Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-05
Bright NeWs for Home Folks
From Boys in the Service

things as much as the other more serv-
iceable and substantial things. Thank
the ones who thought of them for me.
They help an. awful lot in breaking the
monotony in our spare time twhen we
have any. And that pillow! That Is
one OF the finest things I have received
and l have nearly to put lock and
chain on 1t to keep It, as every one
who lays eyes on 1t tries to pinch It.
But believe me, keep my eyes on 1t.
Again thank you all who had a part
in making up that box. 1t was fine
You ought to hear me trying to
speak French, One can hardly call it
French as no Frenchman can recog-
nize 1t or own It as his language. But
we all have to make some kind of a
stab at it in this section because you
see. We are attached to the French
army and We see very little of any
thing else except Frenchmen. atd very
few of them speak any English. but we
get along pretty good considering. At
least / can find my way around and
get something to eat, so l am not SO
very bad off.
At present we are situated in a typi-
cal French village. There are thou-
sands just like 1t all over France. In
fact, there are no cities except few
that We in America would call "A large
city
The people treat us great Nothing
seems to be too much trouble or too
good for US. We have been in quite
few places where we were the first
Americans ever seen and nearly every
place the first American soldiers. AnG
we can get everything there is in the
place and pay very little for it. too.
The houses you will find are nearly
always one-storied places. often with
thatched roofs. Unless II is a good
sized town you will find each owner has
courtyard. Around this are his home,
barn, chicken house. woodshed. hay
stacks, etc. In other words. the farmers
group together in a village and have
their lands stretching out in all direc-
tions over the countryside.
: And the courtyard Some of the
prettiest scenes I ever saw--hill and
valley as far as you can see--all diff
ferent colors for the different grains
growing there. just like a crazy quilt.
All this except when you get up near
the front. Then everywhere you look
is desolation.
The airplanes One Of the most
fascinating scenes have ever seen is
the airplanes in the sky Sometimes
only one, more often number of them.
up to as high as thirty at one time
Some of them seeming only a couple
of hundred feet up. others so high you
can only see them through a pair of
pretty powerful glasses. And you will
see what looks like little puffs of white
or black cotton all around them. Only
bursting shells-some very close, some
far away
Oh, it certainly is exciting and thrill
ing. So much so in fact that you stand
tn, ,,rl,t hil
shells tre falling unheeded around you :;
and certain pieces of broken shell. some
large and some small, are hitting the
ground within very few feet of you.
When you get your permission you
go travelling over France to some place
or other. possibly Paris. That is the
one wonderful place. believe me ! Every
thing and everybody is yours for the
asking or taking, or on rare occasions.
buying. I think that all of France has
conspired together to send all the
beautiful into Paris animate and in
animate together Oh, yes: the women
are included in that.
The other letter is from John Fl. Murt,
who is in a naval aviation training
camp at Charleston, S. c. Murt writes
! am the proud owner Of your useful
package. which came to me as a pleas
ant sgrprise. The pillow is great, and
since l have slept in my hammock
swing, eight feet from the floor, with
rolled pair of trousers for a pillow.
you can bet it is just heaven to place
my head on a soft pillow once again.
The socks are fine just the thing. I
have enjoyed the candies and the chew
ing gum came in good, as we get very
thirsty here on the rife range in the
blazing sun.
Going into the service Is just like
starting all over again Everything is
different, but we are thankful that we
have ones back home who do not forget
us. 1t is the little letters that are price
less as the days pass by. for they are
from home and tell Of places and things
we are all well acquainted with and
kno about.