Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-07
Somewhere in France.
March IA 1918


March IA, 1918.
Dear Mother:
Am sorry to say, that those wood
en- Xmas boxes have not showed
up yet, l have nearly given up hope
of even getting them-and l do
want that camera so badly, for your
sake more than mine. At last l re-
ceived my two wing badge from the
French authorities, so now l have
some official proof that l am an avi-
ator. Having the Lafayette Flying
Corps badge also, I'm pretty we'll
decorated up.
The other day several Americans
came by in a motorcycle with a side
car, and stopping to look around the
place, were much interested, and
were so thankful they took two of
us for a ride to the Lafayette esca-
drille headquarters. We just got
there in time for tea, (they seemed
to have acquired the habit and ask
ed us to sit in, of course. Consid-
ering how we looked, it being an
impromptu trip and we tearing all
old duds on, they showed a real
democratic spirit, for they were cap
tains and lieutenants. all dolled up
in the American uniform. Howev-
| er, l did enjoy that unexpected
lunch, for they actually had gran
ulated sugar-and all one wanted,
too; and white bread also. some
! thing had not seen in eight months
let alone tasted. Even the
thought was poor payment for their
wild desire to swipe a loaf of that
bread. They also had cream-not
condensed either-if one wished il
in his tea. That made three sur
prises in one day, which were quite
shocks enough for any aviator.
Daylight Saving
Yesterday we jumped ahead OF
| the rest of the world again-one
whole hour. 1t seems to be quite
regular pass time to set the clock
ahead an hour every once in SO Of
| ten, as far as l can see the idea
seems to b to have the sun rise al
I A. NJ, and set at P. NJ, and by
| juggling the clock they succeed
pretty we'll in making "old SOL keep
regular hours.
Am feeling rather downhearted
tonight, for 1 have been loafing for
over a month now. and am still loar-
ing since 1 busted my "Zang" the
other day after about six rides in it
Now 1 am awaiting orders to leave
| lOA eiA 10 ~ SCI q AiN" OAiSf bNS NaAN
orders have not come yet, and l am
becoming very impatient. My room
mate, Putnam, was in a fight today
the first with Morane and l am
anxious to get at the Hun myself
This inaction is awful !
Spring Fever
Spring has certainly arrived here
lately and naturally, the spring few
er also, for the sun has 6een shin
| ing brightly for a whole week.
am trying to kid myself that the
W Gather has forgotten how to weer
hut il is like a woman-one never
can tell when the next food will be-
gin. Don't get the idea Lam tiring
of "cherchant' the Boche, because
am not. Rather, 1 am becoming
heartily sick of waiting around for
the chance. After bothering the
Captain everyday about a 'zing"
and even asking for the use of his
private Nieuport, which he gave me
permission to fly, but not to fight in
he finally gave another American
and / the use of one ''Ziug" a mo-
rane whose owner was on permis-
sion. We were to use it glternate-
| ly, and tossing a cent to see whL
| few first, l won, and went Jubilantly
off to round up my mechanic to put
my Instruments on, for 'wo lieuten-
and 1 were going hunting at 5 p
NJ. and 1 wanted to be ready. We