[Letter to His Mother, August 27, 1918, France]


France, Aug. 27,

Dear Mother,

We are having an easy time here, as there are no drills in the 
afternoon and the morning work, from 7.30 to 11.30, is just enough to 
keep us in shape.  The censorship is so strict that there is little 
left to write.  The boys are raising ructions on cheap wine but 
everything else is so dear, for them, that they will have to settle 
down to their rations, soon.  American tobacco and cigarettes will soon 
be worth their weight in gold because the French article 

(2)
is so different.  I smoke about a quarter of what I used to, although I 
have plenty.  That cough is gone.  The trip was dull till we [text too 
faint]  We had to coal a transport last week.  The work, for so many 
men, was easy but the coal dust is almost soap-proof.  Everyone is 
feeling fine except those who get up in the morning with a headache 
from the night before.  We are all trying to learn French from little 
20¢ books that are handy enough so far as they go.  These little cafes 
where they set out small tables and chairs on the sidewalks

[all other pages missing, transcribed by Lauren Kanne, May 2009]