately. Iwas very glad to 60 even
though didn't know how to salute.
Our first stop was in Chicago land from
there to Buffalo. From Buffalo va
took the Lackawanna railroad. The
scenery throughout the country is mag
nificent. East of Buffalo forsmiles and
miles stretches the celebrated Genesee
valley. Wi..d.ng through this valley is
the Susquehsnns river. There are
many places of interest along the way.
There is the Tuskhannock viaduct
which crosses the Tuskhannock creek.
This viaduct is 255 feet high and 1916
feet long. 1t is tuilt of reinforced
concrete and has fourteen arches.
When building they struck two or three
veins of quicksand and had to 60 under
ground 1O7 feet before..they could strike
a firm foundation.
Factory vile is a little town along the
Lackawanna. 1t is famous because it
is the birthplace of Christy Mathew
son the man who for years was the
great pitcher for McGraw's Giants.
johnson City is another place of in
terest. 1t takes its name after George
F. johnson. He has the greatest shoe
. manufacturing. concern in the world
with daily capacity of 10000 pairs.
All the trench shoes and boots are
made there, MIR. johnson rose from
the ranks At one time he was shoe
cutter but now he is the owner, and has
about Is, 600 employees. No unions ex-
list there. 1t would be impossible to
organize one on account of the excell-
.yent manner in which they have always
been treated. He provides swimming
pools, tennis courts that are illumina-
ted until ten or eleven O'Clock at night.
There are also play grounds and race
track with many fast norsss Every
year he has Sousa's bsnd come out and
play for the employees. He bought
$500, 900 Of thrift stamps for them and
81, 500, 900 of bonds in the 3rd liberty
loan. He belongs to no particular
church but his wife is Catholic. He
il generous contributor to all church.
es and gave q set of chimes to the
church where his wife attends and
every evening it is his desire that they
play "Should Old Acquaintance be
Forgot" +,-
We also passed through small town
called Cresco. Mount Pocono is very
picturesque place. While winding
along the mountain you can see Para
disc Valley which is some fifteen miles
across. While crossing the Pocono you
can see the famous Water Gap. of the
Blue Ridge. Tradition has it that Para
disc Valley was once filled with water
and it pushed out part of the Blue
Ridge and took it as far as Esston, Pa.
The railroad passes through the Water
I Gap. You can see the strata of rocks
ut an angle of about 45 degrees. When
the Gap was pushed out the Delaware
river flowed through and on into the
sea. This place is about thirty-five
miles above Trenton where Washing
ton crossed with his army.
Scranton, Pa, is very interesting
place. 1t is located in the Lackswsnna
Valley and in this and the Wyoming
Valley, great amount of anthracite
coal is mined. The coal is taken right
from under the city and in many in
stSnces it is csving in One Of the
most striking effects of the war that l
saw was . crowd of women working on
the railroad as section hands.
Had fine time doing New York. 1t
is IN imposing spectacle to view the
city from the Woolworth building.
The people below look like pigmies
from the top of this building. From
there also you can get a very good
view of the Little Church Around the
Corner" with It's little cemetery in the
very heart of the worlds metropolis.
They figure New York has about s,0O0,-
900 now. a.
The Pennsylvania bridge was opened
up. about siv months ago. This bridge
is Seven miles long
We saw many of the chief places of
interest either now or in the past, such
as Tammany Hall, the Bowery, Wall
Street Maiden Lane and many manv