Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1919-05-02
SOLDIERS LETTERS
Seraueux. France, Ms

| oSiIoS0ap tAahNS1 Ah~h- 49,
| Dear father:
guess it is about time / was writ
ing you, as l have only written you
q few times since I've been in this
mans army. know you read the let
tiers that come there, but you may
think Pm neglect;ng you end forget,
ting you by not writing, but don't
| think that for you are in my mind rs
we'll as the rest of the folks.
l am getting along very well, eN-
| cept a little cold. | don't suppose
that's anything to grumble about in
| this country as it has such uncertain
! weather One minute it is raining,
the next it is showing and between
| showers the sun comesout for little
while.
Well, it seems that | have been
! here so long that if this country look
ed like America | would think it was
my real horne. but under any condi-
ton | 60 nct think | could ever stay
mere eve, though | were dead.
You should sec them work over
here When they &C out to haul any
thing they hooi; three horses, one in
front CT another, TO II wagon that one
horse could easy ruil; the front horse
l., so far from the wagon that it keeps
Linn busy to keep his traces tight.
Sometimes you seen an oxen hooked
behind the two horses. They pillow the
same way. All the horses or whatev-
er they have hool:ed to the plaw walk
in the furrow and plow beam rests
OH two wheels like the front wheels of
a wagon-they only pillow about 3 1-2
or inches deep. There are few plac-
es where you see fence over here.
They just have little stones set up in
the ground to divide the land.
l went out the other day with Il
mademoiselle to cut grape vines; they
have vineyards over here, but not like
ours ut home. The vine stub is about
six inches tall and have from three to
six branches on it. So you cut all off
but three, and cut each of these three
above the first bud, SO that the runner
comes from that end. Therefore, each
vine has only three in,.ies of grapes.
Well, as | was telling YOU about 60
ing cut to cut them: We started at
the house, on strip that was about
% feet wide, so passing from one
patch to another we finally ended up
about 3-4 Of mile from where we
started, so you can see they farm
only in places.
l guess I'd better tell you about a
brand of blues over here, from which
l have recovered. They are the shrap-
mel blues. Now, you may not know
what mean by that sort of blues, so
III explain. You 30 to the trenches,
, and of course it is the privilege Of
the enemy to issue few shells, and
they are shrapnel shells-the little
pieces of iron ere flying in every di-
rection when they burst over your
head Well, as the story goes, you
are repairing wire and these shells
keep coming n little closer, adm you
stop to think little between shells.
First you wonder where the next ons
is going to hit, second your mind
wanders back to home and loved ones
and future wife (if you have onc) and
of all the pleasure you were getting
out of life in peaceful country, when
a big shell bursts right over your
! head and piece of shrapnel about
the size of pillow point hits you on
the helmet and, of course, your head
is in the helmet, so it jars your mod
esty little, and you see the fresh
| dirt thrown up out of your grave.
About that time a gas shell bursts Il
little to the right of you and you
smell the flowers blooming on your
grave (for the gas smells as sweet as
bunch of tuberoses-that's the sort
of blues had for 81 days.
Well, one more question ] want to
ask and then close: Is my girl mar