Washington telegraph., 1918-10-18
AN INTERESTING LETTER
FROM CAPT. AUTREY

parents, DIR. and Mrs. Autrey,
Of Columbus, is given below:
"My Dear Home-folks:
"My letters have been very irregu-
lar lately, but l am doing the very
best l can. This supply job Of mine.
keeps me going when every one else
is sleeping. Feeding 1000 men and
horses and keeping them equipped
with clothes, munitions, etc, is lit
tie bigger job than | have ever dream
ed of holding; it keeps me and my
three lieutenants going all the time
to keep everything in shape My old
Col. Armisted has been relieved and
Col McMaster has taken his place.
At meeting the other day at Bri-
gadc Headquarters Gen. Booth asked
me several questions about supplies.
etc After the meeting, my Colonel
complimented me on the showing |
have made and the manner in which
l handle my work; he seems very well
pleased with my work and | am glad,
for he is king in this Regiment; it
is the man that does the work that
holds the job.
"The weather here has been very
wet and cold for the past week. |
have to use four blankets every night.
am sure it will be very cold here
this winter There is one thing,
though. the roads are all made of
crushed stone or paveG-France is
filled with good roads, and they are
certainly a God-send had a nice
trip the other night leading a wagon
on train which was one and one-half
miles long, and also three hundred
troops, which were moving. 1t was
as dark as pitch and raining to beat
the band. Here | was going along
on my horse and nothing to guide
me but a map. In passing through
a small town, while it was raining so
hard that | could not zee a wink, |
let the horse find his way. After go
ing a few blocks, found out some
thing was wrong. Turning on my
spot light, | found that my horse
had led the column into big barn
yard. | didn't blame the horse but
took no chances afterwards. The big
gest job | had that night was park
ing the train in a strange woods with
) out any guides and bunch of green
! teamsters6Grh he Job WIS hnished by !
a. m. Th0 are plenty or woods eva
cry whore you go, yet fire-wood is
S25.OO per cord.
"My present dugout is very nice
: one. 1t is about 10 feet by feet.
On one side is a bunk with mat
g tress) made by some handy carpenter.
r In one corner is a nice little Fireplace
: with real fire in it, and on the same
|, side is a small table with a window
@ above it. Around the walls are placed
r few small shelves. The inside OF
q the dug-out is lined with paper and
h the roof is covered with sheet iron
The only objection that | have is that
Just 60 yards away is a battery OF
. big guns, which fire a projectile of
q $50 pounds, IL inches in diameter, and
> every time one of these guns sounds
) off | feel like my little dug-out is
n going to cave in, and often the concus-
It sion blows the candle out. After the
., gun fires, / can hear the projectile
l. whizzing through the air on its way
e to its target, and you can bet that 1t
II is a very different feeling than when
= you hear it whizzing on its way toward
YOU; in fact, you have to experience
both conditions in order to appreciate
the cannon going the other way.
was talking to one of the gunners the
y other day and he said that they blew
le up two ammunition trains. Thest
w guns shoot so far that the gunner
must have an aeroplane or balloon OBJ
server, so as to know when they hi
their target.
"The big drive started yester
day. and hear that 900 prisoner
~ were taken.
u OF course we wish the war woul'
end. but there seems to be no chanc
now until next spring. The Frenc
think that possibly it will be over b
next summer. We are all doing ou
best over here"
, The next day he says:
D. I'VE have had sunshine today, tn
IN first in five days Aerial activity ha
n been good all day. The Boche trie
to get our observation balloon severi
times. hut failed The observer sal
he could see many autoes and truck
filled with German officers beating
in order to prevent being captured b
ed us. I have been out all day rustlin
rn- M s,.v,, ot,e bnvp mt ONi