The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1918-03-07
. Letters From and About Soldiers

: ::
The following letter was received the
first Of the week by Mrs. J. " Copper
from her sons. John and Walter, who
are with the 18th Engineers regiment
somewhere in France.
We are both well. or rather all we'll.
ss you can phone the Schuknecht,
Hardman. Hutson and Spaudllng fami-
lies, that the Hood River boys of the
18th Reg of Eng. are all well and con
siderably heavier than We were on
account of the pleasant climate and
suppose regular hours fer sleep and
eat. as We are, by order OF army rules.
all IN bed and lights out at 1890 and
get up at exactly O'Clock We have
plenty of good grub and best Of water.
The water IN the camp that We are IN
AT present is from an artisan we'll
made by ourselves since we came. II
is 100 feet deep and the overflow is 400
gallons TO the minute. Some sulphur
and iron in it. Well, you ask me TO
tell you what We had seen. That would
be a long letter. even though | only
mention the most interesting9 of the
/ historical, and places of interest and
beauty. Our camp is al the foot Of Il
| hill where there is magnificent
church, larger by far than any church
we ever saw. II was built in the year
1910. Another very beautiful sight We
/ got to see was boulevard through a
/ flat piece of country, graded up and
| hard surfaced. The elm trees are set
three rods apart and have been set
long enough to grow to be from 3l To 1
feet through and very tall
] In one part of France the farm teams
are most all oxen, and they work them
10 two wheeled wagons made very
large and heavy. They do not drive
oxen, gee and haw, as have heard in
Missouri, but by lines made of small
rope and tied to the ear Of the oxen.
About Co. F. We have had some
very nice times. Christmas was very
pleasant day, considering being SO far
from home. New Years day was also
enjoyed, having had an extra good
dinner and music by the band and songs
by our Company quartet and speeches
by several of the officers of the regi-
ment. Loud cheers and band music
followed eacn Speech.
We are not allowed to tell much
about our work, the kind. etc. but as
everyone knows We're engineers and
have been busy in our line ever since
we came. Can show some signs of our
past experience. Part of the Company
works one Sunday and the other part
the next. The part that does not work
drills, SO as to not forget what We
learned at American Lake.
Packages of most every size anC
made up of most everything useful anC
to eat, too, came fast and furious
through December and January, but
have checked up till there are but five
in each mail now. Tobacco is a thing
hard, or almost impossible, to get. But
through the presents and our regiment
canteen Co. + tobacco users have mot
had to go without.
We do not get to stay long in plac,
SO we do not tire of the sameness of al
old home. When we came to France
an American was an odd sight and was
given a close once-over. The French
examined our clothes very closely. ask
ing the English name of each article
and trying to repeat it after we haC
told them. Now American soldier,
are no less welcome by the people, bu
are so numerou. that they are no long
er a novelty, except in towns quite ;
distance where we sometimes 90 Sun
days to see something new ourselves
Car fare is so cheap that one can rid,
an hour for nine cents. Out in some o
these towns American soldiers are still
strange sight and receive the glat
hand and are welcome to their towI
and homes for dinner. But they think
because we are from the United States
that we all have plenty of money.
Wooden shoes are worn by everybod.
for home and out door work.
Well, John has been detailed t.
kitchen work and likes it very mucl
on account of the liberty that's at
taehed to it, most Of the afternoon OF
and one day week. | have the sam
kind of Job / had at Vinetette, heaC
car man. Have had pretty plenty o
work lately.
The following letter was receive
last week from Henry Sieverkropp
W nv 10 dtNSllulilB ttIS hdiiC HNeohi'bii
school at Kansas City. Mo;
Il am receiving my paper regularl
now. The first numbers got mixed 0
, lost, as there are so many registers
letters, kilograms and QUESTIONABLE
coming to the students here at schoo
. that it keeps the school postmaster o
the run to take care of them.
. Il am enclosing a picture of tn
school, 1t is located two blocks east o
the new union station in the edge of
2 city park. The building is all cor
| crete, with big windows on all sides
The school was established in 1870
with one master and II students. Las
year there wele 3943 students and no,
there are 1881. Lots Of the boys her
: are taking this training in auto truck
and aeroplane mechanics as they eX
pect to go to France, rs hundreds o
+ the other students are doing. to serv
I their country That is the reason ther
h.w Et.atNn ttt1