Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1918-04-17
HUGO FALES VISITS
PARIS AND ENJOYS
BRIEF HURLOUGH
RECEIVES SERVICE STRIPE FOR
SIX MONTHS ON DUTY In
THE WAR ZONE
Hotel Montana, Paris,
March 20, 1918.

March 70, 1918.
Dear Mother and Father:
Well here l am at last. l finally
received my permission and came in
here last Friday for seven days. We
are supposed to get seven days every
four months, but this is my first sew
en- days in seven months and half.
A friend of mine came in with me
and we have been taking advantage
of every moment seeing the town and
it is the same town that you read
about. This don't hardly seem real
here. / am sleeping between sheets
on nice soft bed in one of the best
hotels in the city. Have my break
fast in bed, etc. Do you know /
haven't slept in a real bed since / left
the boat seven months ago.
We went up to the Y. M. G. A. here
today and got some ice cream. That
is the first l have had in z months,
in fact. the only place in France it
can be had
There are quite few American
girls here in Paris in the Red Cross
and Y. M. c. A. work and ran across
one of them this afternoon who came
over on the boat with us. She is
from San Francisco and joined the
field service as a nurse and has been
here at the headquarters ever since.
She has been giving the boys Of our
bunch medical attention when they
get back from the front.
l am going out to see a friend Of
mine who / came with and who is at
the hospital. lie has been sick and
/ think he is coming back to the
states.
This city goes mostly for amuse-
ments. They have some very good
shows and one place has an American
JAZZ Band this week and two others
have American chorus girls. We
have taken in these shows and it sure
takes fellow back home.
We were eating in a cafe tonight
and there was a man setting next TO
me and he was talking French to the
waiter. So | slung a wicked line of
French at him and he said: "Where
do you live" and | told him. He
lives in New York and~is over here
to see his boy, so sure did talk Eng
lish to him. This just goes to show
that you find Amemicans everywhere.
There are a lot of them | have met in
the French army that have been there
for three years.
| sent some souvenirs yesterday by
American Express. l sure hope you
get them. | sent Boche helmet and
bayonet that | got on the Chemin 'des
Danes offensive last October. | also
sent the mask used to wear. have
received all the packages you have
sent up to date and have enough to-
bacco to last me for some tine. You
can continue sending cigars once in a
while if you wish.
| sure had a good birthday here in
Paris. Stop to think it over / am
getting along in years. / am in
hopes to have my next birthday at
home.
So they have shifted Charley to a
gun company. Well that
isn't so bad. Oscar Rummler might
change his mind before he is through.
He is coming to war and that is quite
different from life in the training
camps in the states.
l think it would be best if you would
keep the sweater and wrap until fall
and then send it so won't have it to
cart around this summer. 1t has
started to get warm now. We didn't
nave hardly any snow this winter nor
t hasn't been cold.
am wearing a service strip now
Tor six months in the advanced war
zone.
The sights i'm Paris are too numer-
)us to mention. have a lot of pic
lures of same and will bring them
home.
Your affectionate son.
Hugo