The daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Leflore Co., Miss.) 1916-1919, 1919-05-02
Lieut.. Williamson
Writes Letter Home


The following letter was w,itten
to Mrs. p. A. Williamson Of this city,
from her son. Lieut.. T. L. Williamson,
of the Quartermaster's Corps, who is
stationed at Nantes:
81 have just had a short leave OF
three days last week and wcat tt
Paris. ! also spent a day at Iseirns
and saw the famous Cathedral. which
has been. pretty well shot to pieces.
I don't believe there is a whole house
in the town. The whole country Up
there is shot up, but in some places
the houses have enough roof and
walls left to provide a little shelter
and the people are living there and
carrying on their work. Along the
way we could see men here and there
filling up shell holes in their fields.
l was told that the land itself was
dug up and shot up much worse fur
ther north, where the fighting was
stationed for so long.
while at, Paris / saw the Cathedral
OF Notre Dame, also where the BIG
Bertha shell knocked a hole in the
church and killed a bunch of feopsc
last Easter. l also saw a place IN
the Tuilleries Gardens where a shcli
struck and knocked a hole in j., BIG
enough to put a horse and WAGON II.
1t was right near the Lenore AT
Museum, whihc they We're evidentlf
aiming at. l also saw a place, WHERE
they just missed the railroad station.
81 took a trip to Versailles aaa
went through the palace and gard
ems of Louis Fourteenth. They arc the
m ,st magnificent l ever saw, wee
/. supposed to cost anywhere from
500, 0OO, 900 Up. and took about 40
years to finish. When ] saw that
Sample Of royal extravaganza, coE'l
understand why the French rose up
I and started the revolution. Our gu DE-
said ut the end of the Louis Ecur-
teenth's rain, one man in every ten
in France was a beggar and "eople
, were dying by the thousands OF star
vation. The peasants were taxed 30
per cent, while the priests and nobi!l-
ty paid from nothing at all up to two
and three per cent.
"One interest g sight connect ID
with the war IS the collection of the
captured Germans guns. There must
be two or three hundred, lined up all
--..I A. Do1ooo 40 10 CnrcprHa and
the Champs Elysee. They were
brought to Paris just when the Al
lies started to push the German back
and were to show the Parisians that
We were really winning and to cheer
them up after the months Of losses,
retreat and bombardment by aero
planes and Big Bertha.
cit is hard to realize without see
ing it, how Paris is the heart OF
France. 1t is the only real city N
France according to our standards
Everything in France Is centered il
Paris, art, music, finance, industry
politics, fashions and everything.
81 haven't any news yet about go
ing home. l think l am se.t.ad he-
till the depot closes. Things hav
olieted down considerably, but w
are still doing business. We hop
to begin closing in June or July
There are ten or fifteen thouEan
men billeted in the little towns an
villages around here, waiting thei
turn to embark and we have to kee
them supplied. 1t takes a long TN
, to close up things. Things have
8 be kept balanced and in running OF
t der and everybody can't quit at one
and the Quartermaster Departmer
. has to stay and feed, clothe, pay an
: shelter the rest, until everybody
gone. For that reason l don't exp2t
q % get home until August and mayt
later"