Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 269, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1918 — “MIKE” WAGNER TELLS OF LIFE AT THE FRONT [ARTICLE]

“MIKE” WAGNER TELLS OF LIFE AT THE FRONT

Former Court Reporter M. J. Wagner, who left Rensselaer last spiring and entered the iwar service, Handing in France some time ago, has written the following letter to ‘the court house bunch” at Kentiand, which was published in the Kentiand Democrat and which we copy, as it will be of interest to Mike’s many friends in this city: •Here in France, 2d of Oct., 1918. To the Dear old court house bunch,; Kentiand:—l hereby tender to you my heartiest greetings from the Soldiers’ land of promise—all of you—including the lawyers who practice in your tabernacle of Justice. Bert, Art, or Greeley will probably remember that I promised to write the bunch, so here it is. The reason I did not write sooner is that I wanted to gain in experience and wisdom. Since I left your festive hamlet 1 have had many and varied experiences, some pleasant, some otherwise and now I stand before you nearly a veteran. I have swept floors, scrubbed pans, washed clothes and sewed on buttons, stood inspections and been. bawled out, reported court martials and rattled the typewriter, done squads right and squads left, watched for submarines, and saw none, even had to make speeches. At present am trying to parley voo French. It’s a great life l tell you; the only thing I have not .done so far is to face the enemy fire, but I expect to do some of that in time. We are located out in the country eight miles from 'a city. It is a beautiful country to one who has no thing else to do but enjoy that sort of stuff. Now we get up in the dark, about half an hour before sunrise, and have the opportunity, if so inclined, to observe some really magnificent sunrises. We are located, or rather we live in an old mansion, probably once the summer home of some Duke, or something, and it has all the discomforts of buildings of that sort. The nights are very cold here for this time of year. Now there is a heavy frost on the ground in the morning and shaving and washing is a very refreshing operation the way we have to do it. We take our 'canteen cups go to the well and get a cupful of nice cold water (whenever the well isn’t dry), go out behind the house or into the garden, off to one side, hang o mirror on a tree or bush, lather up and—well, jqst shave, I tob you it is great; try it sometime. At present we are having night drill, it is 11:30 now and I am writing this while waiting for my shift; I go on at 12:30, the night is dark—l suppose that is why \

was picked for drill. It Is inter'esting work, folkS| and I would not miss this for anything. The news from the front certainly has been good lately. Bulgaria and Turkey’s defeat and the capture of St. Quentin, this morning. 1 guess it will be up to me to capture Metz however. Have been having tough luck, for the last three weeks I have been in Quarantine on account of a boy breaking out with measles and we were te be released last night, and now the Spanish Flu, or whatever you call it, has broken out in this part of the country and we are again placed under quarantine, so we won’t go ont and catoh the disease. The quarantine business works both ways. Last Saturday a Sargeant, a Corporal, who can speak French, and I, got a special permit to go to Angers—that city I have mentioned—to buy instruments for a # Jazz band we are forming. * I picked up a violin worth two er three hundred dollars in the States for 100 francs —about eighteen dollars —picked it up in a second hand store. The quarantine does not deprive us of our wine though. There is a farm house near by where they sell wine and we are permitted to go there, this makes things a little more pleasant Well, how is old Alkali Ike and how are the checker games coming? I hope that during my absence the formal openings of court will not be discontinued. I suppose Greeley Is still writing poetry. By the way, we have a former actor in our battery, and the other night as

we were talking he told me he knew Greeley’s son, Capt. George A. Davis, very well. This fellow has played in a good many productions in Chicago. We have a fine bunch of fellows In our battery and although we work hard we have lots of good times. . I want to thank Judge Darroch and Hume Sammons for their letters of recommendation. I do not know whether I will ever get to use them or not, but in ease I shall be captured and the Huns find these letters on me they will think I am a pretty good fellow anyway. Well, folks, I do not know what more to tell you now, I am feeling supberb and am enjoying every darn bit of soldier life. Let me hear from some of you, will you? . . With kindest regards and best wishes, CQRP. MICHAEL J. R. WAGNER. Battery F. 70th Art. C. A. C. A. P. O. 733, Am. E. F.