Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-07-04
before me lay one of my greatest ad-

ana WATCHES ClOSCly lOi thoa6",
slips that some of the men are bound
to write.
Then that trip down through England
right at the height of springtime. IL
NAV have been because Rad not seen
land for so long, but still Jelleve that
il cannot be surpassed for beauty.
Every inch of the land as clean as
new pin-every house of stone and IN
the best repair. Not a single frame
house is to be seen in this old part OF
the world. each one being built with the
idea probably that the world is going TO
stand long time. Then the quaint
old English towns, with their rows and
rows of houses built exactly alike, and
the streets running in just any dl..
rection at all. The green trees full OF
blossoms of all sorts, and wild flowers
running riot everywhere, made an
indelible impression on my mind, and
| shall long remember that lap OF the
journey. ,
And what an education this brief
period in the army has been to me. All
the schools in the world could not put
I'D an education like il, and the lessons
learned will certainly be great bene-
fit in after life. Perhaps the greatest
course has been in learning to see an
opportunity long before it has gotten
within hearing distance, and just how
great an advantage it is to run to meet
il instead of waiting for it to pass and
then trying to catch up to it. An op-
portunity is indeed vague when it gets
by me now. Then | have learned to
look out for myself, or'there is no one
else to do it, so it is up to me. And
what won't know about Office and pa
per work when | get back won't be
worth knowing at all. Then, too, am
learning to read men pretty well, and 1t
does not take long to find out just what
sort of a fellow have to deal with. |
am beginning to talk some French, and
can carry on a fine conversation IN SEN
| fences of one word. can always man
age to make myself understood, and
have long since stopped carrying my
dictionary, for | can learn a lot more
without it. | have been sore at myself
ever since landed that the four years
of German | had in school could not
have been just as easily French. If
anyone lets out German around mere
| he is liable to be taken for spy, and |
have forgotten every word Of German
| that ever knew.
| think | have done more travelling
| in the last six months than all the rest
of my life put together, and when |
| look back over the space have cover
ed il seems almost impossible. al
most circumnavigated the United
States. left home for Hagerstown
| and went from there to Baltimore.
Then through Pittsburg to Columbus,
Ohio. That was sure good town, and
| think that will have to 60 back after
| the war and look around the old bar
| racks, and would like to see that hard
boiled mess-sergeant and tell him what
| think of him-that is If outrank him.
| If he is still mess-sergeant | outrank
| him now, and what a JOY it would be
to tell him a few things that | have
| been treasuring up against him. he
was the hardest man ever saw in my
| life. | could not help but laugh at him,
| and one day he saw me. left forth
with. Then we left for Texas, going
by way of St. Louis. don't know how
many States we passed through on that
| trip, at least my memory doesn't mold,
| but we hit lots of them, and after near
| " a week of corned beef and tomatoes
we landed in Kelly Field | stayed
there a month, and it was there that
got separated from all the fellows that
| | had enlisted with. The chief thing
that | remember about that camp was
the Dust, and mean Dust with a cap
| ital D. Wherever there was air there
was Dust, so that you may know there
was some of it. stayed there nearly
a month, and then left for Camp Han
cock. Down through New Orleans,
| along the Gulf, and then northward
| through Alabama, and by the time we
| got to Georgia we began to realize
| that it was still winter. My, how it did
rain the night we landed in Augusta,
and it froze on us as it fell, and We had
| to hike three miles with our packs and
barracks bags through the half-frozen
mud. 1t must have been that Georgia
mud that led Sherman to make his
famous remark about war, for 1t GER
tainly was some pull carrying all of our
personal belongings, and when we
finally reached our tents We fell into
our blankets mud and all. 1t was here
that our company and regiment were
formed, and | was one Of the few lucky
ones who were not held over for the
Third Regiment. don't believe that
more than a dozen of our Kelly Field
bunch got into this regiment. After
three weeks or more we started north
again. Through North and South Car
DINA, Richmond and Washington. In
Washington we unloaded and had a
long hike, and my, but | was homeslck.
Only sixty miles from home, and | did
not even have time to call by telephone.
! was seeing the first familiar sights
| had seen since | left home, and as
marched by the familiar places | must
admit that | felt pretty blue. Then we
came to Camp Merritt, and | was just
ten or twelve hours from home, and the
order came: no furloughs. Well, they
kept me from going home, but they
couldn't keep you from coming to see
me, could they, Dad? | certainly had
swung around the circuit of the coun-
try, and after all that travelling | was
within three or four hundred miles OF
my starting place. 1t was sure great
trip, though, and | would not have 1t
taken from my book of experiences
for anything.
have seen some countries, too.
First, my own, which is certainly not
to be belittled, for there is to it that
which spells greatness and nobleness,
it makes fellow mighty proud to be an
American. Somehow or other, in all
my calculations had never figured on
seeing this part of the world, and that is
the only thing that have to thank the
Kaiser for. England and France are
wonderful in their old-time beauty and
customs, but what they gain in those
are more than lost in their slowness. 1t
is no wonder that the war has lasted as
long as it has, for these people never do
today what they can put off until tomor-
row. If you take your shoes to town to
have them half-soled if you get them in
two weeks you are more than lucky.
The only thing that the French do not
like about the Americans is that they
are always in hurry, and want every
thing done right away. And it is more
than We can do to move them out of
fbeir Tho ,ha