Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1919-06-10
LETTER FROM FRANCE.

i was transferred TO tnlS camp on
December 10th, 1918. This is one
of the largest camps in France and
we have all types of soldiers includ-
ing Italians, and many German pris-
oners. The guard and sentinel duty
is performed by the U. S. Marines,
and it is done well. They have
charge also of the prison stockade for
the prisoners. There are number
of camps of different types in this
vicinity and we are located near
! Chateaurone, hustling commercial
city, somewhat larger than Hagers-
town, Md. The two principal indus
tries there are the tobacco market
and large arsenal for the manufac-
ture of uniforms for the French SOL
diers. There are some large French
camps near here also. We have
good railroad facilities and some fast
Paris express trains pass directly
aside the camps. On January 9th
1919, l commenced my "leave" re-
turning January 18. This was my
| first vacation since | have been in
France. l had a delightful trip and
visited many places. / first visited
several cities in central France which
is called the Garden of France" and
contains many beautiful chauteaux
with great forest reserves and spa
cious grounds. In this area / visited
| Tours, which is the washington" of
France, as far as our army is con-
cerned, and where your nephews
| George and Elvans Haines have been
stationed. / also visited several
other interesting cities in this area,
including Saumur, LeMans, Divon,
Chateau DeLoir and Neuille Point
Pierre. Each of these places have
been important firm the military
standpoint. From here / visited
Eastern France including Lyon, 4th
city of France and the principal silk
center. This city is about the size of
Baltimore and has beautifulUniver-
sity with wonderful collection of
war specimens of great interest to
the Surgeons. passed over the
Rhone river on the beautiful new
| bridge named in honor of President
Wilson ''Pont Du President Wilson, -
! Grenoble is another interesting city,
located in the great glove center of
France.
In France each city predominates
largely in one certain industry. All
around this area and over in Switzer
land are many beautiful lakes and
| health resorts. | traversed the Alps
all the way from Grenoble to Mar
Seille, which is several hundred miles.
The scenery is gorgeous and the
snow is piled up in heaps. Perpetual
snow all the year around. l ate my
lunch at the top of the Alps with
snow in abundance everywhere. The
air is cold and pure here.
Marseilles is the End city of France
and the principal sea port. 1t has a
lovely harbor and the Mediterranean
is beautiful to gaize upon. From a
| beautiful church on the top of a high
cliff you have a wonderful view of
| the entire city, which is near SO of
million.
| From here you travel for miles
along the Mediterranean and reach
the famous Cote D'Azure which is a
beautiful area and includes Nice,
| Cannes, Monte Carlo, Monaco, and
Monitor. Nice is the most beautiful
seaside resort in the world Cannes
is similar but smaller. Monte Carlo
of gambling fame, has the most beau
| tiful building | have ever seen,
where gambling is conducted. It's
beauty and decorations are indescrib-
able. Pure gold is used in the
decorations, even the interior walls,
and even the Chips" that are used
are real ivory and gold or silver
plated. Monoco is a small principal
ity under French protection located
in the Alps but with its own govern
ment, with the prince of Monaco at
its head His palace and the mus
cum are beautiful and artistic, and
both located on high premontory of
the Alps, which projects out into the
Mediterranean. The back ground all
along here is snow-capped Alps and
oranges, lemons, olives, and figs grow
in abundance everywhere. Next ]
visited Northern Italy and you note
the striking contrast in Italian and
French architecture. | prefer the
French however for artistic beauty
also visited Grasse, which is the
principal perfume manufacturing
center of the whole world, and the
magnitude of this industry is surpris-
ing, as thousands are employed, and
they ship the finished product to
every country in the world.
Here is where our most exquisite
perfumes as used in the U. S. are
manufactured. You never see such
beautiful flowers anywhere else ir
the world. Palms and other tropical
foliage ornament the mountain sides
and these beautiful seaport towns
| This would be an ideal spot tc
spend vacation as there are many
beautiful mountain drives as well as
tropical gardens with luxuriant foil
age.
Northern France.-Here is where
you see the horrors and devastation
of war visited Nancy, Toul, Chal
ons, Sur Marine, Epernay, Reims
Chateau Thierry, The Marine anc
Verdun Sectors and in all these areas
you see she'll holes, dugouts, trenches
demolished buildings and towns, anc
general destruction in varying de.
grees according to the intensity OF
the combat. From here / visited
Paris which is the Heaven of France
The most beautiful city of the worlc
with its famous boulevards, monu
ments, museums, buildings anC
churches. One of the interesting
sights in Paris is the Pantheon De La
Guerre which required four years tc
paint, and is beautiful panorama in
which all the important characters OF
this great conflict are depicted. Each
country has its own section. Con
spicuous in the U. S. section stands
our noble President in, front of g
| marble pillar with a parchment in his
hand debating world peace" Mean
by stands General Pershing with his
manly face so real in the presence OF
other army and navy officers, that
you scarcely believe it is only apaint.
ing. All the prominent participants
are represented and easily recognized
including several of our faithful
ladies.
| have now travelled all over
France and have met many people
and visited many homes both before
and since the Armistice, and can tru-