Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-05-03
OTTAWAN IN PARIS
WHILE LONG RANGE
GUNS WERE ACTIVE
SERGEANT LESLIE RANDALL
THREE BLOCKS AWAY FROM
SPOT HIT By BOChE'S SHELL
WRITES OF TRIP TO FRENCH
CAPITAL.

Sergeant Leslie Randall. an Ottawa !
soldier with the q. NJ, department /
somewhere in France" was in Paris /
while Gcrmany's big gun was bomb F.
ing the French capital he says in !
letter 10 David Refior, Main street I
hardware dealer One OF the shells !
dropped only three blocks away from
where the sergeant and his compan.
ions were traversing the Champs
Ele'yses. one of Paris main thor !
fares, The letter tells of a trip he
made from the front line TO Paris in
big Cadillac auto. and says:
Your good letters OF March | and
March & arrived couple of days ago.
together with The sack of pecans. The
pecans came thru o. X. and they are
Tine. tell you. Every night before
we go to bed. Fred Hill.i my bunk
mate and myself crack Il bunch Of
them and have feed before retir-
Ing to our downy (7) couch surely
want to thank You, ever 50 much and
( J cam tell you in a letter how good
they are and how much appreciate
1t. ! also have the program YOU en-.
closed of the High School Orchestra
Concert and ! would have given lot
If | could have been there to hear
i 1t again AS we did last year. And
the Glee Club too. But mabe We can
hear /. together next year.
just returned from trip Mon.
day, and if | could give YOU detailed
account Of ii. know it would inter
est YOU. drove Cadillac eight
touring car and the speedometer reg
istered i7t miles at destination.
There were eight OF US and we came
back on the train. We stopped in
Paris and had about "a hours there
Saw Eitfe Tower Arch OF Triumph
The lnFalides, The Tulliers, The Bas
tile. bridge Of Alexander III, The Art
Gallery. Napoeon's Tomb his bed.
room suite. and we walked down
/ Champ Ele'yses Il guess that's The
way to spell lD We were walking
down this historical boulevard and
/ a shell dropped about three blocks
from Us. Ii gave us a pretty good
scare but did little damage. We also
! heard the guns on our trip going up.
Their railroad systems are funny.
I They have first, second and third
class compartments, we rode first
class and It was fine But they run
them very peculiar You buy your
ticket and get on and ride and there
is no conductor or brakeman. GU
simply ride until you think YOU are
far enough and then inquire OF some
one whether or not You are near your
station. ana believe me its some job
nquiring when you don't speak OF
understand their language We just
waved Our arms aud pointed and
+ suffered. ard gurgled until we got
an apprehension that we understood
how much farther it was and then
got off bought myself an English.
French dictionary and YOU would
have died to have heard my first at.
tempt It was when went IN % buy
the tape line to measure my leg for
the boots and picked on clerk that
looked a trifle English. pulled out my
little dictionary and started in "Auvez
yous elm tape line, ! gushed and
she sort Of got blank expression
on her face looked wildly around a
second and beat IT, The result was
didn't get the tape line and finally
measured my leg as | told you in my
other letter. But ! am beginning to
"compron' a little French. the
trouble Is that We don't use ii around
the camp and We 90 to town 50 sci.
dom that we don't get much practice
When You get to where YOU are going
on these trains, you get of and walk
away and II no one stops you. YOU
get to keep your ticket as "A souvenir
| have one now They are suppose
, to collect the tickets when you leave
the depot at your destination, bst
they don't always do it, A real first
class "bum" from L. 5, would have
! pcitngs He would just ride him.
? self to death.
But the French people are sure
: wonderful to us. and their hospitality
: will never be forgotten by American
{ soldiers
! There Is lot of mistletoe here.
. lt grows in great punches on the trees
= and looks like flock of birds nests
4 It Is as common in the trees here as
b English sparrows are over there
When we first landed IN France