Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-10-23
PAGE EIGHT.
LETTER FROM MANCHESTER BOY
NOW IN FRANCE.

LETTER FROM MANCHESTER BOY
4 NOW IN FRANCE.
Sergeant Forest X. Jones, son Of Mr..
and Mrs. J. M. Jones, Of this city is,
now numbered among the two million
Yanks in France, and when he reach
ed land on the other side of the big
pond he made good use of the spare
time he had in visiting many historic
places in England. Writing to his
parents on September 9Th, Sergeant
Jones describes these historic places
in the following letter.
Somewhere in France, Sept.sS, 1918.
Dear Folks:-This is one beautiful
Sunday afternoon in far away France,
somewhere, but am sure don't know
where. I took my blanket and came
out in the woods where it would be
quiet and I could think. We have had
very successful trip and I have en-
joyed every minute of it. wrote you
card sometime ago, which I suppose
you have gotten before you get this
letter, which was picture of a Cath
+ 6uTdl dI w 1uCuSoICl, IIAE1oAO. LIZ
is a beautiful building, built nearly
a thousand years ago, and was built
by men who went into different places
and built these Cathedrals on account
of their religious beliefs, and all the
pay they would get was their eats and
a place to sleep. Another building we
visited was the Winchester Castle,
built in the time of King Arthur and
if you remember, in history this is
where King Arthur had his round
table and in this room was where the
English Parliament met for over eight
hundred years and near this Castle is
the oldest school for boys in the
world. Also near here is st. Cross
Church which was built by priest
who was a ringleader, and witness
to the execution of Joan of Arc. His
conscience hurt him so after this
that he built this church to drive
away that feeling he had. I have
told you about all we saw there.
There is another place I did not get
to see-that was the Ayen dan
House, which is owned by Lord
Shelly. He is a nephew Of the ia
nous English poet. I didn't tell you
about the great West gate. In olden
times you know the cities all had
walls around them and had gates
to enter the city. The West gate is
very historical because it was here
that Lord Cromwell demanded en-.
trance to the city and the people
wouldn't let him and his army enter,
but finally he was admitted and he
and his army came through this gate,
and he used the Cathedral to stable
his horses On the walls of the Ca
thedral you can see initials cut in by
someone clear back as far as the 18th
century. This is certainly beautiful
country.
after reading this just shut your
eyes and have a mental picture or
imagine you are in France, in a little
old town on hillside, with buildings |
that are very aged with time and were |
covered with straw and in time moss
has grown and covered these build
ings They have been built out of
rocks and put together roughly. The
people live in; one lend of the building
and they keep their stock in the other
end, so you see, they don't have to 60
as far to do their chores as the people
in the United States do. The people
all live in town and go out to their
farms to do their work. They seem
to be real friendly class of people,
.,d x,l,b oorld ,,ndorcfon6 Fronoh |
80 ] could talk with them. It seems
funny to see little "kids" talk and rat
tie of their native tongue. @r
(, "Well, to continue with that picture, j
there is small creek which runs
around this hillside and on each sideiI
OF this creek there are little hills COW
cred with dense forests of pine and
along this creek am writing this let
ter. But don't think for moment
I think this is any prettier than the
far west in the United States. But 1t
is much older and more historical than
the United States, and one feels that
it is prettier. It is real hard to write
letter, for there Is SO much would
like to write but can't. / get to writ
ing about something and have to stop It
before am through for fear will L
say something that would not get by t
the censor. Il
1.-THE French people are far behind 4
the times and are not very progress K
i've. They all wear wooden shoes and (
in farming they have the old style {
implements, such as two-wheeled wag- s
ons, made by the local blacksmith, and K
pulled by one horse. One thing we
can give them credit for and that is Is
their stock. Such live stock as they It
have Is all in fine condition and worth It
money. The cattle is of the Swiss (
breed. Il
"Well, l must close and write to j
others. Give my best regards to all It
my friends. am feeling fine, as u.s. s
ual, get plenty to eat and have good t
place to sleep.
Lovingly, IL
SERGEANT F. X. JONES,
A. p. o. American E. F. L
GRAND JURY REPORT. |,
To the Honorable H B. BOies Pre-