The Monticellonian., 1919-05-16
ssy0e I'raHemel Writes Of Experiences Since LeaUinq '. S.


dSked what might De ms trouble said T no sleep packed up like hog; stand up all night first. |" We travelled three days and two nights and came to our desti- nation where we thought we would get rest-but it was sling packs and toward march for a distance of 16 miles. At this time our old hikes at Beaure- guard proved of value to us be- cause it was very hard after be- ing pinned up so long on our trip. With the exception of a few blistered feet we did not suffer very much from our long hike. The first night we were billited in a large barn, second floor, the first being occupied by a family of thirteen-sfx cows, two horses, a big bunch of rabbits and several chickens. After we had swept down all the ancient cobwebs we spread down on our blankets in the hay for our nights rest. The ele- Vator was out of order so we reached our little flat by the French ladder method, and it was setting at about 98 degrees. Talk about fresh air-but the fragrance that greeted us the next morning did not smell very much like our sweet marsha neele roses back home. There were about fifty people in the little town and to hear two or three of them coming down the road would sound like an infap- try regiment at march step"- as all of them wear wooden shoes. The next morning we went to an old chateau about 5 miles away which was a beauti- ful place once occupied by some French nobleman. We were bill lited in the third floor which in comparison to the box cars made us feel as if we were noblemen ourselves.
 This part of France was the grape section, where wine was made in great quantities. l. learned very little French and have forgotten all that since l came here. On November the 11th we rolled our packs, climb ed into trucks and made an overland trip of twenty miles to a camp that was being used for a replacement troops. We were here billited in wooden barracks which were comfortably heated. Here we slept in hunks or bar rack berths. We were near a town of about 100 population and it was as full of kids as 6 dog is of fees. All we could hear from them was souvenir for me-, penny for me-, "choc- olate for me" until we almost felt as if we were souvenirs. They at all times had different articles to sell us because they said that we Americans had "boocoo franks" (meaning many dollars). There was one old lady at our camp every day rolling a baby carriage loaded with grapes and souvenirs, ste. and of course the American at that time were souvenir crazy and bought them. France is different and not as l expected and one can never appreciate the country until seeing it. They have some beautiful buildings, castles, chateaus cathedrials, towers, etc., all of them having been built for a hundred years or longer. It was here that l was transferred to the 153 Am bulance as our old company Ga animal drawn company was not needed. On January 14th, 1919 we left St. Florence for Germany having been selected as unit in the army of occupa. tion. The most interesting part of this long trip was Our A. merican railway center at Lsur- Lille France where the U. s. A. has 800 miles of switch track, lots of big locomotives and cars,