Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1918-09-05
FROM OVER THERE
LETTER FROM LIEUT.. WHEELER

August 3, 1918.
Dear Father and Mother:
1 slept in real feather bed last
night in a little village near the one
where the Sanitary School is located.
The village here is too small to billet
or quarter all the medical officers and
enlisted men although the chateous,
wine cellars, etc, are all pretty well
filled up with soldiers. Each house is
marked to accommodate SO many
officers or soldiers. The people where
I billet are merchants. Very few
homes have bath tubs or electric
lights here.
I little dreamed that / would ever
find a candle a luxury. If we had to
buy them of the French they would
be-but we get them of the Y M. c.
A, also Swiss milk chocolate, tobacco,
etc, tobacco is issued the soldiers here
wonder-the way he has provided for
his boys. Americans could or would
not exist on what most of the Eur
opeans have to. They are busy har-
vesting and no men as the work is all
done by bard or with the cradle by
women, children and old men or Grip
Piles. France has done nobly and won.
derfully.
The roads are fine gravel or stone
pixies but are showing some bad
effects from our big U. S. A. trucks,
but they keep the German prisoners
repairing them so that they should
keep in pretty fair shape The rail-
road trains here have no couplings
like ours but are coupled with chains
and have no air brakes. The freight
cars carry about 10 tons and are
short about half the length of Ours
and have cab which is a queer little
seat like on bus and no caboose. The
railroads here have been expensive to
Du1ld on account of being through old
improved property and not through
new public lands or on railroad land
granted by the government as in II
S. A.
The engines are quite small. There
are quite few large U. S. engines
ana freight cars and it seems like
nome when we see them. There is
quite difference in the way Amer
leans do things and you can see every
where the improvements and changes
introduced by Uncle Sam already.
Inc T. NJ c. A. are certainly doing
wonderfully practical and usefuJ
work here by supplying recreation. a
place to write home, selling articles
OF food and necessities and a chance n
develop and sustain the third great
side or-rather all three sides of the
trlangle-nind, body and spirit.
This Is depot division from
whence medical departments who
come IN unassigned are what we call
casuals-not casualties-are assigned
where most needed regardless of pref
erance
rms part of France resembles cen
trai Kansas during wet year to a
surprising extent except for small
farms, stone houses with tile roof
Practically every building is of stone.
The numerous large wine cellars are
aug back into the rock banks or hills
much like old Kansas dugouts.
The Scotch lads in kits that saw
over night enroute were usually sur
rounded by several Sammies who
were exchanging questions and an
swers about their respective homes
and conditions at the front. The mi
vate apparently has a better chance
to mix with the soldiers and learn or
their customes, etc, than officers do
1t is remarkable the ground and
water we have covered since Julv eth
and the system and efficiency and
ciockworks of the entire plan. It is
almost a miracle from start to fin
lsh- There are many things 1 would
IKE to tell but cannot I am at
Ihesee near Saint Aignon about 60
miles from --. I understand
that when we are not nearer to the
line of battle than Paris we can give
our location.