The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1918-09-09
.COFER'S BROTHER
WRITES LETTER
ROBERT w. COFER TELLS MUCH
OF WHAT THE SOLDIERS ARE
DOING

robert w. Golfer, brother of Mr.. ]
M. Cofer of this city writes a very
interesting letter from the battle
from in France as follow:
With the American Expeditionary
Forces Saturday, July IS, 1918.
John j. Cofer,
Grayson, Ga, U. S. A.
My Dear Brother:
AS | have not written you very
much in regard to our trip and how
France looks, l will try in my scatter
ing words to give you little idea of
how it is.
First of all, l sincerely trust that
you and all the rest of the family are
enjoying life and the very best of
health. AS to myself, l am getting
along all right.
l shall tell you that we were lucky
in getting the ship that we did in
crossing the Atlantic. 1t was a very
large and nice one, and made the trip
| in seven days. Why l say lucky, l
| learned that the other boys were
from twlve to twenty-six days on the
water, The sea was calm and being
on a good ship helped very much in
keeping the boys from getting sea-
sick, but must say that was not one
of the fortunate ones.
Well, from that we were several
days getting to little village near
the front, where we stayed about six
weeks. That is where we got equip
ped and did some good work, and as
you know, one in the army is on the
move all the time. A little later found
us somewhere else in France There
we stayed about seven days, and from
there we moved around and finally
found ourselves right up in the front
lines, and permit me to say that this
battalion was one of the best in the
divisionf therefore we went to the
front line first
Well, we held that front line for
so long" and we are now in the rear
for a few days rest, then we will go
back again. While up at the front our
officers managed things good We did
not lose a man, and only had few &C.
cidents.
The trench life of course, is not
like walking along back of the lines
and when night comes, have good
place to sleep, where the coolies and
rats can't find you. Well, after all of
that, when we get relieved we go to
the rearfi get good baths and new
clothes and feel good and fresh again.
AS to the people and country, one
can very easily see the effects of the
war, no matter which way he looks
and of course there are angles from
which one can discuss the war, but
owing to the fear that some German
spy will get these lines, | will not give
you the full details, as you would
probably like, for the least informa-
ton that | would give might probably
be Just what he was looking for, there
fore, / will make it brief.
The people seem to enjoy what they
have and we find that the work is
done by the very old people and girls
all the men being in uniform, and it is
very sad indeed to see old men and
women laboring in the fields and doing
hard work.
AS to the country, France is a beau
tifnl place. She has her mountains
and hills, her valleys and rivers The
land is very rich and the principa
lcrop is wheat haven't seen any corr
since we have been here. The GLOW
err fields are simply beautiful, from
knee to waist high, and when in bloom
it is great.
The horses and COWS are very large
We hardly ever see a horse tina
weighs less than 1900 pounds, ant
the wagons they pull have only tw'
wheels, and if an extra horse is need
ed it is hitched in front of the other
The cows are also very large an
look as if they would give no les
than five gallons of milk a day. Cow
like these in Georgia would brin
from S175 to 5000.
The trains seem almost like a joke
They have very small cars and sma
engines and narrow tracks, but W