The Oskaloosa herald., 1918-11-28

The following letter from DIR. j. z. |
Morgan, somewhere in France, was
written to George Godfrey of Abba,
and will be particularly interesting to
Mahaska county folks, since it is
from an Oskaloosa man, and contains
news of Wilmer Black, a nephew of
Nj. Godfrey's and son of Mr.. and
Mrs. George Black, who live southwest
of 0skaloosa.
Hun Hunting.
October %, 1918.
Dear George:-Did the kaiser ever
buy any ice from you? | know l
never doctored him, but | am after
him. Just think of me over here
chasing game / never saw. But I
can assure you it is an interesting
hunt. | have seen thousands of caps
tured Huns, but never caught a real
live one yet. They are the tamest
bunch you ever saw when they march
back to be under our care, and to eat
Corn Willie (beeD, and have the
coolies and fleas taken off of them. We
battle them, give them clean under
wear and clothes, the same clothes
our boys wear, same food and same
housing-but the clothes are dyed
green so if one gets away he will not
be gone long. The prisoners are
young boys, young men and also old
men. have seen them four abreast,
three feet apart, marching in a column
a mile or more in length. cannot
imagine where the boys find so many,
but they get them somewhere, and
are after more. Bet on the Ameri-
can soldier every time. He never
sleeps, never tires, and is always on
the job. His cunning, wit, and cour-
age befuddle the enemy. Wish you
were here for few days. could
get you gun, ammunition, and gas
mask. These gas masks are not
very pleasant to wear, but If we want
to come back to Iowa, we must wear
them.
A Good Soldier.
I'd like to write you a letter a mile
long, but can't. What started to
write about in the first place was that
l was down at the depot this noon
where there wer hundreds of soldiers.
i saw one big, fat, healthy young man
sitting on an old dead horse by the
track. He had two pound can of
corn Willie in one pocket and loaf
of bread yard long in the other-he
was happy and contented, with a broad
smile on his face. ! was going to see
if he had the French itch, or was de-
mented. When he looked at me he
grinned from ear to ear. Then |
thought sure he must be crazy. He
spoke like any other man, but he adj
dressed me with Hello Doc Morgan!"
He scared me for a minute, He was
Wilmer Black, your sisters Oldest
boy. We were both so tickled to
meet, and talked about watermelons
on the Des Moines river, and thous-
and other things. I can assure you
he is some soldier, and fine looking
one, man among men. inquired
OF his officers, and they told me they
were proud of him. ...s.~ cas-
Candy Hungry. ~a
He stayed in our camp last night.
on his way forward didn't happen
TO get on 10 him until this noon.
brought him back to my quarters and
as he said he was more hungry for
candy than anything else, and since,
as luck would have it, happened to
have plenty, gave him two pounds
of chocolates. He was as tickled as
you were with your first pair of red
top boots.
On and On.
He is with a Tank Corps-quite a
dangerous piece of business. He went
on at three o'clock, somewhere, God
only knows where, and | doubt very
much IL He knows. go tomorrow
somewhere. On we go, on and on
we don't know, any more than you do
in Abba. Iowa, where we will be from
day to day. 1t is always on. That's
one peculiar thing that possesses all
of us-we want to go on. And don |
forget tive are, going on until the
Kaiser promises to buy his ice OF you,
or doctors with me.
Since | came into the army ! feel
twenty years younger, and can do ?
tremendous lot of work in a day (of
twenty hours).
Iowa and Her Boys.
| am proud of old Iowa with her
Liberty Loan. She does not forget
her boys, and her boys don't forget
her. We would all like to be home,
but not one of us wants to come until
we finish what we came to do, and do
II we'll Rest easy-we will make
good job of it.
We get newspapers every day pup
lished in Paris, the New York Her
aid. Chicago Tribune. Daily MailtLon'
DOM, and the Stars and Stripes, which
is published every week. We are
kept very we'll posted. and get the
news as soon as you do in America,
or sooner. America is certainly look
ing after us in all our needs. Best re-
CARDS to all. A letter will hnd me
like this: Capt. J. Z. Morgan. NJ. q.
62d Regt t. c.. American u. 70
France.