Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1919-04-10
GEORGE DAWSON WRITES
FROM PARIS HEADQUARTERS
Paris. March 1919

TdrlS, Mdrcn, 1919.
My Darling Father and Mother
While waiting at one of the seven
ty-two gates through which vehicles
may enter Paris, will use this pen
Gil, for l am sure you are eager to
hear from your son.
Today l will start toward Ger
many, perhaps for Coblenz, at least
where the 32nd Division is located.
| have not been that far to the east
of here. During the war l was in
the Verdun sector but this time /
will travel far beyond that historical
| fort where thousands of American
and French soldiers fell. In Paris
l have enjoyed a pleasant two and
| one-half months, for l have taken
| advantage of the rare opportunity to
see and to learn as much about this
| famous city as possible. have
learned to speak French well enough
to carry on any kind of a converse
ton with the French people. Also
| can read it and write 1t so I can
make myself understood. This Is
great satisfaction to me, for only
| a small percent of our soldiers speak
it with any degree of intelligence.
Many times daily l am asked to in
terpret a conversation or to read
some ofthe letters which my friends
received from some pretty French
girl. Many of them have married
since they came here, and others
have made plans to do so though
they understand only small per-
centage of their wife's conversation.
That amuses me, for often l have
heard them scold their husband who
had no idea of what they said Of
ten he laughs when he should have
assumed a serious expression, which,
of course, makes her more angry
than when she began to correct him.
The girls are very attractive and
many of them are beautiful. Those
who possess a fair education are
very polite. Also their language is
very melodious and harmonious,
more so than the English language.
1t is very commonly admitted that
Spanish is the most musical Ian
guage in use. l expect 10 learn that
language some time for if l ever
have an opportunity to go to South
America where the Spanish tongue
is very commonly employed, should
be able to use it, In a few days I
shall be speaking German. Now l
am glad that l learned to express
myself in that language also to read
and write it. Two years ago I
could speak German very well but
since l have had no opportunity to
use it here / have forgotten many
words, which will, however, be very
0on at my command. Naturally,
i. a person does not use a language
his vocabulary of words decreases.
The German tongue is rude, coarse
and gutteral.
1t is now 1890. have just re-
turned from the movies My hours
for sleep before l start toward Ger
many are too few, as / leave here at
$3.50 this morning. On my journey
l will pass through Toul, which
town you have noticed on a Euro
pean map. That is my first stop.
From the transportation officer I
will obtain further travelling orders
and transportation. When soldiers
are travelling with proper orders
they are not required to pay any
car fare They are started with
full equipment, because at times
during their journey they need their
blanket. Also they are given trav-
cling rations which consists of sal
mon, hard tack, canned corned beef
and sometimes tomatoes. After I
return to the United States l will eat
no salmon. for have been forced
by hunger to eat too much, especial
ly while on the front line. With
a piece of hard tack I can knock
man down, and that beef would be