The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1919-07-10
w. p. Conger & P. w. Mitchell
Editors and Owners
Entered at the Nezperce, Idaho, Post
office as Second-Class Mail Matter.
ANOTHER GOOD LETTER
FROM JOHN BOOTH
Describes Visit to Nice, Monte
Carlo and Other Notorious
Resorts. Soon Start
Home.

M. Booth, like several others frol
his facile pen the Herald has ha
the pleasure of giving its reader.
while void Of the thrills of war,
still SO interesting that its reaC
ing will be pleasure
Paris, June IL, 1915
Dear Folks: | sent you car,
few days ago, but I hope thi
letter beats it home so your SUI
prise will be all the more intense
To give it all in one breath, / hav,
been at the world famous white
resort, Nice, have watched tn,
gambling in the fully as famou,
Monte Carlo. have been swimming
twice in the Mediterranean sea
and have crossed the border into
Italy How's that for four-day
record? I'll give few details OF
the trip.
Each weekend we are allowed
a forty eight hour pass, to go any.
where in France. Of course
there s limit to the distance, be.
cause there's no use in spending
the entire time ON the train, es-
pecially trains of the French type.
We debated long and earnestly
whether it was worth while to see
South France out of a car win
dow, and finally decided to go to
Strassbourg, the capital of Alsace,
instead. Providentially Monday,
June 10. was a French holiday
(every other day is, for that mat
teri and there would be no school.
That made three days free, instead
of two. So Friday morning, in
stead of spelling our time by at
tending classes, we gathered to-
gether few cans of edibles and
a loaf of French bread, which looks
like piece of pig iron, but tastes
pretty good, and went to head
quarters for our passes. I told
you once before that passes to
Nice are no longer given. That
did not dampen our spirit in the
least. We asked leave to visit
Marsailles. got it after some argu-
ment, and were at once on our
way to Nice. For since the latter
place is no longer leave area,
there are no M. P's. there, so who
is going to keep us out? We board
ed an American special at 2 p. m.
and went. z" If l remarked on
the comforts of travelling second
or third class for very long
stretches Of time, the remarks
would be either deleted by CEN
sor or you would never speak to
me again, so I'll leave my senti-
ments unsaid. AT Z a. m. Satur-
day we reached Marsailles, but
having heard that it is only big,
ugly, dirty sea port. we did not
leave the train. Half an hour af-
ter leaving Marsailles we came
out to the shore of the Mediter-
ranean. [ was very much sur
prised at this section of the coun- |
try. | expected to find it the
choicest scenery of France, but
found it really like western Wyo-
ming. The land is very broken
and rugged looking, tho the hills
are not high. The soil is very |
mixed sometimes "a red, sandy |
patch, then a strip of limestone,
deeply cut by watercourses, then
a mountain Of bare, giaring gra-
mite. What little vegetation man
ages to exist looks like sagebrush
from a distance. with few scrub
by, nondescript trees.
This view / have given you is
some fifty miles or so in length,
just before and just after reach
ing the coast. had also expect
ed to find the coast itself sloping
and sandy. Far from it, It is
very rough and broken, with, how
ever, fringe of very good look
ing trees and underbrush on the
slopes.
About ten o'clock, after having
made detour thru some noun
tains the character of the whole
landscape changed. Hills became
higher, sleeper and more noun
famous, and covered with a good
growth of pine. There was quite | /
a wide space between these hills
and the water. and | could not be- :
gin to name the trees and flow
ers; few that had ever seen be-
fore: Magnolia, olive, fig, palm,
spruce, cherry, peach and what
rot. Giant cactus. besides two
other kinds whose names / don t
know, one with leaves like ten
ris racquet. and the other like an
overgrown. thick-leaved thistle.
There were hundreds of others,
but 1 don't know what their
names were.
We travelled thru this kind of
country for about two hours,