Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-05-30
Letter From Sergeant Snyder.
At Home. France,

Last Monday Captain Calvert, who mas
been attached to our company as
technical officer for some time past,
came to me and asked me if ! would like
to take trip down into Southern
France, the method Of travel being a
Harley Davidson motorcycle. Re
spect for his rank alone kept me from
| falling on his neck, and naturally said
that nothing would please me better, so
we pot CAPTAIN Edwards consent, whose
only comment was that he reckoned !
| was due a little vacation, as | had
worked pretty hard the past three or
fourmonths
AS we were to be gone several days,
| packed my kit mean | put in my
pockets the things thought ! would
need for the three or four days |
would be gone. The articles | took were
not very numerous, as the only things
| could carry were my toothbrush and
a cake of soap. One soon learns to
travel light over here, for the less you
carry along the less bother you have.
We got started about noon, and i'm
mediately that motorcycle began to eat
I'D distances and clip off kilometers like
| clockwork. 1t was beautiful spring
| day, clear and warm, and all over the
land signs of summer are coming on in
a rush. France has magnificent roads,
and as we sped along under the trees
which line the highway, could not
but feel that my lucky star must GER
tainly be in the ascendancy. For many
miles We rode alongside one of the
numerous canals which run through
the country, and the big boats slowly
moving along toward their destination
made me Just a wee bit homesick, for
| they were a whole lot like those back
home. The whole countryside was
alive with all sorts of wild flowers and
the air was heavy with their fragrance.
| On every hand the women, old men and
| children were getting the fields plough
| ed and the grain planted. A part OF
| the time we followed main line rail-
road, four tracks, and | had quite a
nice little race with a passenger train.
| | lost the train when il stopped at a
small station. A motorcycle is SYM
onymous with rapid transit, believe
me. We passed through lots of small
towns along the road, and after dis
lance of some seventy-fve miles we
came to the city of ", town OF
perhaps fifty thousand inhabitants. !
| never saw such narrow streets, and the
larger the city the more the streets
twist and squirm. After much circling
and turning and inquiry, we finally got
| through the city on to the main road.
| And such a road For forty miles 1t
| stretched out ahead of us as straight
as an arrow, with only very light grades
and the roadbed almost like glass. |
won't tell you how long it took us to
| do that forty miles, for you would sure
| have heart failure, but I'll say that 1t
| took us a mighty short time to nego-
| tiate the piece of road. At the end OF
that stretch we came to the city OF
b. There is an American camp
there, so we filled up with gas and oil
and got a light lunch. b is
| beautiful city, famous resort in peace
times, and there are many places OF in
terest in and around the town. About
the time we left b we began to
| strike the mountains, and never saw
such a beautiful country. From the
tops of the ridges we could view on
both sides. The whole land is as we'll
kept as vast garden.
We stopped on the top of one OF the
mountains, and before us in the valley
wound a river, turning this way and
that, and villages nestled on its banks as
numerous almost as the trees. In the
middle of this valley lies the l.
c., another good-sized town, built
right up to the edge Of the river. On
the opposite side was huge sandbar,
and Captain Calvert gold me that l.
c. was as popular in the summer
as any of our seaShore resorts. The
old chsteaus have been turned into
hotels, and in times of peace do rush.
ing business.
The laundries over here are big boats
tied up to the banks of a river, with the
drying lines strung out along the bank,
and it is a common sight to see big
field full Of flying garments. When it
rains the clothes don't get dried, but
have to wait until the sun shines.
About $50 we drove out from under
the archway of trees that surmount the
road on to long stone bridge, and
there before us, built on the side of the
hill, was the town of n, our desti-
nation. An impressive sight and one
that shall ever remember. Row after
row of the old stone houses climbed
right up the side of the hill, giving us
almost a birds-eye view Of the city, and
it was very plain to see that n
was no exception when 1t came to
crooked and narrow streets. About in
the center of the town lowered the
cathedral, standing out in prominence
because of its size and height, while of
to one side big bare spot marked the
city market space. Market days, We'd
nesday and Saturday, are almost ma
tional holidays, and farmers from all
over come to the town with their pro-
duce, and a market space is like bed
lam from early morning until late after
noon.
We went Immediately to the hotel,
and one glance at my bed told me that |
was sure due for fair nights rest.
The mattresses were about three feet
thick and so soft that | sank down so
far that almost didn't have to pull UP
the covers. secuted around and found
me French restaurant, and had big
fry of ham and eggs and potatoes, and
it was sure some meal. After supper
wanted to look around over the town,
but that bed was so strong in my mind
that | just naturally went TO the hotel
and crawled into it. slept from eight
o'clock that night until ten the next
morning, and | guess I'd have been
there yet, but Captain Calvert came in
at ten o'clock and told me that it was
time for reveille. managed to get
out after an almost superhuman effort,
and after a light breakfast we went
down to the supply depot to see about
our supplies. That took us the best
part of that afternoon. Then we went to
the telephone Office to notify our base to
send US ten trucks TO take the supplies
back, and you may not believe me, but
had the shock of my life, for there
were half-dozen real, live American
telephone girls in that Office, and to
hear them talking American, (including
the slang), was certainly a home-like
feeling, and reckon could have stay
ed there all day and listened TO them.