Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-12-21
Last Hour of Great
 Battle Was the Hardest
lieutenant Davis Says Men Wondered Whether
 They Would Live Through It.

The following letter was. received flew days ago by H. s. Davis. auditor ofHthe Hotel Pines, from his brother, Lieut.. Charles l.. Davis, Company E, i. lsOth Infantry (formerly 4th Ill. N. /. e.. Lieut.. Davis was with the same regiment in service on the border. lie rose to the rank of sergeant, and was mustered out as such. After the 1 declaration of the war with Germany, the company was mustered into serv- ice July 18th, 1917. He was promoted to first sergeant, and going into train ing recognition from his instructing officers, who recommended him for commission which he received Decem- ber g, 1917. Lieut.. Davis visited here in April, 1918, just before he left for France. He landed ill France on May 9, and was soon sent to the front. On the front where he was sta toned, the Huns were known as "Jerry,' and No-Man's Land was re- christened "Yankee Land.''
 France, November IT, 1918.
 Dear Brother:-Just few lines to let you know am all 0. k. (Apres- le-guerre). Have had some halr-rals- ing experiences since l wrote you. but came out all right. We went back up to the front lines. were there jew days and then on the day before hostilities ceased, went went over the top; it certainly is one grand eXperl- ence, but am not craving any more of it. You have heard of the fellows going over the top, smoking clgarets' it is all true, just little, bracer, you know. We went along fine, for about two kilometers (one and one-fourth miles) and then we run into little resistance, he put up with his ma chine guns. It didn't bother us long, after our snipers got working. Just before reaching our objective, on or way up, we had to cross river about fifteen feet wide, and waist deep. The water was very cold, and we had to lay around, without our wet clothes on. Of course. that didn't go very nice, but a bunch of good soldiers never kick on little thing like that When we reached our objective we took up a position in one of his trenches, and held it that night.
 We were released about 5 a. nl'' and marched back little ways where We received the news that hostllltles would cease at II o'clock, it was then nlne-forty a. m. Between that time and eleven o'clock there was some deep thinking going on, everyone was Wondering whether the next shell would get him or whether he would be spared.
 It was very strange to hear the dlf. ference between eleven o'clock, ana e,leven-one. Everything ceased on the aot' but not before. He was Hopping
 those large shells, and a few gas shells around us until the last mln-
 @e' We had taken up position in an old trench in the rear, and before we
 ett that night, "Jerry's" men put on ailttle show for us. They shot up all hnds of signals for us all along the
 me, It was some display of ire
 works l recognized some of them as
 le same ones that called for a heavy
 Oafrage, put down on us on Saturday
 aght, while out on patrol. When ne
 aears a patrol out on Yankee Land'
 as sends up flares and lights the place
 AO like Roadway in New York, It he
 ses anything, he signals his artillery
 sau they put down their barrage. lie
 .us gets his wind-up, when he hears
 .Nhing out in front of him. he
 3s figure the Tanks, and always