Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 101, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 March 1919 — LETTERS FROM OUR SOLDIERS [ARTICLE]

LETTERS FROM OUR SOLDIERS

Homer Fisher Writes Home From Luxemburg. - Homer Fisher, son of F. W. Fisher pf Kankakee township, writes his brother Warren, who recently returned from overseas, and The Democrat is permitted to publish this letter: Obercom, Luxemburg, Feb. 23. Dear Bro and All —Received your letter of Feb. 4 this noon. Have had dinner so will try and write you a few lines in reply. Have written pa several times but have only received two Tellers from him since here. Received letters from Effie, Ethel, Todd and Louise .Thursday. Also heard from today, so the 'mail seems to be coming through now. Expect you know all about how one appreciates mail in the army.’ I received the letter you wrqte while at Camp Mills the week we started for the front, but that was the last until today. Lee or some of them wrote some time ago that you- had been over and had got back, so it was some relief to know you were O. K You can consider yourself a lucky boy. It isn’t necessary to be up a long time but Just a Sew minutes to get picked off. But it is the only place to find what war really is. For about two weeks the first, part of this month it was real winter weather, cold and about three inches of snow, but since then we have and are having the rainy weather that is so common to this country. The sun comes out bright and warm for awhile, then the next hour it will be raining. Am in hopes that the weather does clear up and stay warm as our afternoons are devoted to athletics, so when <we are able to get out and play ball the time goes quickly. Tne forenoons we usually take a hike, return and drill with the machine guns until noon. Part of the time we go to the range and fire witn the machine guns or pistols, so at ti-mes there is plenty of noise around here yet. , Thursday was divisional day. The forenoon was spent holding inspections, Co. D taking most of the ribbons Tn the afternoon we took the train and went to Esch, where the divisional headquarters are, to see the football game between our division, the sth, and the 88th. We won, 3 to 0, but it was a real game all through. Four bands were there and some bunch of O. Ds„ eight or ten deep all around the field. Every house, tree or any other object in view was lined with them. Also took in the boxing for the championship of the division. It ended in a draw so will have to hold another match to see which represents the division in the A. E. F bouts later. Rode over .and back in real passenger, coaches the first ti-me since crossing England. The other train rides were in their dinky box cars. Suppose you saw those, the ones marked 8 horses or 40 men. The last ride on them was in coming to the front, four days and three nights. One sure feels fine after one of those trips on tlVt wonderful A. E. F. diet—-tln-willie, can tomatoes and bread. Would you join the army for the sole purpose of seeing the world. Well, there is a soccer game in a field here cl6se this afternoon between two civilian teams, ana as I want to do some other writing before then will closq, Hope this reaches you O. K. and finds ® thing going good with you It wil probably be some time yet before we get back. That depends on whether we have to go ih action again or not. Sometimes it looks as though.we would. Have been to the soccer game. It’s some game and you have to

be fast with plenty of wind with it. Well, write and tell me all the news. Give my regards to all. With lave to all, HOMER. Pvt. Homer Fisher, Co. D, 14th M. G. Bn., A. P. O. 745, A. E. F. Former Remington Boy Writes From Overseas. Mr. and Mrs. George Moorhead of Jennings county, former residents of near Remington for several years, send The Democrat for publication a letter received from thdlr son, John Moorhead, who is with the A. E. F. in France,: Lussac Gironde, France, Feb. 16. Dear Mother—l have not heard from anyone for several weeks, but hope everyone is as well as I am. 1 have not been doing any writing for some time for it has been pretty cold and we have had no (place to go to write and our billets have been on a fuel saving campaign. We are still waiting here at Lussac. Today makes three weeks, for us. The talk goes now that we are going to start for Bordeaux in a few days so that we have some chance of going home in the next few weeks, but of course there is nothing certain about it. They are going to let a number of A. E. F. men attend English and French universities for four months. I put my name in but don’t know how much chance there is of being called for it. * I would certainly like to get the opportunity. There has not been much here to do. We get our turn at guard once in awhile and also at kitchen police. About once a week our section’s ttlrn comes to clean up the streets. We get out a few hours each day and drill or hike and have quite a bit of time to hunt some kind of amusements.

The Y. M. C. A. comes out and gives us movies or sends entertainers once or twice a week. There is also a Y. M. C. A. in a town about two miles away, which we visit once in awhile. They gave us a fine entertainment last Sunday, consisting of violin and piano and readings. We also have Protestant services occasionally by chaplains, so we are not quite lost. A couple of weeks ago I went to Llbourne, 7 or 8 miles from here. An electric line goes through here, so we can go back and forth on that. Last Monday I went to St. Emilion, a place near Libourne, which’ has had an interesting history. It was founded by Emilion about the year 600. A number of convents grew up around it. Emilion was afterwards canonized by the church, St. Emilion dug out a hermitage from the solid rock. In doing it he struck a spring, which has become revered by time. The y’oung couples come and drop pins in the pool of the spring. If they, the pins, cross themselves the couple marries soon; if not they wait a certain length of time. The bottom of the pool was pretty well covered with pins. There is a church dug out of the solid rock and a number of old ruins of cloisters and so on. The town has been the scene of fighting between English and French and also between Catholics and Huguenots. T.ie whole town is honey-combed with underground caverns. The story is told that Napoleon hid some troops In there, but I am not sure of its truth. They showed us one cavern in Which seven men, partisans in the

revolution, driven out by the Reign of Terror from Paris, sought safety. At that time the only entrance waa a well and notches cut in the side served as a ladder. They stayed in the cavern for over a month and then had to flee. All except one man lost his life soon after. Tn one old cloister of a convent the gulda showed us the grave of a crusader of the first crueade. It was about as Interesting a day as I have ever put in. I suppose Robert Is getting ready to move. Have you heard from any of the rest lately? Did I tell you that I got a letter in January from Ellery, also from Gladys Moorhead? Is Charles Graham home yet? Have you heard any news about the other boys who came over here? I will close. I am as ever, your 4on, ■. PVT. JOHN G. MOORHEAD, Co C, 109 F. S. Bri., A. P. O. 911. A. E. F.