Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-04-23
ANOTHER OVERSEAS LETTER

Corporal Ben W. Kregel, who and
his brother, Edward, are members of
the 12Sth Inft. Reg, are in France, the
former on detached duty in the 32nd
Division, and the latter professional
sharpshooter, writes the following let
ter to friends in this city, and which
has been solicited by the Pilot for pub
lication and is as follows:
March 20, 1918.
Dear Friends:
We are now located somewhere
in France" and as far as l know,
everybody is in good health. The last
time L saw Edward and Don MacLen-
nan they were both in good condition.
This was some two weeks ago. l am
going to try to go and see them ir the
very near future, for there are chances
that we may be permanently separated
To my regret l am no longer with
my regiment, but on special duty at
division headquarters. / certainly did
like the work, companies and officers
at the other place. Will probably like
this place better after | get ac-
quainted and used to things. Look
on the envelope for my correct ad-
dress. 1 don't know whether you
wrote last, but, having very little to
do at present, am taking this oppor-
tunity to write letter.
On the whole, l found France very
much as l had expected it to be, but
thought it at least nearly as far ad-
vanced as the United States but find
1t many years backward, in practic-
ally every way.
The houses in the villages are prac-
tically all built of stone, and some of
them appear to be centuries old, and
generally are damp, have very few
windows, are scarcely ever heated,
even in cold weather People always
did have to be economical with fuel
in this country. They use wood or
fagots, which we would have no idea
of using in our country. We would
be glad to have some of the wood,
which is heaped on brush piles and
| burned at home, and sometimes left
to rot and decay, or dry and give for
| est fires an excellent start Wood is
bought by the weight here. Villages
which would cover a mile or two in
our country, are built closely together
in space covering two or three blocks,
and sometimes less.
! Weather here is rather mild I have
seen no snow since being in France.
doubt whether it even froze here the
| last few weeks, though nights have
| been a little uncomfortable at times.
The grass is nice and green, and I
have picked several varieties of flowers
which is something we would not
| think of doing in Wisconsin at this
time of year.
Every article of food is expensive,
but l have found that l can buy light
wine for less than two francs, or
about thirty-two cents a quart bottle,
and large bottle of beer for about
thirteen cents. Wine is comparatively
cheap in France. | have also been
able to buy walunts at very reason
able price, though in taste, they are
similar to. butternuts. These are the
! onIv luxuries l have been able to
procure at reasonable prices. The
only objection | have against the wine
is, 1t is not sweetened. A good piece
: of chocolate would come in real handy
; just now, but this is entirely too ex
pensive at this place. Have not beer
; paid for about three months, but ex
. pect to receive some money tomorrow
Stone seems to be the only building
: material that can be easily procured
: here. Instead of being satisfied Will
2 wire fences, all plots of ground ar
t ! separated by heavy stone walls, gen
5 orally quite high. Stones are evel
{ used for roofing, very much on tn
e same plan as shingles, that is over
llapping each other. l have not ye
r seen wooden shingles, though a bake
I clay tiling is very often used. Build
g ings are generally very rude. Peopl
n generally dress rather poorly, thoug
d on Sundays they seem to dress quit
respectable, though even then, tn