The Yale expositor., 1918-08-01
OUR SOLDIER BOYS
Letters From and Items Concerning Yale
Boys Who are in the Service of
Their Country

Their Country
July 20, 1918.
Dear Mother:-
Well, here it is Saturday night and
| will write you letter and tell you
folks all about my trip. One hun
dred of us radio men left Great
Lakes station at 1903 a. m. Thursday
morning Got in Chicago at about
S:45 at the Northwestern depot.
From there we were all given seats
in two-horse cabs (the> old stage
coach fashion, making FIVE coaches
and we rode over to the Michigan
Central depot We arrived there
about 9:15 a. IN. and we all got lib
erty until 1890 when all lined up
and boarded a fourteen coach train
(two dining cars, six sleeper Pull
man cars and the remaining cars
were used for the draft Of soldiers
that left Camp Grant on the same
day. When we got seated the Red
Cross ladies came at the car win
dows with sandwiches, cake. coffee
cigars, cigarettes and matches for us
Soon the train started moving and
we were all ready for the long jour
ney. South Bend people greeted us
with candy and cigars, also Battle
Creek. l asked the skipper, (our
boss) if we stopped at Detroit and
he said no, as | thought if we would
would telegraph ahead and have my
brother and his wife, Othello and
Keetha, come to the train to see me-
Just before we. got TO Detroit the
conductor told us all to be ready as
we had forty-tve minutes there. And
Ma, | wish you could have been there
to see how they greeted us. The Red
Cross ladies took us in the basement
dining room of the NJ. c. depot and
gave us some banquet This is what
we had: Fried chicken and oh it was
good, mashed potatoes, pie, cake, ice
cream, lettuce. ripe sliced tomatoes,
bread and butter, coffee with real
cream and sugar. Besides we had
candy cigars, cigarettes and the De-
troit papers to read Before leaving
we gave them the navy YELL which is
called the sky rocket We left De-
troit at 6:40 p. m. Thursday went
through the ST. Clair tunnel through
Windsor. AT Windsor they gave us
post cards, already stamped and
cigars. About ten o'clock we all
rolled in our sleepers for the night
When | woke up in the morning we
were between Buffalo and Albany, n.
y. When we reached Albany the
Red Cross ladies were right there on
hand with their baskets for us. We
stopped about half an hour and then
pulled for Troy, n. Y. oh, yes, at
Troy, N. Y. we hooked on another
engine making a double header, as
you know in the east it is very hilly
and lots of mountains. Up one side
and down the other at about an av-
erage of sixty-fve miles an hour.
Well. we got here at Cambridge
about $50 p. m. Friday. We all got
off and marched up to the university
grounds, a distance of about a mile
from the depot, and mother, it sure
is a pretty place, with Boston just
across Charles river and the Atlantic
ocean is about two miles off. We get
every night liberty and from Satur-
day noon until Monday morning off.
Just like civilian life. met with lots
of boys | knew in Great Lakes and
makes it pretty nice Lots OF the
boys rent rooms and live outside.
Rooms are rented for S1.50 and $500
a week which | think is reasonable.
Lots of the boys have their wives
with them.
We had an examination III radio
today and ! made out all right. The
boys say the theory is pretty strenu-
Gus, but ! am going to do my best,
Ma, as ! have chance in the best
university in the world Some OF the
boys have better chance as they
have been Normal graduates, but
anyway | am going to do my best.
We have fine eats here and niger
walters. The Harvard grounds con-
tain about six square miles. 1t is
all turned over to naval radio
school. There are about five thousand
radio students. If you don't make
good at radio they send you TO an
ensign school
Monday morning | start in study
ing magnetism"
Ma, the scenery on our way down
here was wonderful.
oh, ! forgot to tell you our sea
bags and hammocks got in at the
University this noon went over to
get mine and could not find it any
where. ! guess it is lost and left at
Great Lakes | hope it soon shows
up as | have about $4,000 worth Of
clothing in my sea bag and surely
would not want to lose it. My name
is on every article, also tags on it
all. So they will find il | am sure.
II is about fourteen hundred miles
from here to Yale, Mich, so you see
| am a little way from home. But
don't you worry mother as everything
is fine down here | am cumming
with nice fellow from Chicago, and
we are going TO church in the morn
ing. =.
| hope this letter will find you all
we'll
send my love to you all.
Your son,