Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1918-10-09
CHAS. WEBB LETTER

France, Aug. %, 1918.
Dear Father and Mother:-
have just finished reading the
Herald" and Teller" of July and
July 2. Old news, of course, but in
teresting for all that. / have not re-
ceived a letter from anyone for over
week
Things have been running along
quietly here for several weeks. We
are evacuating many patients and to-
morrow expect two big train loads
of "blesses" from the front. This is
the round of work at Base Hospital
the wounded come and 60 constantly
They do not remain with us very long
as rule. Either they are sent back
to the States or are returned to duty
according to their condition. Most
Of them are always ready to carry
on" they are least cheerful, homev-
er, when in the convalescent stage.
At a Base Hospital one sees GER
tain aspects of war that are a trifle
different from the trench phases.
Taken altogether it increases per-
sons respect for the character of the
American soldier. He is truly won
derful person. He comes from the
trenches shattered and war-weary
but when he reaches the stage of con-
valescence he begs to go back II
hope | get back to my outfit" is an
expression heard frequently in the
wards Of the hospital, and very often
the speaker is one of the worst cas-
es in the hospital with little hope of
ever getting back to any outfit this
side of kingdom come.
The army has thus far done won
derful work. All branches deserve
praise. / am firmly convinced that
our soldiers will give good account
of themselves in any emergency. AL
so am firmly convinced that they are
going to win this war and that this is
the noblest work American soldiers
or any soldiers were ever called upon
to do.
Some of the Americans up at the
front are winning all sorts of med
ais for bravery and will return home
with many decorations. We have
wonderful fighters here. The Nation
al Guardsmen are called Fighting
Fools" by some. l have before me an
article published in the famous Paris
daily, LA Petit Partisan" in which
the Michigan and Wisconsin volun-
teers are called La brigade terrible"
"the terrible brigade.) In the same
article these men are called "the saw
age" No doubt the Huns have ap-
piled the same adjectives to them;
not, however, in the same admiring
manner of the French newspaper
writer. / will try to translate the en-
tire article for the Herald"
The American in France is the same
enthusiastic fellow he is at home. A
short time ago l went to a prize fight
and saw Badoud, the champion of
Europe, knock out Lenders, the cham
pion of Belgium. 1t was quite inter-
esting and differently managed from
such affairs in the States. The AM
erican soldiers present yelled their
heads off" in true American fashion
which greatly shocked the referee
who was not accustomed to such an
undignified manner of expressing en-
thusiasm. He requested them to
'pliZ be quiet" repeatedly, but could
not quell the enthusiasm of the YAM
kee5.
The French people continue to treat
us fine. They are noble people and
nothing has ever brought out this in
herent nobility like the present war.
Two thirds of the nation is in mourn
ing-black is seen everywhere-but
nevertheless France fights on.
The difference in the customs and
attitude toward certain conventional
tiles often provokes the Americans
but we are forced to admire the spir-
it and the big-heartedness of the peo-
pie.
Last Sunday, accompanied by one
of the medical officers, took a walk
into the country. 1t was a beautiful
day and we got far enough away to
discard sour Sam Browne belts and
blouses and lie on a hillside in the
shade of a great century old tree.
While we were there an old peasant
came up and shook hands with us and
tried to express his feelings of friend
ship to Americans. 1t was very diff
cult to understand him and he labored
under the universal delusion that to
make a foreigner understand it is ne
cessary to shout very loudly. Never
theless. we made out what he was
saying He had six Sons at the front
and was doing all the farm work him
self. This did not discourage him
and he seemed glowingly confident of
the outcome. This is the spirit of
France.
After our walk, the captain and |
had dinner under the trees-French
style at little inn and returned to
quarters after dark. / have come to
like French cooking and their methods
of serving meals At first l didn't like
them at all.
There is a river which flows past
the hospital which is just trifie larg-
er than Grant or Platte Neverthe-
less the people here make as much
use of it as if it were another Missis-
sippi. They boat and fish every day.
The fish they catch are nothing but
minnows two inches long, but they
fry and eat them. They are very fond
of "lespetites poissons" and as Mark
Twain says in one of his books. "eat-