Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-10-18
OUR BOYS
Our CouNIRY'S SERVICE

The following letter from an officer
Of the seth Pioneer Infantry, former
~ the LIST Maine H. F. A. (Milliken
Regiment) just before he sailed for
France, from where he has written
other descriptive letters:
Dear Chad:
We from old New England have
been down South since last Novem-
Der and some Of our observations
may be little interesting to the
folks back home. First want every
one to know that Mason and Dixon's
line is more than an imaginary line
like the, equator, for it makes the d.
viding line between pep" and
.Iazydaisical." When you come down
you. will pass this, dividing spot and
at once a marked difference begins to
appear.
; From the good sclear lakes and
rivers of the North you have passed
you sight a mass, a mess, OF red clay
and red rivers, lakes and ponds. TO
prevent any Misunderstanding wish
it made certain the said lakes, and
ponds are a rare article. God was
not kind. to the South in the matter
Of water ways for what they call
rivers here are no more than Ken
nedy Brooks"
We all have heard considerable Of
southern hospitality but so far as
most of US have observed it is relic
of the past. 1t belongs to an ancient
state of affairs and not to the pres
ent There may be some places
where it is still in vogue but every
where one now sees only wild
scramble to get such of money as we
may bring to town. Restaurants are
found in various places near to camp.
away from camp and in the most I'M
heard of places but they all have ac-
quired the habit of charging an enor-
nous price for the poorest of fare.
OF course the South was 'impov-
erished" by the Civil War but no one
can longer accuse it of being in that
state as far as money is concerned
for they have relieved officers and
men of all that is in their power to
do. A steak will set you back sum
that would ordinarily afford you a
good meal and the setback is not
entirely in the price. l think that all
the beef is driven in from Texas and
then parceled out. 1t surely pos
sesses a power of cohesion that is
worthy of Allied Powers.
One would naturally think that
Southern chicken would be most
delectable, but my experience has led
me to the belief that~it in common
with the other well advertised won
ders Of the South belongs to the an
cient past of Washington and CAL
houn. The chicken is killed all too
young, most prematurely in fact and
the struggle to get enough meat from
the young things bones is equal to an
afternoon spent in bayonet exercise.
1t is really not worth the trouble. One
thing does taste good and that is the
sweet potato. They can candy those
to mouth melting brown and a con-
fict with one is time we'll spent. But
one can not eat sweet potatoes for
ever.
/ suppose that there are places in
the country of and for Negroes and
Mules" that one can find that true
Southern hospitality and when one
does it must be we'll worth while
You can see the impression made on
my mind by the stories of fiction and
history will not be eradicated by my
own personal search. l wish to do
these people justice and thus the al
fusion to what some Northerner did
find.
The whole outfit lacks pep. You go
into store and while away the day
In an endeavor to buy some minor
article. for store keepers are all
working on time basis and hustle is
a pleasant fiction of the imagination.
The only thing that moves with any
rapidity at all is the wind. They can
stage sand storm in the liveliest
fashion that is possible. Before you
can get outside to put the walls of
your tent down gust of sand and
wind will fill your house and then you
can spend an hour shaking your
clothes and getting the tent into fit
condition to dwell in. These storms
have most persistent frequency and
nothing that know Of provokes more
profanity than one of these unwel-
come storms which nine cases out of
ten does not favor you with even the
remotest amount of water to relieve
your troubles. 1t doesn't pay to talk
aboue such things for I find that we
are now having one of them so II
must stop and get my breath nv
tent and my mind and language back
to normal.
The past week or two I have been
working on the personnel board and
thus have come in contact with every
man who has arrived in camp. There
IS lad from North Dakota working
alongside me and he is as enthusiasts !
tic about the South as I am. We
take turns betting where a soldier is
from when he appears in the doorway
ABOUT 20 feet from where we are
working. So far we have not made a
miss on man from Carolina and re-
Gently we made the rule that we must
announce whether the party is from
North or South Carolina. That is
more difffcult but we can get away
with 1t nine times out of ten.
The Carolinians are the most IL
literate of men that we have to do
with. About two-thirds of them can
not write their names and the whites
are on the same level as the blacks.
ASK them to tell you where they are
from and you receive the answer
Anderson County" - always a
county. Ask them their address and
II Is the same, some county. and to
md out their postal address ia a
work Of art. 1t requires considerable
maneuvering and the best laid plans