Smyrna times., 1918-10-23
OUR SMYRNA BOYS OVERSEAS
Lieutenant ]. Lester ScOttOn Writes
From France to Mr.. E. NJ. Fowler
of this Town Telling Experiences

Lieutenant j. Lester Scotton, former
Supervising Principal of the Smyrna
High School has written Mr.. E. NJ.
Fowler, secretary of the School Board
from Somewhere in France" under
date of September 80. AS his "per-
sOnal" letter refers to the Smyrna
Bunch" as well as himself, it makes
interesting reading. He says: "No
doubt you have received the safe ar
rival card that l sent you from the
Port of Embarkation before this.
Have been intending to write to you
ever since we landed but it seems as
though this is the first chance that l
have had. We had very pleasant
trip coming over, some excitement
but not anything that l can tell you
about. We had a fast boat coming
over but in spite of the short time
compared with some of the others the
sight of land surely was pleasing to
all of us. Don't believe l saw a more
beautiful scene than when we entered
the harbOr. | was among the first to
land. AS matter of fact believe l
was the second one on the boat to
touch French soil. After debarking
we went into camp for about week
and were then moved clear across the
country into another camp. The trip
across country although we were not
travelling in a Pullman was very in
teresting. The country is hilly and
the farms are beautifully laid out and
as we watched them from the train
they seemed more like pictures than
reality. There is a great deal of
rainfall and all the crops and veg
citation is still green. The land is
very fertile and the crops are looking
fine. We stopped in many of the
towns for short time and saw sew
eral of the cathedrals. All of the
towns are old and all of the buildings
are of stone and they do not look as
prosperous as the towns in the good
old U. S. A. We travelled for three
days and two nights and went into
camp again for ten days.
Ran Into Several Kent County Boys.
'Tis strange how we run into people
that we know over here. When we
were in the first camp ran into Jim
Bice from Dover and as we were COM
ing to our next station, one day the
train stopped and another train pulled
alongside and l saw Coach Hardesty
from Dover and a fellow from Mary
del. While we were in the last camp
some of the fellows were down to the
station one night and a train passed
through and they saw Chippie Bell
and Gus Fraser from Dover. l heard
to-day that a boy by the name of
Scout from Smyrna is right near us
here, want to go over and see him as
soon as l can get a chance. There
is not whole lot that l can't tell you
in a Letter. We can't tell where we are
and l guess that it is just as we'll that
we can't, for if the people at home
knew where we were they would not
know any more about it than they do
now. We are scattered around some
and have not seen some of the fell
lows since we left the last camp.
George is about thirty miles from me
but we all expect to be back together
again before very long. At the pres
ent time l am billeted. Have a very
nice room and a good bed but | have
an awful time when the people of the
house try to talk to me- They are
working all the time and | very sell
dom see them. The houses are very
queerly built here.
Barracks and Barn Under Same Roof.
The house and barn are all under
the same roof. Just across the hall
from my room is the wagon house and
can go through the other door right
out with the horses and cows. Seems
our own mess going now and we are
getting along very nicely. 1t is very
expensive when we have to get our
meals at restaurant or hotel. l do
not know how long we are going to
stay here. Seems strange to be sleep
ing in a good bed and living in stone
house only a short distance from the
front where Jerry could turn his big
ones on US and blow us off the map in
no time. Am feeling fine and I be-
ieve most all the boys are. Am not
working very hard at present but am
expecting something to drop any min
ute. How is everything going in
Smyrna? We left the States just a
month ago, but it seems ages. Have
not received any mail yet but we are
all anxiously looking for some. Sup
pose school has opened and l hope