Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1918-08-12

was received py JOSHUA Ia WV" Va
this city. from his Son. Major Ellis
II. r. Given. of the American Expe-
dictionary Forces. i9W
Somewhere In France,
June so. 1918.
Dear Father;
This is a very pretty day Pretty
| say as the sun is shining and the
sky clear and gentle wind bow
ling. The roads are dusty and when
an auto passes there Is great cloud
OF fine dust over everything.
| have sent you package which
when you open win show YOU where
IL am, not that there Is any state
ment at all or any reference to loca-
ton. | mean 1t will show you no"
close | am to the German lines. Tor
the package contains a German sol
dier's cap. You can see for your
self the kind OF head-coverings the
fiends use. They certainly are set
of fiends.
We have moved little and the
country is very nice. The old church
where we were. was selected this
morning by them for target to
which they directed their fire at
time when. II there were any peo-
pie at all about they would likely
be i'm church at the time. They ahell-
ed that place during the time when
the people would be in church, that
lis they shell 1t from 6 o'clock TO
1880 o'clock a. m. What hends 10
select that time to SHELF a church,
and why should the church be shell
ed at all? That is the way they did
when they shelled Paris. They
struck the church on Easter Sunday
and killed many who were there at
that time.
4 Flying machines are over us many
times during the day. They look us
over and take pictures of us, and
some times drop bombs from their
place in the air. The other day ]
was out, and the machine would not
go, was in my motorcycle side-car
) and | was in the woods. While the
driver was trying to fix 1t so II
would run there came German shell
singing and screeching and lit In
the woods and'I said to him: This
certainly Is not healthy place fol
: -lus at this time" In a very little
2 time after. another came singing
over and lit still closer and said
(, Now know It Is not healthy
s place" and climbed over the side ol
t that car in short order and he gath
8 cred up his tools as rapidly as hi
could for we were in almost perfec
darkness and we pushed the car t
the side of the road, and lit out o.
that place. The air was resoundin.
with the shelling OF both our owl
and the enemy batteries. One plaf'
: where had a room the Shell lit out
side of my window In the garden ant
the potatoes certainly were mess
Some OF the shells are certainly bli
ones / can assure you. The h0l
they make when they strike tn
ground and explode is big enough L
bury small house. They make
funnel shape hole and the dirt an
stones fly. was in a certain plac
the other day when the Huns start
ed to shell and the dirt and stone
: flew in all directions. One shel
struck about 12 or 15 feet from Z
tree and the blast from the explo
sion was so great that almost ever
leaf was shaken from that tree an
1t stood there just bare stalk an
stems. You can hardly realize thai
but you could II you had seen thos
bare stems. the leaves lying on tn
ground underneath and the branche
looking as II they had had the leave
picked off by hand. One man wa
out on the road sometime ago ridin'
one horse and leading another wheI
piece OF shell struck one horse u
the neck. passed through and hi
the other horse in the neck and boil
fell right down there and the ride
was not hurt One shell struck II
the roof of the house where some q
the men Of my medical department
lhad sleeping quarters and the roo