Putnam patriot., 1918-08-09
GERMAN U BOAT
 ATTACKS CONVOY
Boche Airnen Raid City Where His Regiment Is Stationed
All In All Charles A. Ryan Has Had Thrilling Time Since He Left
 Putnam to Enter Service.

across the Atlantic the transport on which he was sailing met a submarine; on landing, the town where he was stationed was bombed by German avi- ators; and he is now living right at the front. in trenches where the mud is even deeper than it used to be on Elm street in the good old days be- fore amcite pavements were consid- cred necessity Private Ryan has made the acquaintance of several cooties and q trench rat. but this can best be told in hls own letter, written from the front on Fourth of July. with shells and aeroplanes providing the big noise"
 Just q few liaes from the trenches on the Glorious Fourth of July, 1918; and some Fourth 1t is. believe me. with shells whizzing over my head, and aeroplanes buzzing in my ears, it is the noisiest Fourth in the history of yours truly l. rained all of last night. and that made 1t all the more glorious. as the mud is almost up to our knees. Talk about Elm street in its muddy days believe me, Elm street never had anything on this. Tony Fofcier has been with me until last night. when he was relieved, so l ana all alone aoW for q while He will be back before long; We have been to- eether SO long now that would feel lost f tsey t6ok him away
 We have had q pretty hot time of it since leaving home On our jour uczs across the Atlantic We met one Of those things tbeY caii submarines. but t dit Hot tate oae If Gncle san conveys bong te put an end ta IIt. The" sub shot out one torpedo that just missed our boat The shot E had no more than left the sub than the convoy dropped depth bomb. l Part of the next sentence has been censored. but 1t concludes with @and that Was all We saw of the subma- rue -
 But that wasn't the worst expert ence in our travels We hadn't been in France d week when we got mixed up in an air raid, and believe me when l say that l had rather spend three months in the trenches than one night in an air raid If some people at home could be present when one of those raids was going on l don't think they would hesitate to buy Liberty Bonds, even to their last cent
 Just think now, I haven't had my clothes off, not even my shoes, or had a decent wash in two weeks. It is hard enough to get water to drink so how do you expect us to wash? But then. just IS soon as we are re lieved we will get good bath and new clothes, so we will be all right in time
 was sleeping in dugout the other night when l woke up and found a rat walking across my face. Talk about cooties, they grow in every dug out, and they certainly can bite But we will get rid of them as soon as we get a bath Nothing seems to bother the boys now, who claim they are liv- ing the life of Riley of course have to agree with them | met an old friend of yours the other day He has been with the regiment for six months, but never happened to meet him before. You will remember him. Joe O'Ncil. He=was conductor on the trolley road also was hurt in q trol= ley wreck in Providence some time age. He is an NJ r Military Policet out here. and t seems like old times to talk with him also met Francis Gagnon from Dayville He k looking fine Remember han playing on the Putnam baseball team2
 And talking about baseball see where McDermott's team lost their game with Camp Devens What's the matter. Tom2 Do you need some rooters2 l thought that you could do better than that We'll better luck next time see by The Patriot that an aeroplane was heard flying over Putnam Whewi If you could only see some of these Yankee boys'fying over our heads, doing the loop the loop and cork screws The way they dodge those Roche shells is enough to make your hair stand on end. l have never seen a Yankee come down, but saw three "Deutsehmen" come down. and don't think they will ev- CT go up again
 wish you could see the way some of these towns have been shelled out here. It is a sight. believe me Some of them are level with the ground and just think. some of the people are still living in the cellars of what was once happy home They don't seem to mind the smelling, as they say a shen won't hit you unless it has your name written on it l hope they have n't found cut what my name sounds