Milford chronicle., 1918-12-13

S Kindly pardon lead pencil but ny
! paper is wet land everything els,
i. around here) and cannot make tn,
pen work.
/ wrote you a nice sweet letter
! from France that you never received
j because il was returned TO me.
swore on then, but will try one from
ITALY not quite SO sweet.
You have read many articles Of
travel since our war started so I will
not bore you with my many thousands
OF miles. Also you have no doubt been
ted up on the horrors Of war (you
may believe them-they are all true.
ana when l get home I'll tell you some
more) so III keep as far away from
the horrors as possible.
/ am somewhere in Italy between
the sea and, not the sky, but the moon,
and / arrived here after | left France
and I'm going 70 leave when go home
Now that the censor and l are friends
shall try and tell you a little about
my work
When left our Italian headquarters
was signed up with the Italian army
as physical director, amusement direc-
tor. business manager, general rough
neck and official keeper of the Royal
Macaroni. My work in France had
given me quite a little experience G'u
say but nevertheless / had to make a
Job because the work here with the
italian soldiers is different. / started
at my first post with two Italian SOL
diors to carry my material after we
LETT the canton (automobile), gram
o-phone, thirty records, ten thousand
sheets OF writing paper and envelopes.
nVe thousand post cards and a hun
dred million magazines. Italian, (by
the way the bundles looked) and put
IN some very fine days in the trenches .
IN that section. / can never forget
the looks OF gratitude from the sol /
diers, the many who through nv in
terpreter wanted TO thank America
tor coming in the war The officers
entertained me with the best they had
and did everything to aid me. For hours
we would play the gram phone for
the soldiers, and how they would euiov
II. Shells breaking overhead. machine
gun fire or rife fire did not interfere
with the enjoyment even casualties.
My officers were just as enthusiastic as
the men and were certainly max
ing great lion out of me. and bv the
way, / had some narrow ESCAPES of
being kissed. Anyway. / got in a lam
with shell and got little eve trou-
pie from shock. and my next work a
vas al place for convalescents he !
lind the lines but still in the zone OF S
var. When ! got to working and got
hlngs TO working there l had a casa b
lei soldato' lhOuse for soldiers) on u
ny hands and nothing in il. l dug out @
'egged Tor more. This will make Won p
escents tor however you spell the d
'ord) and bought paint and soon the u
Interior was the most beautifully dec d
rated casa in Italy. More power TO q
he decorators. Verify / saw that thev Il
OF their reward. A library followed ii
iOtes, benches, writing paper. lights o
heckers' domlnoes, cards. etc. and
'onders. a real live piano, mandolins a.
nd guitars. BY the way, the "Y" sup a
lled the money-that's where some W
I your money has gone. | secured 60
mother casa two miles away and did rC
le same thing there. to make a long al
-ory short. | organized a stringed or b'
lestra, put the two casas on the NOV b,
Ig picture circuit, and by that time u
y athletic equipment had arrived hi
ootball, running, bochie ball. vollev
ill' boxing, and wonders of all. base III
all was next introduced. Italians do fr
)t take TO base ball and boxing so in CO
lr equipment we could not get these ct
lpplies issued. But | drove over 10 ha
American outfit about forty miles ell
way and borrowed them, and when | nc
me back proved the statement false vi
at they do not like those two sports. m
III one must be patient and take time
teach them and then it is hard TO II
i them TO quit. next discovered W,
little hospital stuck away on a side We
ad with no music to divert the minds tn
the patients. They had the best of
ecical attention and sanitation. but ml
amusements. Nothing to read. No all
-iting paper, music. etc. On my first SCI
SIT l relieved their wants by shaking as
nds with the patients and telling OF
em how impossible it was for Fritz wi
d his allies to win the war. | was ar,
e first American there and was a bu
eat curiosity The next day | re- wo
rned with the stringed orchestra. plt
am-o-phone and material for read ior
:, writing and games. We gave them
concert for five hours and they still PEI
d have to sleep all winter like rel
d good on the money you give to est
"Y". know. Then got our movie
IN interested and he got a machine An
fash the pictures on the ceiling so TAX
II they could lie in bed and watch wo
pictures. Pretty soft. We cant No
that at home except in fly time. of
en- came the big day-inauguration the
= for the whole thing. / was in my ant
ry showing off and everybody else fee
'wed off, Patriotic speeches, ath- il.
ic games. brass bands. gifts. etc. to
e high dignitaries. the General ETC., wo
re there and it was some big show. fiel
er the day a big dinner, more wit
'eches and l handed over that work a '
4 new arrival of our force and then a
eft. / hated to go but there is a ma
ger work where am now and this get
q coveted prize. Ny general was his
re than nice and wrote letter to so
dquarters commencing me, and Bile,
= confess that time l got kissed, 7
ch is European custom and an frie
or httf