Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-05-09
Letter From Sergeant Snyder.
Still France,

| ing I'D my writing later. FOR tnat rea'
son my letters may seem BIT discoh-
nected, but can't help it, for the breaks
are bound to come.
Soon after we got here We nao 10
prepare passes and qualification caLos s
for each man, and since we are ratneT
fussy about all of our paper WORK,
suggested TO Captain Edwards that ne
might LET me go to town and woulo
trv and find a printing Office and ger
the work done. The idea appealed 10
him. so had the motorcycle man drive
me to town. After many'signs and REL
erences 10 my little red dictionary, /
finallv located an "Impremerie," and
with considerable doubt went IN. Inc
doors of nearly all the stores ana SHOPS
have bells on them, and the one INTO
the printing Office was beauty, lot you
could hear it several blocks, know.
Well, after a few minutes, ratneI
nice-looking lady came in and greetea
me effusively with bon jour, MON
sieur," and since she wore the almost
! inevitable gold band on one hnger OF
her left hand, came back strong ar ner
with "Bon Jour, Madame" which at
that time was about the extent OF my
French vocabulary. With many ges-
lures and leafing of my little red LIE
| saver. we finally came to mutual I'M
Outstanding regarding the work TO De
done. also the price, We had good
many hearty laughs, for she had a.keen
sense of humor, and expect we spent
| more time laughing than we did IN
talking. Then | explained to her that
back in the States |, too, was a printer,
and if she had been ELUSIVE before,
this time thought surely she was 60
ING to fall on my neck Had she been
a little younger-well, the least can
say is that | backed away.
With her permission ! went out into
the printing Office, and in the main re-
spects it was like small American Ioo
ONCE. | asked her if | might set up
the type for the work | wanted, and
again nv neck was in danger. 1t seems
that she had no one in her plant who
could talk much English, and she was
only too glad to have me take hold oil II.
| So | pulled off my coat and began to
make myself perfectly at home. The
| type and sizes run about like our own,
| except that the hicks are on the upper
edge of the body Of the letter, exactly
| opposite to our own. That bothered
me some, but soon got accustomed to
it, and went sailing along. The cases
are different in a few respects, but the
| changes were very easy to catch on TO,
| and in a short time had the compost
ton finished. Then TO Madame lrem-
ble's great surprise | made the form
ready for the job press. She would
not let me touch the press at first, ana
| insisted on working the press herself.
Since il is almost exactly like our own,
| | was anxious to make a stab at 1t, and
knew that would not be satisfied un-
| til | did run it. Directly the door bell
rang-enough noise and clatter for a
-alarm-and Madame stopped the
press and made break for the front
Office. After a few minutes she came
| back, and | was nonchalantly running
| the press about twice as fast as she did.
| The abs and obs flew for minute, but
when she saw that | really could run
il she subsidized and let me finish. |
don't think ever had so much fun In
all my life, and before | left Madame
Tremble and myself were on the pest
! of terms.
She showed me over her plant and it
| is a well-equipped place, having two big
cylinder presses and two job presses in
| the basement, run by gas engine.
On the main floor is another job press,
which YOU have to kick. She has also
a wire stitching machine for book work,
peach of paper cutter, and fairly
| big stock of paper, cardboard, etc.
| Then | told her of our Office, and she
was properly interested, and altogether
| had a fine time, and when | left she
asked me would come back some
time, perhaps, and said surely, and in
| her three or four words of English she
said, "Zaank you, Meestaire," and |
came back with, "Merci, Madame" and
after much bowling and shaking OF
hands came back to camp. 1t was
| certainly a most entertaining and In
structive experience. have gone back
lots of times to the Office, and 1t is the
only place that feel at home, aside
from the Y. M. c. A. And we have
regular Y. M. G. AS here, too. Right
next to us at the camp is ''Y," at which
we can buy cigarettes, tobacco, candy,
cakes and other articles. And two or
three times a week they give us some
| sort of an entertainment, and on Sun
day we have two services. Then in the
| town the Y. M. G. A. have fine place,
where we can 90 in and buy good
lunch at any time, also the canteen.
| And the best part of it all is that in
the "Y." in town there are three real
| American women, and | must admit
that nearly tainted when heard them
talking real United States. 1t was GER
tainly a great treat for me. More power
to Y. M. c. A. Tell the folks to give to
them freely, for they are those who are
reaching us, and do most for us. With
out them we would be lost. Could you
but be here for one evening and visit
the "Y." huts, you could not but feel
that every effort in behalf of the great
institution is having direct results on
| the boys from home, for after supper
the men, without exception, move down
upon the "Y." in body. Soon we are
to have tennis courts, baseball field
| and basketball court, more OF their
good work. We are expecting some
| mighty good times here in this camp,
| and they will take up all of our idle
moments, which, by the way, are scarce.
The weather is certainly on the bum.
For the past week we have had rain and
rain and rain. Ii is not awfully cold,
but the air is raw and damp, and were
il not for our little charcoal burner We
would not be very comfortable here in
the Office. The charcoal is rather ex-
pensive, but we would not be able to
work efficiently unless We had it. When
We 60 out make sure that am warmly
dressed, especially when hit the truck
or motorcycle for town.
Speaking of the motorcycle, We have
Harley Davidson with side-car now,
and it has been the picture of bad luck.
| The first rider lasted three days. He
| is in the hospital, threatened with pneu-
monia. The next fellow, "Sure | can
ride it. ! ran one two years"-that was
his story. He forgot to open the air.
valve and he lasted just two miles up
| the road. The motor stuck and had to