The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1918-04-25

FUN UNDER FIRE
.DAKOTABOY SAYS
RR!DeEwATER SOLDIER GAYS MEN
ARE ALL WELL--oTHER SOL
DlERS WRITE.
Sioux Falls, S. D.. April 22.-To be
under fire in the trenches is referred
to as fun" by Carl Forsch, a South
Dakota soldier who now is serving.
With the American eNpeditionary army
in France. I'm letter TO Bridgewater
friends he writes:
We are all feeling fine and having
all the fun View ant. | suppose you
konw we have been in the trenches.
and we keep The bocle worrying, as he
has not found us as green as he
thought" Referring to the kindness
of Bridgewater people in forwarding
tobacco and other articles he writes:
/ They surely do not realize how much
IT helped us and how much we enjoy
ed the things sent. We could not get
American tobacco here at that time in
/ any amount, and we all smoke, as you
know. We certainly enjoyed the to-
bacco. Saw George Terrell (another
Bridgewater boy few days ago. He
/ is 9. signal man, and Billy Bowen is
first-class private in the captains
group as runner. ] am in the intel
ligence group, in which | am intelli-
gence police and scout: also first
class private. So you see We are get
Ting along fine. Have had fine weather
all winter and it is just Like summer
now"
Friends at Lead have been advised
by member of the old Company H,
tain LaBreche. Lead soldier is max
ing great officer since himself and
comrades arrived at the front in
France. They write that the many lit
| tle things which Captain LaBreche is
| doing. each day are bigger than the
| combined daily tasks of a half dozen
things he is doing every. day. The drill
ing the Lead soldiers are receiving is
OF The most strenuous character, and
lhe four Lead officers and the others
from the Black Hills metropolis stand
right at the head of the list in all the
severe tests. The writer of the letter
is a member Of a baseball team which
which RECENTLY defeated team from
the engineers corps by a score OF 2i
to o. The Lead fans are thanked for
baseball suits and other equipment
winch they sent to the members of
The s0ldier-ball team in France
serving With a supply train motor
truck company in France, writes in
part:
ITS no use for me to talk war, be-
cause you can imagine what it is. We
had good time until VIC reached
France, and then we began TO soldier
right Off the real We sure are a-happN
{ ,n A.
cester Union. 1T seems to put more
pep in fellow after he reads the
home papers and sees What is going on
back There. All MS fellows have gained
f in weight since we arrived in France.
We have a fine u NJ C. A. in camp.
N which we fellows spend our spare
time. Some OF the fellows have trucks.
And we. also had the. Irish ne-wheeled
/ truck for a while. But the gas that
| was to be used was finally given us,
SO it happened we got to turn them
in With one wheel minus. So. we will
look for real trucks in the FUTURE
Louis Westiall, a young man from
Lead, who is in the navy serving on
submarine chaser. writing to his par
ents in Lead says in part:
We had some swell trip, but most
everybody let out u yell when land
was sighted. about 7:30 this morning
/ tSl GNHillliS duu lllt. llISb ttaS OQC WE
ran into a little wind, so had a chance
to see what these boats can really do.
/ The second day out we hit the gulf
stream. and it didn't take long to
throw off the sweaters and get into the
/ whites. 1t was a dandy trip, the. only
bad part of it was that the cook was
most of the time. Most of the crew
We're sick: but ] wasn't bothered much
after thu; first day. so had my hands
FUN at the wheel"
Oscar johnson, of Centerville, had
received an interesting. letter from his
brother. who is serving with the
American army in France. He writes in
part:
II received a letter from you some
/ Nolvcr for. Well, | sure didn't want il
to commit suicide with. You don't
need revolver for that over here.
All You need 10 do is to stand UP in
No Mans Land and youth never know
est thing a soldier has when he is in
the trenches. carried a l5-automatic
myself.
We are back now on few days
rest from the front. | have experienced
q a, barrage fire. gas and being snipcd at.
we also had couple of battles with
the. crowned heads. We have manu-
factlred some new dance steps that
you can puzzle over. A few are as
follows: Dugout, in two step; barragc
lift, French step, barbed wire tangle,
grenade WigSle, etc They are q hard
step to master unless You are under
fire
THE music for the first two are
short whistle and a bang; the second
two just ping, and the third sizzle
and a bang. I'll explain these to you
some day if ] am alive almost omit
ted a very interesting incident that
took place On our return from the
front We stopped at a town over night
and three of lis Went down to q cafe
and ordered UP two dozen fried eggs,
three steaks and French fried spuds
Some feed Then we rented feather
bed. Some bed
William E SNYDER, an 0nida boy, is
with the engineering corps in France.
He solves a puzzle which for some
time had been bothering his mother
; and other relatives in Onida. They re
; ceived an unfinished letter from him.
and had speculated as TO why he had
not completed the letter, fearing that
something had happened to him when