Evening journal., 1918-06-26

Supplied with tobacco and cigarettes
through Our Boys in France Tobacco
Fund by TIE EVENING JOURNAL, Cor
pOral John NJ. Mertz, a Wilmington boy
writes his thanks from the trenches
over there.
He had also written his mother at No. !
iiOi w. Sd street Of his surprise and
qualification when he received the car
ton Of tobacco and cigarettes through
THE EVENING JOURNAL. His mother !
was very much pleased, especially so, |
as she had tried TO send him cigarettes |
and tobacco direct but could not do so, |
because it cannot be accepted at the |
Post ONCE unless a request, approved /
by the commanding officer accompanies |
IL
Corporal MeTtz is well known in VIII /
mington, having graduated at the Will
High School, after which he |
spent three years at the Massachusetts |
Institute Of Technology. His many VIII |
mingtOn friends will be glad to learn /
Of his life in France, as told I'm such |
an interesting way in the following let /
ter to THE EVENING JOURNAL:
Somewhere in France,
Junv g. 1918
WILMINGTON EVENING JOURNAL,
Wilmington, Delaware, u. s. A.,
Dear Sirs: Much to my surprise
last week / received a box Of To-
baccO and cigarettes with your
name on the card within it: the sur
prise being in the fact that my
&c 80
West Third street, and went
through the High School there,
graduating in June, 1913, and know
very many people there.
1 enlisted last May in the re-
serves and was called out last Sep
tember into the 23rd Engineers and
] have now been in France about
four months The regiment is a
highway regiment of Engineers and
is recruited from all over the /
United States with even men from
Alaska and the Philippines
After my arrival l stayed for Z
three months working on the roads 7
at a French port where American Z
supplies were brought in, widening (
and repairing roads there, neces-
STATED by the heavy American L
truck traffic. Z
We then came up TO the front i
where we were building new roads, ]
operating quarries, and several de-
tails were sent up at night to the
front lines TO repair shell holes in ?
the roads necessary TO ammunition /,
and supplies going to the front line
Of trenches. One night while
4 81. /
a German sector which passed di-
rectly over our heads and we could
see the flashes as the shell burst on h
the German trenches. A shell r
over ones head has n
rather a discOncerting effect TO say n
the least ~
At night one hears the continual n
cannonade Of the guns and in the a
daytime the incessant buZzlike 9,
sound of aeroplanes up so high that 4,
at times you can hear them but ~,
cannot see them except when the r.
sun happens TO reflect from their -
wings. We saw several air duels,
and saw one Jerry, as the British
Tommies call the Germans, come
sweeping down out Of control At X
times we would hear the boom, in
boom Of the A. AS. (Anti-aircraft r
guns) as a Jerry would come over d
our lines and we would look and IN
see the shell blooms high in the rr
air and the Jerry swooping around do
10 keep our gunners from getting p
his range. Then we would hear the D.
buzz Of one or more Of our flyers 70
shooting out from the clouds where ca
they had been floating and then the
pop, pop, pop Of machine guns
md then the BOche would turn
.ail and skoot for home. 9;
Another interesting thing is our 80
yas masks They are not very be- ~ -
coming, but they are a prime ne ~ ~
,essity for the soldier at the front. 90 80
Luckily we had no occasion to use p'
hem except at practice and the only =
gas we had was going into the gas I
chamber full of mustard gas and
We had to take our masks off just =
before we came out so as to gel
good smell of it. The smell wasn't
20 bad, but for half hour after we
III looked as il we had lost near
'elatives Judging from the tears in
,ur eyes
Lately we have moved back from
he front and are now in barracks
L the edge OF little French town
up against the foot OF