Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1918-11-11
LETTER FROM FRANCE
a,eyandrian Describes Conditions on
tho Firing Line in France.

A,eyandrian Describes Conditions OH
the Firing Line in France.
Park Tarcil, of this city, has sent
t. his mother an interesting ana
+.,;,linp account Of his experience
while in active service with the Amer
sean Revolutionary Force in France.
says:
To say that W. are in hell IS put
ing it m;ldly. All descriptions OF nell.
that have read, from Dante's Inferno
20 the Bir,e are pinkteas as compared
with this. We are part OF a french
division ard are part OF an army
that is commanded NV one OF the most
famous generals Of France. We are IN
the front line trenches and have pecn
On the offensive for week. we are
fighting the famous Prussian Guards
and they are demons. The Red Cross
men are killed off whenever they ex-
pose themselves to machine gun IRE.
Yesterday one of our Medical Corps
men was relping a Frenchman to car
nv q litter across on open stretch OF
land. a German. Aviator flew down
from the skies and killed the French
man. He flew back to see if he had
finished the job but our man had fiat
tened out under bush. ! recite this
case to show that 40 quarter is given
and no mercy shown. Our men have
been over the top several times and
have loss many, Killed and wounded.
Some of cur officers and number OF
cur men have been cited for the CrolN
&c Guerre.
The battlefield. is covered with the
bodies Of the dead from all sides, and
every nationality. They are in al!
stages Of decomposition, and the al:
is filled with the foulest stencil in1agi-
rable. Il is common thing to jump
into she'll hole out of the way Of
gun fire, only to find rotting Hun,
!, or lSenegalese, French1nan o. Ameri-
can already in full, and odoriferops
possession of said hole. myself, have
done this more than once and did not:
tnd my hole mate unbearable: at least
not until the shellfre had passed n
At first The nights were hideous. The
bursting shells falling among US ard
our own artillery keeping up,a din that
10 one can describe. We have had
many men gassed for the Huns throw
ere gas. shell for every five of the
others. The Mustard gas is the nest
fatal. 1t is almost absolutely lethal.
N even the smallest quantities. Death
awaits him who forgets his gas mask
or helmet. There are many kinds of
gases, but the mustard is the most
deadly. When my work is over I go
I'D my dug out which IS about twenty
FIVE feet ur.der ground. Aside from be-
ing the regiments dentist, ]. have been
appointed assistant to the Surgeon
and sanitary inspector. The latter
duty carries with it the burial Of men,
horses and mules, inspecting dugouts
and draining stagnant water from the
dugout. II isn't very pleasant jo
hut there is nothing pleasant about
any ioh IN this sector
There gre no more towns left, in
this sector for as the Huns retreat
they blow up and lombard evary-
thing that rises above the level of
the earth. 1t is hard for one, who has
not seen to believe just how dirty
and contemplate the Hun is. He is
TIE first to squeal 'Kamarad!" when
things are going against him, but the
last enc on earth to have mercy on
the defenseless. I wish I could send
you some Hun souvenirs. The Prus-
san Guards are the ones that wear
the silver ring and are called the
"Kaiser'S Own" etc. On their helmets,
belt buckles and rings appear the le-
gend "s1ott Mittiens." So far the Lord
has been with me fer other than cold
!. am well and satisfied. I say salts
fed. for ! imagine tefore I left Amer
lea what would be our fare. 1t is worse
than any human can imagine, but I
am still living and well, try to con-
tinue to yecarry on" until the Sob" is
finished: Please give my love to all
and pray for my safe return"