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Show CftPT. C. T. SMITH II : J BATTLE 01 THE FRENCH FRONT A letter has.Jut bfen rccolvpd from! C. T. Smith, Capt. M. R. C, son of I Profewor and Mrs. J. A. Smith of Qz-, den. Captain Smith ontcred the sorvic? over a year aj?o, being assigned to duty vHh the War Prison camp at Fott Douglas. Ho Is now In France and has been In the big engagements. He says: "France, Aug. Slh, 191$. "Dear Mother, Father and all; After waiting two weeks for mall, the glor ious day arrived when four letters came at once; It Is needless to tell you how welcome they were. Wo have been moving ao often, following the retreating retreat-ing Hun, that it has been Impossible for our mall to keep up with us. "I am writing this In ray room (?) in a village but recently evacuated by the Hun; tho room Is wlndowlcss, doorless, and practically roofless, but is aoing auty nevertnciess. I am tar happier now than when I wrote you from the billet with (he feather-bed and the old French lady, for the Hun Is going and we arc doing all wo can to speed him on his way. Just at present pres-ent he seems to have a very pressing engagement with someone by his own fireside, and is hurrying to get there before those who would gladly warm his welcome for him. can beat him to It. Every once In a while ho stops long enough to throw back a few shells, m fact he is now landing shells a short distance away, but not close enough to call for a strategic retreat on my part, to the cellar. "Yesterday I crossed a battlefield There the French had charged across an open field, Into a wood filled with German machine guns. Wh?.i magni-JVpnt magni-JVpnt courage It must have taken; but the dead all faced tho wood! What a glorious spirit fills their hearts' In the wood lay the dead Germans, for the most part shot down as the ran. A wonderful oxnmple of the difference between the spirit bom of tho defense of home and family and of ihu ,-pirlt boin of the desire for rapine, murder -.r.d l.-ot. "Our American boys are colng wonderful won-derful work here and have instilled a terrible senso of fear in the hc.tr ts of tho 'boche.' I saw a letter taken from a captured German officer, which he had written to someone at home. In It he said, 'The Americans arc after us and they arc devils. Their artillery fire keeps after us night and day and lo ourely hell. I am afraid none of us will come out alive.' Another letter received receiv-ed by a man taken prisoner was from his father in Germany. Tho old man j-uld, 'Tho government is preparing us for another winter's war. I wonder if they arc deceiving us about the victory they promised us this summer? 1 am afraid If the war lasts another year the Americano will bo on the front, and then 1 don't know what will become of us. We are all very tired of the war.' His son, at least, knows the Americans arc on the front, and seems personally, to be very glad to be among us. "I had rather a trying experience the other night. I had been up to the front and was returning late in u machine with only the driver for company. It was pitch dark, pouring "rain and the roads full of shell holes and ruts. Finally we got into a slow moving truck train, which presently stalled because a truck had becomo mired. While we waited, the 'bocho' began to shell the road, or try to, as his aim was bad however they serv-.-.l ihe purpose of speeding up he woiit, ana wo were boon moving again. You Know I haven't r.iuch hair, and what I have I u-'ep short. What was my surprise '.o di-scover, when we were moving again, that on the back of my head my hair was fully two Inches long and all pointing back toward the 'boche.' "With your permission I will change my position as the sholls are lighting uncomfortably close. Half an hour later The past half hour was spent la the Interesting study of French masonry, mas-onry, as exemplified in the arched vault of a deep wine cellar, stripped however, of its contents by the devastating devas-tating Hun. There is ono thing for which I am devoutly thankful to tho French peasant Wherever ho has lived liv-ed he has dug himself a deep, cool wlno cellar which affords excellent protection. "Our troops took a village near where we are now domiciled, a short tlme ago, and in ono of these cellars they found an old French couple who had been there during the entire Hun occupancy. They wero very badly frightened when the Americans came and begged not to be killed, the Huns having told them that the Amcrlcaus wero all Indians, who tortured everybody every-body they caught and cut off their scalps. I guess the German himself thinks wo arc savage alright. "As I sit here I hear a very' 'homey sound; ono of our bands is play'ng suuiewhore and it surely souuds good; tho first I have heard for a long time. "Well It is almost dinner time so I vill have to quit cannot ml.ss a meal you know. Wc are certainly getting ",ood food and plenty of It. Goodbjo to ycu all and "beaucoup" love. Write often whether you hear from me or noL" |
