Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1918-10-30
A SOLDIERS LETTER.

A letter from Sergt. J. W. Simp-
son, Craftsbury boy, to his mother:
With the American Expeditionary
Forces on Active Service.
Battery c, 304th Field Artillery,
Somewhere in France,
Sept. II, 1913.
Dear Mother:
1 am sitting in the entrance of a
big dugout as | write this. 1t is cold
and rainy, and, to add to the general
unpleasantness of the situation there
IS vile odor of mustard gas in the
air, the Boches having sent over
few reminders in the way of gas
shells this morning. We have a fine
shelter and are quite out of danger
but we find him very troublesome,
nevertheless.
We are in a small French village,
or rather what was a village once;
now it is entirely deserted except by
the military. The houses are nearly
all in ruins and the air of desolation
here, as we'll as in all the surround
ing country, is very oppressive.
am hoping, however, that we may be
out of it soon, as there are rumors
that we are to be sent back for a
rest. If that happens ! shall hope to
get a short leave when l shall visit
Paris and look up Miss Ostrander and
several other people whom l know
there. Yesterday I had a letter
from Miss Ostrander and also the
much belated candy, which in spite of
the length of time it has been on the
way, tasted mighty good to me.
l saw a sad sight the other day,
when we found some dead men in a
little ravine, where we camped. One
of the poor fellows had a picture Of
three very pretty little children be-
side him. The name of a Minneapolis
photographer was on the picture and
he had evidently just been looking at
it when the shell got him. To show
how hardened we are getting though,
we found can of peas near the spot
where another man was buried and
these we took back and cooked for our
supper.
A while ago we went through some
country where there were wonderful
blackberries and one day while out on
detail for accommodating positions, l
sat down in the middle of a patch,
and ate until l could eat no more. l
thought how you would have liked to
see the spot for it was away off in the
woods and so far, untouched by war,
a pleasant sight after so much that
was gruesome and hideous.
I have seen quite bit of excite
ment in the last few weeks as we have
been in an active sector of the front
but, of course, l can't give any de-
tails about our experience as yet. SUI
flee it to say that / know what it is to
be a target for Boche shells and that
l was as scared a man as ever lived
to tell the tale, although l trust no
L. l,,4 41o,y-a1f
On our way up here we passed
through many villages which had
been knocked to pieces by German
shell fire. 1t seemed strange to see a
town as large as st. Johnsbury all
shot up. The little farms in many
places have been deserted as well and
we therefore, had our pickings out of
the gardens,-peas, beans and car
rots. | had charge of getting the veg
etables gathered and could almost
imagine in one place, that / was home
in our own garden. This part of
France is much like Vermont in many
ways There are many fruit trees
here but only the plums are ripe.
Later there will be apples, pears and
peaches galore.
On my birthday l was waiting for
train in a little town near the front,
being on my way back from the gas
school. While l was there a Catho-
lie priest who spoke English, invited
me to come over to his room in
nearby monastery, for cup of coffee,
which was very glad to do, as l was
tired and very hungry. He showed
me where the Germans had broken
into cupboards, etc., in the building,
which they had at one time occupied.
1 spent about two hours with him
among the ruins of the monastery.
could not help thinking that it was
way in which had never expected to
celebrate birthday.
Last night we were putting over
barrage and I was up all night in
consequence. 1t being Friday and the
18th day of the month / might have
expected something to happen and it
did, for when l was crawling about in
the pitch darkness, / struck my chin
against a sharp stone and made
deep cash in it, which bled copiously
and now, being covered with iodine,
aches frightfully. However, / have
taken solace in the shape of tin cup
Of black coffee and my pipe and am
glad it was nothing worse.
1t is getting very cold here and
rains, most every day. We are hav-
ing little to eat except greasy stew
and canned salmon but that can not
be avoided. / would give a good deal
for some eggs or some milk gravy.
These are stirring times and / shall
have some great experiences to re-
count when we get together again.
This morning a man came in who had
escaped from a German prison camp.
He was nearly dead from lack of
food and so lousy that we could hard
ly go near him. He says the Ger
man soldiers do not get much food,
not even the officers, and that the
prisoners are forced to work very
hard on little or nothing.
We hope, over here, to see the war
over by spring, but, of course, there
is no telling. We shall certainly be
clad when the end comes and I'VE see
home once more. "a little of this
goes q lnnU Wavv as W used to