The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1918-10-29
MOSCOW WOMAN IS : !. !.
NOW IN FRANCE:
WRITES INTERESTINGLY TO HER
MOTHER OF STR N GE
THINGS SEEN THERE

Mrs. J. b. Gilchrist is in receipt of
the following letter from her daughter,
Virgil Matther, who is now in France:
The letter follows:
"Sept. 4, 1918.
"Dear Mother: Here goes the sixth
letter. Wonder how many you have
answered, for none of them have found
me yet. I wish you would number your
letters so | could tell if / get anywhere
near what you write.
"Well, | wish you could see me now.
You would smile if you could have been
at the end of the line, sure Privas is
place where the twentieth century has
met to mingle very slightly with the
fifteenth; for instance there must be
half dozen automobiles in the town
but the general beast of burden is the
OK or the burrow An ideal place it
would be to come to visit, for it is a
wonderfully beautiful little village; old
as the hills and as slow as it is old.
81 am in sight of the Alphs, so you
may imagine we do not lack for beauty.
The country is rough and exceedingly
rocky. The great high hills rise in
picturesque 1oveliness all around the
town When conditions is possible, we
see vineyards (full of great purple
grapes) or mulberry trees. These are
raised for the leaves. which are used
for the silk worms, for they make silk
and wine here in this part of France.
"The streets in Privas are past de-
scription; they ramble indefinitely up
and down, sometimes wide enough for
one on foot and sometimes as wide as
Third street All the buildings are
stone; they have stood here for CEN
turies, SO long that most of the stone
steps have deep depressions worn in
them. Really it is the oldest place I've
ever seen on our way down from Paris.
We stopped. off for day at Valence,
where | had to visit a dispensary which
running at present That town is an
other o1d-timer Up above it on high
bluff commanding a view of the whole
country is the ruins of an
old castle, built by the Romans and used
during the 10th century as a home for
robbers, as from it the robbers could
see the caravans on their way across
the country and would pounce down
on them killing and robbing their vic
Tins We visited an old church 900
years old; wonderful old place with its
rare tapestries, paintings. statutes and
beautiful stained glass windows 1t
gives one a sense of awe to stand in
such an old place and think of the
thousands that have wor-
shipped there.
"In Paris we attended church hst
Sunday at the famous Noter Dame; it
S truly beautiful and is $50 years old
md filled with priceless art treasures.
It is just such old and wonderful things
is these churches that the Germans
seem particularly bent on destroying.
Sunday p. m. Had long walk this
morning and a corking good dinner.
Dur eats are much better here than in
Paris I do not know how long will
,e here.
"They tell me they have such cold
winters and so much Snow; it is so high
lp; guess that is why | am to establish
dispensary and help care for the
efugees who have been and are being
ent back from behind the lines. It is
-ood general practice which I really
iced so a few months of it won't do
ny harm. but I would hate to think
# spending a life in such an out-of-tle-
ray place as this There are only two
ther Americans here at present but
americans have a way of going every
1here I'll like it better when | have
earned a little more French, | think;
or no one speaks English | brought a
french nurse and an interpreter with
ne to help out with the language. There
no use to ask any questions, because
v the time you get this, and | get an
nswer, I'll be coming home 1t is over
hree months since | heard from you.
seems like that many years. 1t takes all
" moral courage to write tonight, for
have found a truly Saturday Evening
'ost. and it is like meeting an old
rend in a strange land, but it will keep
nd the trip I had yesterday is worth
sling you about while it is fresh in
~ mind We drove by auto tip into
le mountains.
A distance of about 200 kilometers
was an old road cut in the side of
he rocky mountains by the Romans
early IA centuries ago on one side
ne steep mountain rose covered with
mall scrubby underbrush or purple
Gather on the other the deep preci-
ice thousands of feet down I'M some
laces, the views were magnificent
lst as beautiful as thru some parts
f our own Rockys After we reached
le top we wound around thru chest
ut forests past stone houses where
le peasants live, thru some rather
vel farming country and came at
st to quiet little village where we
sited some refugees and paid call
some friends of Mrs. Foich (the
lperintendent of my district.) They
ere very charming French people
no live here in Privas during the
inter, but who were spending the
there in the country on the
d family estate, the home built
any centuries ago in very spacious,
and to me, most inter-
ting old mansion. They insisted
lat we stay for supper and as it
as getting late and we had a three
,ur trip ahead of US before we could
It home. We consented, I wish you
uld have seen the spread we had,
-o,, +L,r cxxyf,,1 lin n of ,.,I,o,,