The Sentinel=record., 1918-10-24

o~o~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~-~~~~~- friendship, and seemed delighted to accompany the troops.
 Excuse any errors for l am writing while sitting on the floor Of my tent and using the only home made chair 1 for a table. We remained in the resy : camp several days Our departure 1 took place at a. m, one morning
 after Q three milo hike in a downpOur of rain to the station On arrival we learned the troops would he loaded 1 in box cars, which arc hardly half the size of an American box car Thirty i five men to each car Naturally they were packed like sardines, .but l ai- terwards learned that forty men could he loaded into one of them The of- ficers were given regular passenger travel, (such as it isl and we had room in which to sleep We were nearly two days en route-almost as much time as traveling from Pike to Dix
 When l stop to consider the differ Ience in the length of time ii takes in travelling over here. l marvel at | the superiority of our own country oy- CT this We made one stop for coffee thr forty minutes Other stops of short duration, but only tos take nu , water. The mems rations were load ed in their cars, likewise the offic- CTS. It consisted chiefly of cogned !, beef beans, and bread Fortunately l am a demon for any kind of food | when hungry, (which is often) and ats the corned beef and hard tack with relish Results show it for l am talk i ing on pounds and getting fat How the men slept in their compartments ! l don't know. Personally nearly froze to death without any cover ex- | cept a rain coat, which fortunately I f carried from Camp Dix, for all of my Y clothing except a handbag. including my trunk locker and bedding roll has been missing since leaving America, and | have travelled since only with a handbag and it's contents which are
 limited 1t at first contained an ex- tra suit of undCrclothing. pairs of | socks, one pair of pajams. and a few
 toilet articles. Somehow 1 lost the iunderclothes and socks. and until a
 few days ago used the pajamas for a
 change of clothing The pajamas were
 nearly worn out when l started and
 now are the picture of sieve. but still seeing service, for it has been impos
 sible to purchase clothing where we have been
 . Our regiment has been separated nearly all the time. It was reunited a few days ago. when l saw B,Ko
 Eisele for the first time in severa weeks. lie had gotten his locker and borrowed all l wanted from him | About D. m the second day after Ge. parting the Battalion Commander tolt
 me he would detrain with two com
 panies at some small town, and w0ulC he in command of the remainder O the battalion. and would detrain at th, next stop about ten miles away. Th' Bn Com. Ind an interpreter who wen
 with him. When the station wa
 reached l detramed with about 90
 men and eight officers and food to
 one day studied French in schoo " but nothing these people said could - comprehend Not one familiar wor y. waited toward me so you can reanz " my helpfulHess. after the train left U 9 in tlis small town with me unable " talk to any of the natives am cel
 tain they wanted to assist us but vel V as helpless as l was for lack Of con
 mon voca hulary There l was Wit
 800 men nd officers. l had oeen t0
 gnides would show us to our billet
 but ,hru some misunderstanding th'
 were not present It eventually e
 cured to me that had private = my organization who said he con ,a speak French l considered tAls
 Igood time to give him a work -oul .d It worked like q charm Guides gla !. lly volunteered to take us to our dest
 nation some eight miles away, tov
 named Salignac, about three mil , from Cognac. Previous arrangemen Y. had been made for our ceming' and .- We were the first r. s. trools 0 ' cupy this town. or this part of Franc . much excitement followed. The to' | Twas given to us, and the inhabitar uI would do anything in the world for O III comfort
 l Some arrangements have been ma M between the two governments where II lvillaees occupied by American solois ' are nearly under the iatters contr