The Alaska daily empire., 1918-08-31
Marshall Fremming Writing from France Says He Talked to Them Like
 a Comrade.
ALL LIKE GEN. PERSHlMG
He Has Been Promoted to Rank of Master Engln- ger and Is Getting
 Along Finely.
Tours, France, August 3, 1918. MT. John Troy, Alaska Daily Empire,
 Juneau Alaska

AldSkd DdIly EupliC'
 Juneau, Alaska.
 Dear MT. Troy-I thought you would be interested in getting let ter from the most discussed country
 in the world, France, and will try to tell you something of the coun- try and it's people.
 The country is very beautiful to look at, has a rather mild equitable climate, and everything here reminds you that it was inhabited long be- fore the time of Adam. All of the towns are surrounded by large, old thick, stone walls, for l suppose the people are afraid someone will en- deavor to carry them away. The buildings are as old as the hills, and they. too, are made of stone. Wooden buildings are rare; in fact, about the only wooden buildings have seen are the barracks just constructed by the American Army. They are portable and can be put together in very short time We are working in large stone buildings constructed about the time of Napol- con.
 I heard Gen. Pershing speak to a group of soldiers; was only few feet away from him, and think he is a wonder. He walked out of the building where he had been in con ference with Generals, Colonels, and Second Lieutenants (accent on the second leweys), looked us over for a second or two, then waved his hand and said, "Come up close, boys, I want to talk to you" We all crowded around the hero of the hour, and he began to speak. He was the happiest man l ever saw, and his beaming countenance spelled sue cess. An Army couldn't do other wise than win with such a leader as Pershing. The fellows all went wild cheering the General after his speech. He won them to a man, And the think I liked best about the General was his simplicity. He gave the credit to the soldiers instead of talk ing it to himself, while we, and the whole world knew that Pershing has the burden of the whole thing on his shoulders But the man is big enough and great enough to realize that he cant win without the sup port of the men.
 I have been getting along very well in our regiment. Was just pro nI tn bp nh of Ma tnr pU Ui n. eer, which is the best paying rank soldier can have. I have had the opportunity to see a lot of country, as I have been driving for our Col onel. At present I am stationed at Tours, town of about 100000 in habitants. It is surrounded by two beautiful rivers, the Loire and the Cher, and has several beautiful parks. We have fine bunch of fellows here in our detachment, which makes it very pleasant
 The French people have treated us royalty. Wherever we go they always speak of us as "Kamarads" and always like to show us atten- tion. l heard a splendid concert a few nights ago, rendered by select l group of French men and women One of their party was grand op- era singer who starred in Boston. The boys gave him tremendous amount of applause, and he seemed | to enjoy entertaining us as much as we enjoyed hearing him. The French are very musical, and seem | to get lot of expression out of their music. It is a little difficult l for them to get accustomed to Amer ican audiences. I heard recently that some American soldiers were in theatre in Paris, and they be- gan to clap their hands and stamp their feet when the entertainment thrilled them. The French perform CTS were at a loss to know what to make of it, as they thought the boys were insulting them. but some wise Frenchman who had been to Ameri- ca arose and told them that our boys didn't mean any offense, but only wanted to express their apprec- iation After that, our fellows could make all the racket they wanted to at theatre.
 Sincerely yours,
 MASTER ENG. MARSHALL G. PERTAINING,