The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-02-13
CORPORAL DUNLEVY
WRITES FROM FRANCE
Member of 1O1st Ammuni-
ton Train Sends Readable Letter
to Windsor Friend.

DOfO, OF the ftl company, 1U1Sb dHlIIlIl-
milton train, Goth division, American
| expeditionary force in France, has writ
item a very readable letter to Arthur
MeGuirk, a personal friend in Windsor
He says:
| - received vour card a few days
| ago and you may be sure that | was
| glad to see your handwriting once again
| and to know that YOU are still on earth.
| The box which YOU mentioned IN your
postcard message arrived yesterday and
| | am so well pleased with it that ! hard
! " know how TO thank you and the
| others who have been SO thoughtful Of
| tone who was 50 long in sending q word
to you The box contained the very
| best gifts which Il soldier can receive
OH this side of the water. You have
probably heard that tobacco III France
is a scarce article and thus hard to get.
And another thing which makes cigar
cites and smoking tobacco very fit
ting gift is that the French tobacco
which we are able to get is very strong
and therefore not pleasant to the Amer
lean smokers who have somewhat of q
milder sense of taste for smoking ma
terials than have the French. SO | send
with this letter ny heartiest thanks to
all who have SO kindly contributed to
my comfort and would ask YOU to thank
all individually for me if it is not too
much trouble.
Il was pleased to hear that Windsor
hes such an excellent ball team this
winter and | am sorry that | shall not
be able to see the PLAYERS in action.
We have been getting all kinds OF
mail for the last two or three days and
YOU cannot imagine how much life il
has put into all the fellows. All of
them seem to have a new spirit You
should ser the condition in which some
Of the packages arrive. They are al
smashed TO pieces with the enclosures
falling out one by one. Some fellows
are thus having stuff sent to them and
do not realize that it will be complete
" shot to pieces when il arrives. And
in some cases it IL doubtful if the party
for whom they are intended will ever
receive the packages on account of the
impossibility TO deliver merchandise
when the coverings have been broken.
The package you sent me was very well
put together and was received in good
condition
We are not engaged in any real
fighting vet. All our troubles are with
the cold and i'll trying to keep clean.
We have plenty Of water but il is 50
cold that few Of us, if any, have ven
tured to take a bath. | have been three
weeks without a bath but am not bit
uncomfortable as one might think. We
are having plenty to eat and physically
are we'll cared for The doctor makes
frequent inspection and every night
we have medical man bring gargle
for our throats. The gargle il pure
alcohol and therefore there is a tcmpta-
ton to many of the BOYS to swallow IT.
One fellow tried to today and soon aft
erward was complaining of severe
stomach ache.
1t may interest YOU to hear some
thing of my trip across the brinv deep.
1t was my first experience for any
length of time ON the deep water and
therefore proved interesting. | never
could comprehend the vastness of the
water in this world. 1t seemed as If
there was no end to the supply; moth
ing but water to be seen for several
days The trip, for the most part, was
accompanied with pleasant weather
Yet we had two days of the toughest
I kind of sea. The ocean pitched and
tossed and this caused the fellows with
weak stomachs to feed the fish most
freely. 1t was surely funny to see four
or five of the boys beating it to the
rail and then passing out their entire
food supply to the poissons, (fish) :.
Some of the boys did not make the rail
so you can imagine. the result.
1--WE had a few days stay i'll Eng
land and these days Were very interest
ing. We had ride in the side door
| coaches of the English railways vet |
prefer the ears of the t. s. A. Eng.
| land is a pretty country Its farms are
well cared for and the farm houses
are very neat These houses are built
of brick and quite unlike the rural
houses in America. We were stationed
near a large town while in England
and had fine time There was lots of
| life there and we took in the English
| dances. The English do not dance as
| we do in America but after a short
apprenticeship we We're able to do the
airy fairy with the rest of them.
France is beautiful country, too,
but the lands everywhere bear signs of
| the long struggle. NO men are avail
able to care for the farms and this
| work falls to the lot of the women who
| do well but are not as thorough in it
as are the men. Wine is the drink in
France and it is quite as common as
water in the United States. | have not
| become addicted to it as the wine is
bitter. Champagne is common and much
cheaper than in the United States. l
am not using much of either. Milk
and water is good enough for me.
We have not seen any fighting yet
but | am quite sure we will have it
coming to US very soon. / am not over
anxious about it but / honestly would
like wallop at some of the Boches.
/ We have seen some discouraging sights,
such as men with hands, arms and legs
! gone, and they make us feel bit tick
/ lish. >