Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-04-16


Thy voice, dear chorister of heaven.
To dropping hearts, new hope has given,
For through the sorrow.laien air,
Above the wailing of despair,
Thy song is heari,
o. blessed bird;
And may It speed the blissful dawning,
When RSs rom Sas iS US ssali ses Us free.
When aching, tear.dimmed eyes shall see
A glad new birth,
Of"Peace on Earth"
MARY MAXIM.
Cambridge, Mass April 9, 1918.
Among the Whistllng Shells.
The following letter was recently re.
ceived by Mrs. William Culbert of South
Paris from her nephew who Is now serv.
ing with the American forces In France
Somewhere In France,
On Active Service.
Feb. %, 1918.
Dear Aunt Flo:
I am going to write you few lines to
let you know that at present am we'll
and hope to be for soma time to come.
am now at tho front. Our regiment
has been here for some time, and is do
ing fine work.
No imagination can picture the havoc
and destruction which the Germans have
left behind them. Not house in the
villages which have been under shell fire
has a whole wall standing. Shell holes,
bomb craters, trenches, graves, and
every evidence of Teutor barbarism are
seen everywhere. Even the orchards
have been destroyed, and every fruit.
bearing tree has been cut down. Every
thing which the Boches could not take
with them has been destroyed.
When We first arrived at this place We
stretched our necks whenever the hum
ming of an airplane was heard. But
now they are as SO many birds, and We
hardly notice them at all. About a
week ago We witnessed an air battle
directly over our barracks, in which a
Boche machine was sent crashing to the
ground, and fell about ten yards from an
ammunition park the other side of our
barracks. felt little sympathy for the
occupants, since they we're after our
hides, but lost their own instead. The
machine and the two Bobhes were con-
siderably Hsttened out, as you would
imagine. In fact they fell with such
force that the engine was completely
buried when it struck terra frms.
The moonlight nights are generally
chosen by the Boches for their air raids.
Many raiding parties pass over here. II
was only q few nights after we arrived
when one went over. We could hear
the hum Of the airplanes, although we
couldn't see them. Rockets, star lights,
and Roman candles were shot into the
air on all sides, following the course OF
the planes. We could hear the dull
booms of the shrapnel shells as they
burst in the air, with the occasional rat
tling of machine guns. All together II
resembled Fourth of July celebration
on large scale, until suddenly piece
of stray shot whistled over our heads,
when the aspect suddenly changed.
I have been through the great oaverns
and tunnels used by the Germans and
French as quarters when the war was In
this sector. They are miles long. Huge
passageways and dungeons followed out
of Mother Earth. There are bombs,
shellp, rifles, aud every evidence of the
terrific conflict and hurried departure
The ground in this sector bears evidence
of heavy fighting.
At the entrance of one tunnel is q huge
German sign roughly engraved in the
solid rock, scott strafe England,"-
which means God destroy England. In
fact, there are several sucb signs 10
almost every prominent spot, so I have
got used to them by now.
We have had quiet time of 1t for the
last few days, but tonight they have
opened mp again on. all sides, and you
have no idea of how fast the shells fly,
In fact they sound as though they came
every second. Gee, 1t is some noise.
Iwould like to be back home again fol
few days, but after that would yearn
to be here again, as 1t is fascinating
when fellow gets used to it.
Isuppose everybody is feeling fine st
South Paris; hope so any way.
Wcll, Aunt Flo, will close this letter
for this time, as It is getting too noisy to
write, for I can't keep my mind on tht
letter, SO good-by, and God bless you all
From your nephew,
PVT. ELTON P. WALKER,
Supply Co., 103d Regiment F. A
n