The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-04-03

this 31st day Of March, 1919.
1t. J. j. Weeks,
Administrator Of the estate Of Clyde
Hermanus Shumway, deceased.
DESCRIBES TRIP TO FRANCE.
The following letter was received
from Val. H. Cowles of Roth and in
it Mr.. Cowles tells of the trip to the
local camps and then to France:
Perhaps you would like to know
something concerning the 352nd Inf.
since they left Camp Dodge, as there
are quite a few Bottineau county boys
in this regiment. On Aug 9th, 1918
we pulled out Of Camp Dodge, we
travelled in real Pullman cars and we
certainly enjoyed the trip. We arriv-
ed in New York City and then went
Immediately by ferry boat and train
to Camp Mills. Two days was the
limit Of our stay in Mills and it was
there that we were issued our over
seas clothing. That is where we had
our first experience with the over
seas cap and the spiral (wrap) leg
gins. After two days stay in Mills
we packed up our troubles and equip
ment and took another ride on the
train from which we boarded a ferry
boat. We then landed and went into
a large embarkation building. We
soon boarded a large steamer. This
was on July Is. The next day the
ship pulled out Of harbor and met
several other boats which made up
the convoy.
All boats left together and it was
then that we all took our last look
at the statue of Liberty. We were
accompanied by a large battleship
and several small destroyers as we'll
as a couple of seaplanes. The de-
stroyers and seaplanes left us and re-
turned to the states about the Sec
ond day. We were twelve days on the
ocean and the trip was uneventful. We
landed on the 28th of August. The
name of the ship on which we crossed
was the Ulysses and for more reasons
than one it soon became known as the
useless" At Liverpool we were well
coined by a band playing "America."
We marched through the streets Of
Liverpool to the depot where we
boarded a passenger train. The coach
es were more like toys to US Amer
leans, who were used to large coaches,
than real trains. The coaches hold
eight persons. The English Red Cross
served tea and sweetless cookies to
the boys here and our train 0 pull
ed out. We travelled all day and late
in the afternoon we arrived at Win
chester. s. ...
We marched about five miles to a
so-called rest camp. AS we were to
leave the next morning, we "hit the
hay" at about II o'clock. The next
morning at about 3 o'clock we again
set out and marched to the station
where we again boarded the train and
rode to Southampton. There we
boarded a ship and at night we cross
ed the English channel. The ship was
pretty crowed and we slept wherever
we were fortunate enough to find a
place to sit down. The next morning
we arrived at LIE Havre. We marched
through the streets Of that city to
another rest camp. We remained
here a couple Of days and at night
we left the camp and marched to the
railroad yards. There we boarded the
first French train. What we had the
pleasure Of riding in was a small box
car which is supposed to carry eight
horses or forty men, but which in re-
atty had room for about twenty men.
About forty Of us rode in each Of
these ears. We rode a couple Of days
and arrived at the town of Les Laum-
es. There we slept in the small
field tents which the soldiers carry,
for a couple Of days. z
We then marched to a small town
called Alise- Sainte-R Refine which is
located on a large hill a few miles
from Les Laumes. It was in this vii
lage that we were first billited in
French houses. After about three
weeks stay in this village we moved
by train to Belfort, which is near the
Swiss border to a small village a few
miles distant named Vezelouis. There
we stayed about a month. During all
this time in France we were drilling
in preparation for part at the
front. 1t was at Vezeluis that we re-
ceived our first mail and we sure were
a happy bunch when it came. We al
so received our first pay in France at
Vezeluis. Needless to say we needed
said pay.
At Vezelouis we were issuei our
steel helmets and gas masks. One
Saturday afternoon we were ordered
to pack up. We started hiking that
night. After several hikes our cut
fit arrived at a camp in the woods not
far from the front. At about this
time the "flu" commenced its work
and quite a few OF the boys, the writ
er among them, became i'll and were
sent to hospitals or temporary hos
pitfalls. After a week or SO the most
OF US return ~ ia ,,ur connr. res. tine