Norwich bulletin., 1918-02-20
SOLDIERS AND SAILO What Eastern Connecticut Boys Are Doing In Various Branches of the Service.
Lieut.. w. H. Simpson in Texas.


 transferred to the aviation camp at Waco, Texas. In a letter to a Norr wich friend he describes his trip to Waco as follows:
 | Dear Joe: A few lines to let you know that I think of the Rose of New England very often. About calling dear old Norwich by that name. T find there's plenty of opposition when talking to New Englanders from other parts. They all claim the same priv ilege, but I guess I've got something on them.
 We certainly had an enjoyable trip on the way down here Our first stop was at St. Louis. Lieutenat Small and myself were together all the way down. We arrived in St Louis at $50 in the morning. ten hours late The first realization l had of getting in was when 1 had suffocating feeling in the sleeper. I looked out of the window but everything was black as coal. Soon we passed through the tunnel and onto the bridge that spans the Mississippi river. When talk ing later to some St. Louis chaps, they told me that stirling feeling comes ov- CT everyone going through the long tunnel if they aren't used 10 it. The chief business in St. Louis seems to be the manufacture of shoes We saw one office that had over 150 in it's clerical force.
 Not having much time to spare we went on to Dallas. at s p. m., the same day. About the only place where [ could see where that Wild and Woody West came in, was going through Oklahoma. Shacks, borros and Indians made up the chief things of interest. After leaving the Red river that serves as a boundary for Oklahoma and Texas, we saw no more snow.
 We arrived in Dallas in about twen- ty hours run on the Katy Limited. Be- live me, if there is pretty town around the country it's Dallas Fv- cry one of the officers thought the | same. The streets are very wide and well laid in blocks. Most of the build fngs in the business center are made out of the best brick. The prices of everything are very reasonable and the merchants are very polite. We stayed at the Adelphus hotel and while there received letter from one of the merchants inviting us to make ourselves at home in Dallas. and asking us to meet him, saying in his letter he wanted to do something besides sell us his wares. But one finds that spirit of friendship prevail l ing everywhere in the South. All of l us were hoping we would stay there, l but as the new field is just being built we immediately received orders to go | to Waco, just hundred miles south. 1 Waco is apparently an old town and 1 the only time I have seen the place I was when I got off the train.
 The camp here differs vastly from the one at Dix. Up there we lived in l 1I- -I,i J- here it's tents. It takes me back to 'the good old National Guard days when we used to be at Fort Wright or Fort Terry, N. Y. But there the grass is nice and soft, while here one couldn't find plot of turf if he walked a hundred miles. To walk on the soil here makes me thing of the old asphalt sidewalks. It's fine unti some day or night a regular sand storm comes up in less than i've min utes.
 Then the dust that flies through the air from the ground is almost unbe- lieveable. Many tent goes down ir one of these gales. The dust and sand comes through the tent and covers everything with about half inch. As I sit in my tent writing you this bit of news, I wonder if you can read it. The reason is my desk is attach ed to the wall of the tent and the wind is blowing only about fifty miles ar hour just now,
 1 My duties here are mainly to drill the squadron in infantry regulations for the purpose of discipline. O1 course there is plenty of administra- tive work to be done and here is the
 place to learn it.
 The men here are bright bunch o1
 lads and all of them are volunteers
 Fly volunteers I mean chaps who did
 rot wait to be drafted. They are al
 men of one trade or another such as
 carpenters, tinsniths, toolmakers. ma.
 chinists, cabinetmakers, etc. Wher they arrived here they were put into tthe squadron in which their trade ap-
 plies.
 When we get ready for overseas
 duty, which won't be long, twelve
 aeroplanes so along with each squad
 ron. Speaking about aeroplanes, aft
 CT chap spent week here. ht
 wouldn't give five cents to see an anna teur aviator perform at a county fair One gets so tired of hearing the purl
 of motors overhead that he very sel dom looks, up unless somebody points out some aviator who is doing stunt like a nose or tail dive or looping th' | lOOp. 1 SuppOSe you TSdu HI tne pd
 Der of the fatility we had here weel ago in which two machines crashed together and dropped to the ground
 killing one and injuring the other pi lot. At the time I was but two hun dreo' feet from the accident. But w have a better record than the field a
 Fort Werth, where four or five weel are killed,
 FIRST LIEUT.. W. H. SIMPSON Five Months in France.
 A letter received by Mrs. W. Begue from her son, Irving, who i l with the 102nd U. S. Infatnry, some where in France:
 } Somewhere in France,
 !