Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1918-08-24
LETTER FROM FRANCE.
Extracts Taken From a Letter Written in
France by Dan P. burst TO His
Brother, Roy.
SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE,
March 18th, 1918.

France, but so far the effort has been
almost fruitless.
To make this letter complete if you
haven't gotten any of the others, | will
haye to 90 back to the time of leaving
Washington, ID. c. We left American
University at ~ O'Clock the night of
January 2nd, with our heavy packs on
our shoulders and whatever else we had
to carry in our hands. We were never
so all in in our lives after a hike as we
were that night or rather that morning
at $3.50 when we dragged ourselves into
the cars of the train that took us to the
docks some place around New York. 1t
took us from o'clock the morning of
Jan. 3rd until $50 p. m. of the same day
to get to the place from which we sailed.
We found the ship TO be the America,
one of the interned German transports,
the third largest afloat, 900 feet long, 80
foot beam, decks and a 30-foot cargo
hold below the last deck. The engines
were two in number of the quadruple
expansion type, each l3, 900 horse power.
The first night aboard we were quarter
ed rather haphazardly, we of F Co. slept
on q deck, the last one down. Early
the next morning we were ordered on
the main deck with heavy packs In or
der that they might rearrange us. The
rest Of time aboard ! was in ID deck in
No. 8 compartment.
At 4:30 p. m. Jan. 4th we were call
ed to quarters and the ship was towed
out into the river where her engines
started and she steamed out into the
Atlantic At no time during the voyage
were we allowed on the main deck after
dark. There was another transport,
much smaller than the America, in the
convoy. The two transports were es-
corted TO the submarine zone by the bat
tleship Seattle. At no time did any of
the three ships, day or night, follow a
straight course, but zigzagged at eight
minute intervals as protection against
the torpedo. When we reached the zone
of submarine activities, three days out
of port, we were met by seven destroy
ers the cruiser Seattle turning back to
repeat her task of escorting some other
transports across the pond. The second
morning In this zone just as it was break
ing day the men on watch reported a
torpedo being fired at our ship and that
it missed the stern by but a few feet.
That is the only sub excitement we had
during the voyage.
We reached our landing place on the
18th of January. Just few of the SOL
diers went off the ship at a time. That
is the different organizations disemb bark
ed in their turn. The third and fourth
battalions of the Goth Engineers were
the last to 60 1t was on the 10th that
they were leaving, and the list of those
transferred was read that morning. We
g hz
were held on board ship until the 22nd.
Altogether there were 100 transferred
from the different companies of the Goth
to fill up companies of the 10th already
in France. On the 22nd of January the
$50 of US went ashore. A captain from
the casulity camp had come to take
charge of us and get us into their camp.
We marched from the docks up into the
center of the city, city of about thirty
thousand. Here we halted for our mid
day meal and further orders as to where
to 60. In the middle of the afternoon
we marched 10 the depot to entrain for
the casuity camp. Here we saw for the
first time French railroad and station.
Everything much different than ours.
No switch engines at work the cars be-
ing pulled around with horses. We
were dirty, hungry, tired and sleepy
bunch when we at last landed at the
town where the casulity camp is located.
1t was late at night when we left the
train. The city was dark and very quiet.
We marched to the camp without see-
ing any evidence of life at all. The
camp we found to be an old French
military school or something like that,
and right at the edge of this city there
are several large store buildings contain
ing five floors. 1t was in one of these
buildings that we were quartered while
at that camp. During the eight days
that we were there they kept US busy
either doing guard duty, cleaning up
or handling supplies that were coming
in to be stored there. The last five days
was on guard in the city at one of the
large hospitals. My duty was to keep
the American soldiers confined there
from leaving the hospital.
On the seventh day of our stay at the
casulity camp we were assigned to our
future organization. Thirty-three of us
were assigned to the 3rd Detachment
10th Engineers, and the morning of the
eighth day got our packs ready to leave.
At noon we went TO the station and
boarded the train. At noon of the Sec
ond day we stopped at a small town,
rather were sidetracked, about 10 miles
from the camp that We were bound for.
We had to wait there until 7:30 that
night before a train came that would
take us to the place as it is on different
line of the road. We landed at the lit
tie village two miles from camp at ten
O'Clock at night The first night we
slept in a large tent on the ground, the
next day hunks were made for us. We
were put to work the first day most of
us with a pick and shovel or an ak,
grading for the side track to be laid in
by the mill, cutting brush and clearing
the mill site. For week l handled a
pick and shovel and ak, grubbing STUN ps,
etc. The second week they put me on a
truck to help haul supplies from the sta
ton, mill machinery, etc. The third
week we got a small tie mill, set it up
and started saving. went to work in
the little mill the first day it run, dog
ging or turning the logs on the carriage.
At the little mill We sawed lumber for
additional buildings in camp, for the
erection of the big mill and to fill rush
orders from the front.
The larger mill they put up just as fast
as the machinery came. When all up
and running there will be five of these
large mills in this locality, running night
and day each cutting around 25 million
feet each shift. There is Co. and G oi
the 10th just few miles from here and
the 10th will have two Of thcm about
ten miles further so1th. Co. b los now
a small lane mill running and cutting
from ten to fifteen thousand each shift.
In Co. B are several Black Hills boys
in fact most of them from around Gus
| ter. have seen and talked with Tee