The Republican., 1919-04-10
FROM OVERTHERE.
Preston DeBerry Writes of His Visit
to Various Points in France.

Private Preston DeBerry, of near
| Oakland, son of Mr.. and Mrs. Clark
DeBerry, with the Army of Occupa-
tion overseas, has written under date
of March 10th, most interesting
letter to his sister, Miss Jeanne De-
| Berry, portion of which we are per-
mitted to publish. The letter follows:
"We are now forty kilometers from
Bordeaux, near a small town named
Barsac. We had three-days' trip
to this point in 40 hommes-8 che
vaus,' otherwise box-cars, and it was
not very nice trip, as we had to eat
hard-tack and corned willy. 1t was
tiresome riding. However, we are
getting nearer the boat each move,
so we don't mind much how we move.
Expect to be here until the latter part
of April, from all reports.
"The fruit trees are in bloom and it
is nice and warm, so suppose the win
ter is about over. We are billeted
in the upper story of barn and have
cork in our bed sacks, so are pretty
well fixed.
Il was indeed sorry to hear of
Proctor Kildow being killed and so
near the end of the end of the war,
too. l always knew he was a man
that would never lay down, no matter
what the odds were against him.
'Glad to hear of Ed. Chances pro-
motion, for he deserves going up.
THE Occupation troops are seeing
some nice sights along the Rhine and
in other parts of Germany. Suppose
they will all stay there until the pact
of peace is signed.
I'VE had our triple typhoid shot
last Friday, and it surely did have
a kick in it; was in bed as a result
until yesterday afternoon Sunday
and my arm feels almost like mule
had kicked it today. Think we have
one more to get yet, for the infuen-
"a, | believe 1t is, and then we have
finished-at least hope so.
81 must write a little about my
trip to Monte Carlo now. Seven men
were allowed to go, and as about 72
wished to go, we all had to draw. |
happened to be lucky, so we left VAL
leroy on the morning of February 8,
the coolest day we had experienced in
France. We rode 35 kilos to the rail-
road station in truck and had to
wait ten hours for a train. We had
laid our packs off on the ground and
the water in our canteens froze up
before we left, and we were almost
frozen, too. We rode on a regular
leave train and were on the way over
three days, passing through Lyons,
Marseilles, Toulon, Nice and into Mo
naco. When we reached the shores
of the Mediterranean the weather was
almost like summer time. All kinds
of flowers and trees were blooming,
oranges and lemons were hanging on
the trees and the grass on some of the
lawns looked almost like velvet. We
were assigned to the Hotel de Russie,
each with separate bed. The French
beds are usually over two feet thick
(the mattress) and these were more.
We surely did make good use of them,
too. Had good steam bath and felt
fine after a good sleep. We had plen-
ty of good food at our hotel and could
get almost anything at the restau-
rants. While there we went by troll
ley to Nice, Italy, and other points of |
interest. Was in the casino one
morning, and it is surely a magnif- |
cent building, while the gardens sur
rounding it are beyond description.
While there | saw a car bearing a |
Pennsylvania state license and was
told that it belonged 10 Schwab, the |
Pittsburgh millionaire. We were
talking to a lady from Denver, Col, |
who said she had been there since the |
beginning of the war. We also vis-
tied the palace of the Prince of Mona
co; also saw his ship in the harbor |
which has sailed on all the waters of |
the earth.
Each night the Y. NJ. c. A. had |
show, so we always had some place to
go. We were allowed three addition
al days at Monte Carlo, making ten |
days in all, and then started back,
the return trip in one day, |
arriving here on Washington's birth |
day.
Must close now. There is no 'Y' |
here, so we have to write on almost |
any kind of paper, as it is hard to
get" PRESTON"