Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 173, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1918 — “LEFTY” NARROWLY ESCAPES CONFINEMENT FOR BEING LATE [ARTICLE]

“LEFTY” NARROWLY ESCAPES CONFINEMENT FOR BEING LATE

Camp Taylor, Ky., July 30.—Dear Folks: Am on guard today, in name only, for about all I do is lie arounc the guard house. Am corporal of the fire patrol and make two rounds every six hours, and it only takes me ten minutes to make a round,'so you see I have plenty leisure time. Am hoping against hope that I can obtain a five day furlough commencing August 12th, but will not say for sure whether I will get it or not, for I don’t know. However, I know I can get a week-end furlough any time I apply. Here I am starting on the fourth month of this life, and now my first fears are being realized—the life here is growing monotonous and the time has begun to drag heavily on my hands. Each day of late has seemed a week long, but I suppose that is because ' it has been so terribly warm the last few days. One thing that helps to make life a little less lonesome is the fact that Garver and the other fellows who arrived last week are located within one hundred feet of our barracks, in other words they are next door to us. It was certainly a streak of good fortune and all my spare time is spent with them and Dean, who comes over in the evenings. Since the glamor and newness of .this life has ceased, I have begun to look about for new diversions, but there is none. Louisville is slow and sleepy and there is scarcely any real entertainment tp be found. Louisville people are hospitable enough when once you get acquainted with them, but one has trouble doing this —there are so many soldiers here that they all be entertained and the hospitality of" the citizenss is overtaxed. All this makes me look forward with greater pleasure to. my visit home.

Despite the fact that I have been here over three months, the life still remains strange and unbelievable to me and it is hard for me to think but that it some foolish dream, but I guess it isn’t. When a fellow has lived twenty-four years of care-free life it is indeed hard for hirii to acclimate himself to restrictions of army. life. The new men we have in our cadre are from White, Tipton and Union, Ky., counties. Some of the fellows from White I know. My health has been good so far and I have not been forced to answer sick call a single time. My right leg of late has been causing me trouble. Don’t know what it is, but at times it crumples beneath me without the slightest warning. Think it is getting better now, though. You may tell Harold that Wambsganss, the Cleveland second baseman, is on our ball club now. We have a real team, but there are others, for we lost Sunday 4 to 1. Narrowly averted being confined to camp for two weeks for being late to practice the other night. A constant stream of new men have been filing into camp the past week. It would be an extremely interesting sight to you, but to me the score has grown monotonous. First comes a’ Kentucky long-boy. You can tell them every time by their make-up. Next comes a Wisconsin husky and they all sure are a lively bunch. Then comes the natty youths from Indiana and Illinois and they all make good soldiers. Sometimes, not very often, I get homesick for the old home town and wonder if they can run Washington street without me, but I guess they can. The feeling never lasts long, however, for they tell me the town is dead, since so many have been .called to the front. One does not realize how many of our boys have left until he sits down and starts tothinking about them. Don’t know where I am going to spend the winter—maybe in France, maybe here or maybe in Indianapolis.

To attempt to make a prediction would be foolish because orders in the army come swiftly and generally carry great surprises. Newspapers are scanned eargerly by the soldiers, who are always seeking favorable news, ahjd of late they "have not been disappointed until today. See where the Germans have struck a counter blow with some success. But the Hun is doomed and some of theses days the foundation of his fighting machinery is going to crumble. ' Well, must close now. Don’t worry when you don’t hear .from me for several days, spare moments are scarce.

HOWARD B. CLARK.