The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-14
Letters Full of Loue,
 Courage and Aduenture
 From Boys at the Front


 ribbon of the Legion of Honor in thei
 button holes
 Such children as I never saw before
 The little girls about or looke
 Ike fairies. Beautiful clothes. An the little boys were dressed very mucl as imagine l was when I was il
 Europe the first time, sailor suits, etc
 Women, children, old men and a fev
 united States officers made up the wis ltors. My friend knew French fam iy, mother and daughter and a coupl TOT thelr friends who are spending tn, summer there, and we naturally saw lot of them My friend speaks Frencl very we'll and the others could speal some English, so made out fairly wei With my French. It was quite an ex perlence but that night when I go back to the hotel I was exhausted after such siege of French converse tion. The following afternoon we took seats in stage coach and after pret. " mountainous drive of an hour we reached Mont Dore, a resort similar 10 the first one. but with a beautiful Caslno, and great bathing establish ment. One of their specialties is foot l patns Scores of men in one large i room, women in another seated with thelr feet in small bath tub. There were all sorts of other kinds of baths | Tn other parts of the building. The scenery at Mont Dore was even prettier 1 than at Bourboule. It seems strange | that we never heard of this section l or France, it is evidently very popular With the French. The altitude is about oooo rect The country is full of little nils and big mountains that go straight up in the air-a rugged country. in- tenslvely cultivated. Prettier than La Swlsse, l think, as it is all French. I thlnk 1t IS called the "Avergue" No one attempted to rob us and we were treated very kindly on all sides I am sure that the French are very grate- ful to us--the United States
 It was very funny to see elegantly dressed women in the dining room open Ia boX and take out their own loaf of bread. There was no flour in the town that night and instead of bread we were gwen some potato croquettes, and in place Of sugar we had bottle of pure white saccachrine. But the meals were very good, although I did miss but ter at breakfast to put on my crackers. we have all of the above at camp The French conceal their sorrow in a remarkable manner. Although a family IS in mourning. in public they appear cheerful and vivacious. Not a bad idea at thar, is it?
 We ride on trains for nothing: just get
 
 get out. Simple, isn't it? No one has asked me for ticket in this part or France yet. In the future, however. am going tC buy ticket, as I don, think it is quite right to ride for noth. ing. Some officers were asked bv the conductor for their tickets, and a few days ago. they said, "No compree"-and sald conductor passed on. Travel for us IS legitimatey very cheap, about a cent A httt aa 4 I. odd on my train l am sure there was not a single ticket
 am quite pleased to be here; think Will be in this part of France for some tune to cone, but, of course, no ono knows about ones future ih the army.
 My order to report at Scurmur was special order from "G. w. e." General Fershlns got me ordered there.
 LIEUT.. ROBERT B. LEARY.
 Letter to MT. and Mrs. F. J. Leary rom their son, Lieut.. Robert B. Leary:
 France, July 19 1918.
 Dear Mamma and Papa: Just this noon nave received my orders to go to the artillery school at Scurmur I feel that am most fortunate, as it will give me an opportunity olearn artillery from the ground up, under the most favorable conditions. You remember the "billet- tlng" officers? They are now back m the artllyery, and, of~course, are way behind after an absence of almost six months from it. All of them are anxious to go to some school and learn the game. put so far they have had no success and are something like the proverbial ''fish our or water General Burnham fixed IL TOT me. He is one of the finest men I nave even seen, and I am sure he likes me. My old job with him was given .c the ranking captain of this brigade, who was In line for a majority. Said job developed to be one requiring an expert knowlcdse ct artillery, which, of course, dld not possess. I really feel quite elated over the course of events Things could not have turned out better For me. l must have been born under a lucky star.
 My address now is: "Field Artillery School of Instruction A. P. O., No. 7iS, American Revolutionary Forces" I will report there on August 1 and I under. stand the course continues 10 weeks. 1 have another idea in the top of my head, about which I will write later If it materlalizes. The weather here las been very warm during the day re. gently, but the nights are always de- lightful, recurring blankets. I ran into an old Iawrenceville friend here the 1 other day. 1 knew him very we'll at l school, and it was great pleasure to | see nm aealn. You have read undoubt- edly of the new German offensive, whieh | began July 14 It is lively. topic with | us here, as the United States forces are | engaged, and so many of our friends are in the game. The confidence and eager. l ness of the Americans is inspiring. Our | fresh forces will turn the tide against l the Germans I believe our men have more tenacity anl determination to hold | thelr ground than any over here. Just l wait until our time comes to advance, | we Will advance all right and surprise | the Germans again. Optimism is the | keynote here.
 This afternoon I am going to take | they wash our clothes in a little creek | on stones.
 Jack Meyers is here His father is | working for the Red Cross in Paris and | Jack hopes to meet him in a neaeby | city this Sunday. Afternoon tea here is | one of my chief pleasures. It Is served l in the Y. M. c. A. We also have an | entertainment of some kind every 1 night, vaudeville, moving pictures, etc. 1
 l am very well. nothing to kick about and am much pleased over the pros pect of going to school I think Joe | Galloway will be bald when he gets home. One thing miss here is the red | poppies of Picardy. They always ap- oealed to me growing wild in the green | fields. We have purple heather hero | 'n all sides. It is very pretty some | liils are covered with purple. but I | ike the big red peoples better \ sometimes believe that I am getting | nore varied experience than any ono