The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1918-02-14
SOLDIER s PLEA TO
HIS PARENTS


Remember to write often, You
have no idea how much a letter
means to the boys over here. Send
me some tooth paste, some shaving
cream and some bouillon cubes,
soap, smoking tobacco and cigarets.
Send them in good strong box
that will not be crushed ell route.
The above postscript to an in
teresting letter written by Corp
oral Edmund Gewalt of the head
quarters company of the 164th in
fantry to his parents, Mr.. and Mrs.
Louis Gewalt of breckenridge,
Mimi, may carry suggestion to
some one else who has friends
cover there The letter. written
before Corp. Gcwalt left England
for France, follows:
Dear Folks.
| I would have sent you a cable.
gram when we landed but did not
have a chance, as we were rush
right off the boat to the railroad
station and from there to Win
chester, about 200 miles from Liv-
crpool. We were ND all night be-
fore we got located i'm our huts-iu
America they call them barracks
Over here a single building is
called a hut and the entire camp
the barracks.
The huts are fairly well built,
being made OF corrugated iron and
are about 25 feet by 60 feet, with
Is feet ceilings and are heated by
stoves of a style that was discard
ed by our people . years ago. The
stove is 36 inches high by ~ inches
in diameter. 1t has fire pot 8 or
9 inches in diameter. Think of their
giving heat enough to warm a room
of the size mentioned. At Camp
Merritt we had big furnaces to
heat the barracks-great stuff.
We all thought about the home
folks and wished that we could
have been with you Christmas eve.
We rode most Of the evening on the
famous side:door railway cars. just
about the time you were eating
your Christmas dinner we were
going to a Y. NJ. G.. A. about 300
O'Clock p. M.
] tried to drink glass of ale
but it tasted like stale beer-which
had been opened for about ten
days, so a little ale goes long
ways.
There are lots of English sold
iers in this camp, and last night
had quite a talk with one of them
regarding the war and what our
duties would consist of when we
We're Cover there" I admit it
didn t sound very promising, but
/ am here to see it through to a
finish, for all that.
Most everybody seems confident
that the war will be over by the
latter part of the coming summer.
Just now all the fellows in t
hut are crowded around the stove
trying to keep warm.
We will be in this camp about
Il week and then expect to leave
for France. Don't worry about me,
folks. just write. and write often
and don t forget. to send me the
home papers.
Will try and write you every
day and want you to do the same.
just few more days and the New
Year will be with us. Probably
by that time we will all be in
France or OIL the way. Our bar
racks bags are packed in Il store
room in town and from what j, 1
hear they We're broken into, as al
so were the officers lockers. L
don't know if this is true or not,
but hope not, as nate to lose what
few necessities | have, such as to-
bocco, cigarets, soap and socks. The
cigarets here are bad and they say,
even worse in France, so send to,
bacco and cigarets and send them
often.
Yesterday l visited a little town,
and typical English town it was,
the kind we used to read about.
The country here is very beautiful
to look at, so nice and rolling and
with so many beautiful trees. The
people take great pride in the ap-
pearance Of their properties, and
spend much time in keeping them
up. There are many historic places
near here, such as churches, monu.
ments, etc.
We had tea and cakes at lit.
tie travern conducted by kind
old English lady. This cost
, pence, or 16 cents in American
1 money, for three of us. 1t seem.
funny to have IA pocket full OF
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