The Mankato free press., 1919-04-25
LETTERS FROM THE
BOYS. IN THE CAMP


by Mr.. and Mrs. Alfred Anderson of
Judson from their son Clarence. He
was with the Medical Detachment.
Sixteenth Machine GunBattalion and
saw active service in Alsace and
later in the last chase through the
Arsonne district. He as student
at Hamline university when called in
to service. He is graduate of the
Mankato High school.
University of Toulouse, Toulouse,
France. March 8, 1919. Dear Mother:
l arrived at Toulouse, France, last
night. l wrote you a letter a couple
of days ago but do not know II
you will ever get it. I left it in the
Y. NJ. C. A. in Recent S Aimee. In
stead of going to an English univer-
: sity l was detailed to go to. the U.
of Toulouse which l am glad of be-
ing able to attend.
Toulouse is a town about the size of
st. Paul and has some wonderful
sights they say. The city is quite
modern in regard to street cars.
am sure that you can find this place
on the map. We live in barracks
with single beds in each room, cleo
trio lights, steam heat and a large
bath house with plenty of showers.
Our trip down here was little disa-
greeable on account of the cold
weather. but it was worth a great
deal to us. We rode in box cars from
! Recey-S- Aimee to Sur Tile, here
We stayed until afternoon waiting
, for our passenger train. At this
tS, hn Inr l~aI- &l
world, beaucoup bread is made here.
/ This is also the great supply and
distribution center for the army.
Miles Of American railroad tracks
1 have been layed into this yard. We
! left Is-Sur Tile late in the afternoon
on an express train. Some of the
places We passed were Dijon, Chalon,
Orange, Lyons. We arrived at Avig-
non at $3.50 and got off to wait for
/, another train which was to carry us
on at S:20. When it got light enough
, to see | struck out on sight seeing
trip. l saw the old palace and cas-
tie of the pope which is wonderful.
Across the valley several other old
castles and towers were built. There
were many other very interesting
sights including the churches, several
bridges, theatres and monuments. We
pulled out of Avignon at 9:45 and
passed through most wonderful
country. On one side was the White
hills and mountains with patches of
green and sheep and on the other
were plowed fields and large orchards
of olive trees and vineyards. We
passed Mont Pie here and changed
cars and ran along the shores of the
blue Mediterranean sea. You could
see the steamers and sail boats out
IN the distance. Mines had very in
teresting pieces of art for us to
catch a glimse Of as we passed
! through in the form of Roman archi
lecture, castles. etc. We arrived here
shortly after five last night. l will
not describe this place today. With
love to you all, your loving son, Clar-
ence Anderson.
Toulouse University March 16,
1919.-Dear Mother: We are having
very cold damp wind blowing down
upon us today from the mountains.
feel it more than l did up north. The
Pyrenees mountains are still covered
with snow Yesterday was rainy and
damp. Tomorrow we may have a
glorious sunshiny day. l met one of
the Hamline boys at the dinner table
this noon and maybe we didn't talk
over old school days. 1t seemed like
greeting a brother to have an old
scbcolmate with you. We are hard at
study now trying to master French
As il should be spoken. 1t is quite diff
fiCult to get the real pure French
hA Ia
down here have a slightly different
sound 10 their words than those of the
northern part of France. They also
seem more cultured in this part.
visited or rather attended splendid
reception for the American students OF
the university yesterday afternoon
which was given by the French peo-
pie in the old Church of the Jacob
ms" We had several fine speeches
by Frenchmen, at least / thought so
from the way they raved on. After
wards we had some lovely music.
Perhaps | ought to tell you about the
church of the Jacobins( Eglise des ia
cobins) il is not in use as a real
church at present but it is used for
various gatherings. 1t is very long,
perhaps 800 feet and at least 60 feet
wide. A row of large white pillars
run down the middle of the church.
These are fifty or more feet high and
terminate into arched branches to
support the roof or Waiting as it is
sometimes called is wonderful. The
large side windows have been re-
moved and blocked up with common
square windows in their place. how
ever in the front are two large round
windows which have wonderful colors.
This church as consecrated in 1892,
the bell tower in 1894, the refectory
in 1903 and the cloister in 1907 1910.
attended the services at the re-
formed (ProtestanD church of Toul-
ouse this morning. They have fine
pipe organ and choir. The services
are very simple. almost like the Lu-
theran back in the states. This
church has beautiful white interior
with the usual arches in the roof. The
windows are the common modern
stained ones. / have a great many
places to visit in this part OF the
country as yet There are numerous
churches, museums, ruins. mountains,
ETC., to be looked at. l saw the great
French classic Esther" played in a /
theatre the other day. ! am trying
to live as frugal as possible, but !
will take this great opportunity of I,
seeing things worth while. Our meals |
Oh fO,rr 10 cfx