Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1918-03-13
IN La BELLE FRANCE
LIEUT.. RICH WRITES LANCASTER
FRIEND OF LIFE "OYER THERE"
THANKS CHILDREN.
France, Feb. 4th, 1918.

France, Feb. 4th, 1918.
t. Emery Bray, Supt. of Schools,
Grant County, Wis,
Dear Friend Bray:
Great was my surprise today when
[ came in from work to find a pack
age from the good old u. S. A. The
boys all gathered around while l Op-
ened the box. I was overjoyed to find
a box Of candy and the belt from the
boys and girls Of Grant county. You
can rest assured that a certain End
Lieut.. was quite popular fellow as
long as the candy lasted. The candy
was a great treat for us as anything
in the line of sweets is nearly impos-
sible to obtain here as sugar is only
spoken Of in whispers and on Sun
days.
I'm going to have you thank the
boys and girls for me. 1 only wish it
were possible for me to thank each
and every one of them for the happi-
ness they have brought me today. No
body can realize what it means to be
far away from your friends and in
country devastated by war as this is.
But even for all of that we are hap
by and content with our lot for we are
all working for Uncle Sam and Our
Country.
My Christmas was spent at sea. The
day was warm, so warm in fact that
we could sit on the prominade deck
Of the ship and feel in perfect COM
fort. 1t was rather fun for some of
us to watch the expression on the fell
lows faces who were hOmesick; they
would come out on the deck and lean
over the rail with eyes that were look
ing miles and miles away.
We had very good Christmas din
ner of turkey and all the good things
that go with it, although most Of us
would rather have been at home I am
sure After dinner we had a nice
talk by an army captain and some
good old Christmas songs.
We landed here in France-we1l it
was quite a few weeks ago and began
work at once The work here is very
interesting in every respect. The
hours are long and busy ones so we
don't have much time to worry about
the future. Everyone is in good health
due to the fact that we have very reg
ular hours. We are up in the morning
at 5:45 and work till nearly Z o'clock
every evening.
The weather here is quite ideal, so
nice that we have very little use for
our overcoats only in the nights and
early morning. Some of the Towering
shrubs are now in bloom and the grass
is quite green. Oh yes, I noticed by
the Paris edition Of the Chicago Trib-
une that you have been having lots
of snow back there il the States. You
see we have some Of the very latest
news from over there every day, and
every item of the papers are eagerly
read by all.
There are lots Of very interesting
things going on over here that would
like to write about but of course can
not, due to the censor. If any Of my
friends over there wish any particu-
lar information | would be very glad
to write and explain in detail any
thing of interest to them. | would
surely be more than glad to hear from
them
It's time for the taps to sound so
/ will have to stop for this time Re-
member me to all friends back home
and tell them that we expect them to
do their bit for it is going to take all
of working together to beat the "Boch-
es," but we are going to do it just the
same.
Yours very truly,
Clarence e. Rich,
2ud Lieut.. F. A. O. r. G.