Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1919-04-23
SEEING FRANCE BY TRAIN
TELLS OF THE SCENIC BEAUTIES
OF ITS MOUNTAINS
Mrs. Julia Otteson-Flikke Transferred
from Chief Nurse in Base Hospi-
tai 70 a Hospital Train

Mrs. 7. T. Sanwiek, was Chief Nu.se At the
y. Base hospital No. II at Nantes during
most OF the war, now being on u s. hospital
tram No .55. Her most interesting letter fol-
Z; 8 Hospital Train No: IS. Am. E. F.. A.
r. o. III, February %, 1919.
Dearest Rena: Just at this moment we are
SIDE tracked in the railroad yards of a small
French town outside the city of MarzeilIe
waiting for a French passenger train 10 pass
1 don't know whether | have written Won a,
letter or not since left Bose Eleven mcnth'
ago, but wrote Marie and l am she has
told you about our unit being ordered back
TO the states, and about Miss Saenger Miss
sundbiad and myself being transferred to train
service. Of course we feel that three
Of the most favored persons in the A. E. f.
because We are really touring France in COM
fort and style, which only the very rich could
afford, IL any individual had TO paw for IL
but Uncle sam Is a wonder and it seems that
nothing Is too good for soldier boys who
ing 70 their homes, badly battered and i'll, many
OF them We have such a lovely train and
as We pass through The cities and villages the
natiFes gaze upon US with wonder | am sure.
our personnel consists of forty boys. and when
Iheb are not busy caring for patients or clean
ing up the inside of the cars they are scrub
ping the outside with warm water and sapoiio.
The train an English make, is the same color
as our U. 5. trains, but at either end of each
coaen We have We nave big Red Cross on
the white back ground, and at the center of
each coach u. s." in big letters also in red
and white with the number of the train in
smaller letters underneath. The red is lust
as bright and new looking as If it had Just
mad fresh coat of paint and the white Is cor
respondingly clean. We travel empty about
one half of the time, because after unloading
al some port We go back into the interior 20
get another load. and that often takes us a
gay and as on this present trip, two days.
The stan consists of three officers and three
nurses and have a whole car TO ourselves
with an orderly to keep things clean, serve our
meals, etc. The officers have each a sleepiue
room and one little dining room and we nurses
have dining room and two sleeping rooms
am alone in my. room and il is ever so cozy
Seems funny to live on wheels and Just keep
on moving ali the time, but one can get used
TO most anything and knowing it is home"
It Is not tiresOme like journeys often is.
Leaving Nantes, we followed the coast from
81. Nazaire to Brest for a time and then came
to Neyers for repairs. After few DAYS there
we went to Ciehy. Limoges, PeridRenx and
70 bordeaux Were garaged az Beau Dessert
for several days and made a few short trims
from the hospital 10 the American docks. where
the bands were playing and boats waiting TO
take TIE boys home. ! scan the face of each
sailor lad | see, thinking Otto might possibly
have come across and DC than ! know
II puts me in mind of Crazy Mary" at Water
corpse hoping to find her lost boy. Uncertain
y Is really terrible thing and you know
haYn't had one single word from any one since
we left the Base month ago. Our mail has
been sent on IRON place to place but just
before 1t arrives we pull out. No doubt it has
reached Bordeaux by now, but of course we
are already far from there. The trip which we
are making at the present time is through some
OF the most wonderful country France can
u
day night we Travelled very slowly and had
only reached Agen when we awOke yesterday
morning. l dressed hurriedly because the coun-
try was so beautiful and didn't wish to miss
any OF the scenery. Miss Saenger and Miss
Sundblad were soon up too, and drank in
everything eyes could cover The officers
are not so impressed with it all because they
have lived on the train eight months and have
covered almost all of France, even going into
Switzerland. Yesterday afternoon, however as
our commanding officer was giving us lesson
in French, the Pyrenees mountains doomed up
IN the distance, rugged and snow covered. he
decided we had better postpone lesson I'M
til some other time and feast our eyes, which
We did. Our route through MOntauban,
Toulouse, Carcassonne and to Narbonne and
we were almost in tears because darkness
again overlook at the last mentioned place.
These dear old cities, historical and so inter-
esting are quite different from those have
learned to know quite well in northern France.
The architecture is very different. due to the
Tact that We are near the Spanish border, we
are told, and il resembles that of Spain.
The country is much more mountainous and
scenic instead of vineyards; we see peach and
olive orchards On the very top of some of
eient village surrounded by a high stone wall
or a castle with one side built right out on a
high cliff. France has been invaded often
in centuries past that they evidently learned
TO build in such a way as to afford protection.
We retired early again last night so as to
be able to get up at dawn and continue our
Nemes and were well on our way to Marseilles.
when we got up this morning. One of the
familiar sights around here is a flock of sheep
and the shepherd and his dog. Miss Saenger
cleverly remarked passed large flock
Of white and an occasional black sheep, Yes, |
there the white sheep which we get our
white yarn from and there the black and |
pretty soon l suppose we will come TO the |
pink and the blue"
THURSDAY. February 81. So much has |
taken place since | stopped writing the other |
day that | feel have lived years since then. |
Our train logged along from Marseilles until |
reached Cannes Sunday evening at 1880. |
We walked about little that evening but de- |
cded to get all the rest possible that night in |
anticipation of the busy day to follow. Mon |
day morning we started out early for Antilles, |
Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Mention and the |
Italian frontier Knowing that time would /
be limited to a very few days crowded as |
much as possible into one day of course it /
was necessary to get machine because the |
street service is too slow for us. Words /
fail me when try TO tell you about the beau
tiful combination of sea. sky and mountain |
with villages nesting lazily close to the noun |
tain side, in this "LosAngeles of France" as /
with the sights this day thet at night |
when we returned to our train really 1
in prayerful mood giving thanks for the |
privileges we had had. The next day, Tuesday, /
we entertained company at dinner and so could /
only get about Cannes a bit. but even IL is out |
OF the ordinary. The houses are mostly all
white, or very light colored. and the Mediter- L
ranean Sea. just in front, is blue. while |
the giant palm trees, the orange and lemon |
trees laden with fruit, the bushes and all |
the other Towering shrubs in full bloom. you /
forget II Is winter. and one of boys Il
expressed it, 1T Is like walking the streets Of /
heaven. We were garaged right the coast /
OF the Mediterranean about three kiometers /
from Cannes, and whenever had moment /
to spare we would go down and pick up peb- /
bles the beach. Wednesday morning we i
arose very early and started out at z 80 for |
Grasse. little city inland. where there are
over fifty perfume factories and flowers are
grown all over the mountain sides TO be used L
in making the perfume. We kept right on /
going after visiting one of the perfume fac
tories and also an old hospital where three of /
Rubens original paintings hung their little L
chapel wall. and winding our way up |
and still farther up until came to the top i
of one fthe very highest mountain peaks.
Never have l experienced anything to compare /
with It, We were Glmost one thousand meters
above level on the top of the mountain and |
there was the tiniest little village built GEN.
turtles before. There were no streets, but mar
row little pants between the old stone huts.
The church had about dozen benches. 1t was |
The little old school house occupied a very
prominent position and the door stood
slightly ajar, one of our company, a Univer-
sity professor from Chicago. walked right in
at school and the school ma'am was an old lady
with wooden shoes. Really ii is impossible
to give You the picture: must il to
appreciate it. One little outline map of the
United States was on the wall, and as | say,
ii was only the outline of the states with the
names and locations Of about dozen of our
largest cities. Those poor little children would
have little knowledge of great country
from studying that map, but they have the
promise of a very up-to-date map of the Z. 5.
and perhaps other literature which will inter-
est them.
We have wonderful scenery in cur own
and our country is that here find everything
combined, while at home have them so
widely scattered. But l must rot continue
much longer We picked up enc load on Wed