The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1918-06-06
NEWS OF OUR SOLDIER
BOYS
Interesting Letters from Our
Boys at Home Camps
and Abroad.
From "The Boy"


May 12-I know l am going to have
an awful time writing this letter, fol
there is altogether too much excite
ment going on for letter writing.
generally wait until evening to write
my letters, but as I have to get this in
the postoffice this evening in order to
catch the boat for the good old U. S.
A., it is up to me to forget all the ex-
'citement and finish this letter.
Something terrible has happened to
the machinery that governs the wealth
er here in France, and it certainly has
broken down for the day, for there is
no rain today, and it is bright, warm
and sunshiny. They say over here that
the weather man only work two days
in the year: one day in the fall when
he goes to his office and hangs out a
sign, Grain or snow tomorrow" and
the other day is in the late summer
when he changes the sign to ''Hot
and sultry tomorrow" At that l bet
he makes 10 correct guesses to one
that the weather man at home feeds
to US.
Several of the boys were just in to
coax me to go down to the ball game
on the drill field, and I've turned them
down. Don Eagleson was after me to
go on a trip to distant town in the
ambulance with him. Out at my back
re
around the corner of the building to
guard against the approach of officers
while all the rest of the colored guests
of this institution are shooting craps.
But not for money; oh, no!-some-
thing more valuable than that. They
are gambling for cigarettes-not pack
ages of cigarettes, but individual
smokes. And | can hear them chant
their song: "Come seben, come eleb-
en-" "Joedy picked the cotton;" "A
pair of tres, a deuce and four, an
ace and a five;" "Round you bones"
etc.
Over in the other half of this room |
Harvey Parks and the manager of the
Red Cross for this section are count
ing out baseballs, gloves, boxing
gloves, punching bags, footballs, bas-
ket balls and all kinds of sporting
goods for us soldier boys; also COM
fort kit bags and tobacco, for the Red
Cross man has charge of everything
donated to us. He also has huge
supply of bandages, congresses, pa
jamas, nightingales, ETC., for the hos
pital, so it is an awful temptation to
go over and inspect them.
There is nothing doing here outside
of the same old grind. | have not
been up town this week-in the camp
all the time. Besides it has been rain
ing so much that it was no pleasure
to 90 out, so all of us have stuck pref
ty close to our quarters. Harvey Parks
borrowed a motorcycle and went IN
Friday evening and bought the "Stars
and Stripes" or rather he was sent
in on business and in that way got to
use the car. :
Floy Clark was just in to borrow :
bath towel so he could take his semi I
weekly bath. l guess never told you .
about our bathing facilities, so here
goes. You know we are required to
take at least two baths a week and
our names are checked off every time
we take one, so that we can't miss any. :,
One section of building is used en- :,
tirely for baths. On the outside of
the building is steel stand holding D
3 tank about 20 feet in the air. Wa
ter is pumped by hand power to the ;,
tank at the present time, but that will IT
De eliminated when the waterworks
SYSTEM is completed. A fire box un- :.
lerneath the tower through which IT
,oil of pipes runs heats the water -
Pipes overhead in the room, with ten
openings with a perforated knob, fur
lishes two shower baths at one time.
The knobs can be unscrewed and wood ~
plugs inserted so that if only one
wants bath at a time no water will
,e wasted. Thus throughout France -
Jncle Sans teys are kept clean.
In your letter you asked about the
var. Gee, | wish l knew as much :,
bout it as you folks do in the states. o.
Ill that we get is the official commun- M
cations issued by the government say -
ng that the Germans made an at -.
ack yesterday in such and such sec
ion and were repulsed, or something ~, ~
n that order. Only one war corre-
pondent, Hamilton Eyre, of the Daily VI =
[ail, writes for the papers we get, and -
is story of the days doings is only - -,
ublished about three times week, ie'
'.0'.1''e1 At
Continued on page 81 co,