The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1919-02-06

there, promising me that l can g(
along n want to. Then there is an
other man in the organization whc
may be able to secure permission &C
i visit. his fathers birthplace at KarIs
ruhe. ard he has asked me to go there
with him, There are few points in
Switzerland that are available for tn 9
American soldiers, but | guess it is
the WRONG time of year to go over
there. So / have nothing definite in
plans. 1t will depend on things at the
time my leave is offered me-
After leaving yerdun on our way up
here. we passed though Etain and a
lot Of small places that had been abb
solutely hammered to pieces. and all
along between villages the roads and
fields were mass of shell holes.
We crossed the cd Hindenburg line,
and I wish you could see it. Believe
me 1t is some line. There is enough
barbed wire in its construction to
fence all the farms in our country. and
the trenches and pill boxes are works
of art Being an enlisted man l know
what work soldier has to do. and as
l looked at those defenses I thought
of the immense amount of fatigue
those Huns got when they. put tnat
stun up.
Confians was an important point in
her railroads to the front all through
the war. and of course has been re-
peatedly bombed by the Allied planes.
The bridge we went over just as we
entered town was one that had been
hurriedly constructed after an Amer
lean plane had destroyed the original
shortly before the close of the war.
That flyer got two out of three bridges
that day. by the way.
We then went on to wilhelmstrasse,
Diedenholm. Karthouse, Treves or
Trier as the Germans call it. and then
on TO ou destination II was the most
beautiful scenery I have ever seen.
and when we go back am going to get
another good peep al it. 1t was cold
! travelling in those old box cars. We
had stove rigged up in our car. but
the d-m thing smoked so that we
had to give up trying TO get some heat.
But when we got up to the country
that is not shelled to piece. and is ex-
LCGutnSil VIC kOi tOl Gil
about the temperature
do not know how Coblenz is. They
say it is about 1900. but do not
know, and can not judge for myself
like one can in our country where we
understand the usual building system.
But at any rate it is of good size. and
has elegant stores and residences.
There are any number of good sized
hotels and large buildings
The stores are modern and the win
dows of them resemble our very
closely. We soldiers are allowed on
the streets without passes from $50
TO 10 .. m. daily. and we go around
just as though at home. Ii is
entirely different from the wild ru-
mors that went, around while we were
in Efshce We can buy anything we
wish and we hit the restaurants pretty
| often. I was down tonight and had a
good meal for so cents. There may be
food shortage. but I haven't seen 1t
around here.
Already a good many of the clerks
man Is hardly needed. Was in TO pic
tue show and, II was the nearest
Thing to America that l have seen
since leaving New York. The souvenir
hunters should be along. They can
get all the iron crosses they want for
; to marksia piece. piece OF
soap is a rare article. and also choco-
| late is a luxury. The kids will fol-
low an American all over town beg
gine for a piece of candy. They do
not have milk. but yet we can get
good ice cream down town for 2 marks.
The pre-war value of the mark. you
know. was "a cents and the franc was
about 1e cents. But now the franc is
little over is cents and the mark is
about l2E cents. We all had francs
when we first came. but we were able
to use them and get the difference
without any trouble. We will con-
rinue to be paid in francs ! am told.
In regard TO the attitude of the Ger
iieve They have always been as fine
to us as anyone ever was. There is
no friction with them whatever. The
city Is heavily policed (military). but
the guards have no trouble and every
thing goes as smooth as you can
imagine would not be afraid to go
anywhere around here unarmed. sup
pose fellow could get trouble II he
went after IL. but they treat you so
well that you do not want any. They
will give anything you ask for. and
the business houses charge you the
straight prices that they charge their