Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-12-19

American E. F., France,

SITlSIldS LCttCI, duI hliiC ~ ID IdIu
to get the Christmas spirit with Thanks
giving so close at hand, will DO MY
best to get out a Christmassy letter 1t
will at least be full of cheer snt hap
piness, and | know the folks at home
will have much more pleasant Christ
mas for the reason that the war is over
and the American soldiers are begin
ming to find their way home and That il
will not be so very long until We are
all back on the native soil. The eternal
question nowis, "When do we 90 home 2"
You can hear it on every hand and
while no one knows the exact time, we
are figuring that before many months
have passed we will be sailing back
across the Atlantic. And for thai
reason we are all happy and cheerful
and are waiting impatiently for the
orders to move. Perhaps they will
have come before you receive this let
ter, and we may have started on the first
lap of the journey back-here's hoping.
The censorship regulations have been
lifted to some extent so that fellow
Is permitted to tell few more Of mis-
experiences, and the stories that will be
coming back to the United States will
sure be hair-raising, and the heroes will
multiply rapidly when these letters
reach home. don't have anything
new to tell you at all, for We are all still
working along the same lines in the
aeroplanes production, the only differ;
ence being that the shops are now on
an eight-hour basis instead of twenty
four. The men are having an easy time
now, and it keeps our hands full to
keep them out of mischief. There is
no work Saturday and yesterday we had
a showdown inspection-and what a
time we had! Out behind the barracks
there is nice, big grassy plot, and the
men all carried their equipment out
there and spread it out according to a
given plan, and they were given to I'M
derStand that nothing was to be kept
except the authorized property. Then
they began to turn in their surplus
clothing, and the Office looked more like
a secondhand clothing store than any
thing have seen in long time. The
amount of extra clothing and equipment
turned in was very large, for the men
have been on motor conveys so much
and have drawn the material away
from the company and then Of course
brought il back with them, and when
they began to hand it in We were about
swamped. We finally got the men
pretty well down to the regulation
amount, and yesterday morning We had
the inspection. While their stuff was
all spread out on the ground we went
through the barracks and took up all
the government property and brought il
into the Office. The men had been
given to understand that this stuff was
going to be taken and they had 1t camou'
faged in many different ways, but we
combed the barracks clean, and you
should have heard the howl when the
men came back in. Some of the things
they have had for such long time that
they feel like they own them, and It is
like taking their personal property.
The General Orders are that each man
shall have a certain amount OF equip.
ment, no more and no less, and we
have been doing our best to comply
with the order, but the strain has been
awful. | think we have finally gotten
things in pretty good shape, though, but
we are going to have the same sort Of
inspection. next Saturday again, so that
our trouble is not all over yet. Three
men stood the inspection with dirty
shoes and they are now grazing the
wood pile. and there are some lovely
big knotty chunks which require any
amount Of exercise-a pleasant way
to spend a holiday. Their shoes will
shine the next time.
The mail man just came in and he
had a great big bunch OF letters for the
company. | only got eleven, and two
Registers-the last two issues OF DC,
tober which you sent to me in letter!
1t was good to have the papers OF such
a late date and | am glad that my letter
about the "Y'' got home just at the
right time. / hope it has helped some
folks to give a little more than usual.
The letters from home were as late as
November 4th and ! was mighty glad
to have them and to know that the
family had not suffered from the "hu."
Ii was not bad in this camp at all and
we have wonderful health record here.
was in the post cemetery yesterday,
and there are just forty graves there,
and fifteen Of those buried there have
been killed accidentally so you see we
have not had many deaths. There are
close to fifteen thousand soldiers here,
and that cemetery was started IN
March, so you may know what a clean
bill of health this place has. But then
there are inspectors whose only duty
is to see that no dirt or germ breedlng
places are allowed to remain, and when
a notice comes to correct some IT.
regularity no one rests until the order
has been carried out. They don't come
very often to us, for Captain Edwards
is sure there when it comes to keeping
an eye on sanitary arrangements, ana
he is continually on the watch for any
thing OF the sort. We have two men
who do nothing but keep the place
clean-and when | say clean ! mean
spotless, and burnt match stick looks
as big as a mountain when the captain
makes an inspection, and the men VINO
do the work about the barracks know
that they have to do the work well Oh
they will hear about it, and it is Nigh
seldom that there is any chance tc
catch them. suppose the most usua
place for sickness to start is In the
kitchen-but> not in our kitchen, for il
is and always has been model fol
cleanliness and there is small chance
for a germ to light there. The cleal.
est housewife in the old town does.
keep her kitchen any cleaner than ouI
company kitchen is kept, and it is /.
a small job to keep everything shining
and spotless. We have the model place
Of the camp, according to statistics, and
the best health record also. 1t means
a lot of work but the results are worth
the labor that is necessary.
| have been having new line o.
work lately, and it is proving more in
teresting every day, and l am enjoying
it immensely. think | told you that
Captain Edwards is an old police COM
missioner, and about as keen as briar
and very little escapes him. The Com
handing Officer of the post found out
that the Captain had had that ex
perience, so he asked him to undertake