The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-09-03
WATERBURY,
Rev. w. L. Boicourt Writes Interesting
Letters of Affairs in France.

July now III JHe selNlcc VI tht ihoSi
national committee of Young Mems
Christian associat ans at Lyons, France,
writes as follows:
July "a, l0l9.--Here | am on trip
that will take me across the Rhine as
far as Stiasburg, as the French spell
! the German Strassburg, and will give me
chance to see something of the devas-
tated front before it is too much re-
paired. From Nancy have come on to
| Toul, and have arranged for an auto to
take photographer and myself to the
American cemetery, six kilometers from
the town, SO that | may secure picture
| of the grave of Perry Aldrich.
This morning | went with little girl
who does cleaning at the Y out to a
| flower garden, where ! bought two
| francs worth of flowers, and then went
| in the automobile to the farm, st. Sc
| bastopol. We found the large group OF
hospital buildings absolutely deserted.
We drove through them, reading the
signs" Linen Room" for example, and
noting the roofs of two or three that
had been burned away by fires from air
plane raids in spite of the enormous
crosses painted on them. Not soul in
| sight-it was itself like cemetery.
Farm houses were in sight near by, but
the road was so poor and muddy that
the photographer and / walked up to the
house, entered the large, muddy, manury
| stable yard, and found the house at one
corner of the encircling stone wall-ab-
solutely the only entrance. The woman
was very gracious, but told us it was
indeed unchanged" but we were one
| month too late. All the 600 bodies had
been dug up by detachment Of colored
labor soldiers and carried to big per-
manent cemetery 30 or more kilometers
toward Verdun. | will try TO 60 there
tomorrow The photographer was very
gracious and refused to accept any pay
for the trip | gave him the flowers to
take home and he was contented 1t
was interesting to see, as we returned,
the deserted aviation field and hangers
that the Americans have left and where
Aldrieh had often risen and descended.
July 20, Connan-Jarny - Monday
morning bright and early ! took the
train for Thiaucourt--or as near there as
one could go 1t is on branch railroad,
but the four years war took five or six
| kilometers of the railroad, so one has to
walk seven kilometers after reaching the
end of the line. Here saw for the first
time the ugly scars of war. Barbed wire
entanglements enough still, if untangled,
to tie up the earth in double bow knot
rusty miles Of IL in tangles four feet
high and some times 10 feet wide stretch
across the butchered landscape like red
roads. Trenches everywhere, and shell
holes, and tree stumps bravely trying to
| live, and holes in the ground with re-
! inforced entrances. Along the road
over which ] walked were still on
high poles chicken wire with dead
branches hanging, the remains of the
screen that had made our boys less easy
| targets American electric and telephone
wire bangles from poles and trees. On
the way we passed the permanent four
year camps Of the Germans spendidly
built structures along the bed of brook
Their cemeteries are well made, too, and
noted that instead Of the uncertain
wooden crosses, theirs were low of heavy
cement.
| had, az walking companion, a school
superintendent on his way to visit the
Thiaueourt school. Upon arrival We en-
gagged dinner at the little hotel across
the street from the pile of mountainous
debris that was once a church and whose
altar still stands, stained and dirty, UNI
der a section Of the arch holding the
cross, two angels and LADS Dec" and
was permitted to go with my companion
TO visit the two-room sehoolhouse. Like
all the rest Of the half or less that stand
at all, this building is peck marked with
shrapnel and its windows replaced with
oiled cloth. This substitute for window
glass is more substantial than the paper
reinforced with string, which most of the
other windows in town have. In the
front windows of the hotel there are
pieces of mica down low, so that one
can look out. For the time being it is
impossible to find enough glass to re-
| place the windows of fifth Of France.
The Americans captured this town at
the beginning of the end, Sept. Q, 1918,
| and the people have warm hearts for the
Americans When the landlady found
out what | came for, she helped me To-
cate a boy who owned a camera-there
was no photographer to be foundand
as set out for the cemetery offered me
bunch # field flowers she had picked,
saying, "This won't be much, but ii is
| given with bon occur lost son in
the war; he is buried in Belgium and
cannot go to see his grave" So | have
| in my pocket roll of films to be devel-
oped when | get hack. ! hope they are
good The cemetery has 1920 graves,
all marked with the plain white cross.
In the entrance of the enclosure there is
flying large, glorious flag. Needless to
say | was profoundly moved to stand
beside the grave of Perry A. Aldrich.
Aug. a. Lyon.Back at my post in the
city again. The films are good. | have
seen them, and viii be sending the pic
lures in few days.
A few days after the letters were re-
ceived containing above, the pictures
| were received and are considered very
good The one of Lieut.. Aldrich's grave
| by itself shows out very plainly with
| the name and the bouquet Of flowers in
front. Another one has Mr.. Boicourt
placing the flowers there, while third
| is a general view of the cemetery and
the American flag floating high above
| the graves. 1t win be remembered that
Mr.. Aldrich's death came with particular
sorrow to Waterbury people, as he
taught here for a year and greatly en-
deared himself to the people and par
ents because of his splendid influence
over the boys and young men of the
town. His sister is now in town with
Mrs. D. G. Jones, state manager of war
savings.
BURLINGTON WAITRESS MISSING.