TRANSCRIBED FROM THE COURIER-INDEX OCTOBER 19, 1917 P. 12
I am now at the front and life is very interesting. You should be glad you gave up nursing, as it is very hard. The nurses are busy all the time and it is very hard for them. I have seen two aeroplane battles and they are awfully interesting. The result was very good for the French.
We drive Flat ambulances. They carry six wounded that lie down and eight that sit up, so you see they are rather large cars. We drive them up to a post de second, which is very near the trenches and there the brancardiers put them in our cars and then we take them to the hospitals. There are several kinds of the latter--some for fractures, some for maladies, some for severely wounded and others for contagious diseases.
France is a very pretty country--very rolling and no waste lands. The French people are polite and appreciative. The French language is hard to learn, as there are so many exceptions and only two genders--no neuter gender in French.
Our food is very good, consisting of meat, potatoes, rice, bread, and wine--lots of it. We sleep in our ambulances on stretchers.
The French soldiers are called Poilus. They are very small in stature as a rule. It is very interesting to hear the whistle of the incoming and outgoing shells and to watch the artillery batteries fire. I have been to one while it was in action. Everybody, when close to the front sleep in dugouts twenty to thirty feet under the ground.
The address of Mr. Block is Convois Autos, S. S. U. 71, Par. B. C. M., Paris, France.
NOTES: This letter is a partial letter written by Maurice E. Block of Paragould, Arkansas. He was in the insurance business. He is writing to Mrs. Esther Horne of Paragould who worked in his office. Block is serving in the ambulance service in France. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Block of Paragould. Block sailed to France several months ago with his cousin. John King of Wynne, Arkansas. Block was born on July 10, 1890 and died on January 24, 1965. He is buried in the Linwood Cemetery in Paragould.
TRANSCRIBED BY LARAUE SHURLEY
I am now at the front and life is very interesting. You should be glad you gave up nursing, as it is very hard. The nurses are busy all the time and it is very hard for them. I have seen two aeroplane battles and they are awfully interesting. The result was very good for the French.
We drive Flat ambulances. They carry six wounded that lie down and eight that sit up, so you see they are rather large cars. We drive them up to a post de second, which is very near the trenches and there the brancardiers put them in our cars and then we take them to the hospitals. There are several kinds of the latter--some for fractures, some for maladies, some for severely wounded and others for contagious diseases.
France is a very pretty country--very rolling and no waste lands. The French people are polite and appreciative. The French language is hard to learn, as there are so many exceptions and only two genders--no neuter gender in French.
Our food is very good, consisting of meat, potatoes, rice, bread, and wine--lots of it. We sleep in our ambulances on stretchers.
The French soldiers are called Poilus. They are very small in stature as a rule. It is very interesting to hear the whistle of the incoming and outgoing shells and to watch the artillery batteries fire. I have been to one while it was in action. Everybody, when close to the front sleep in dugouts twenty to thirty feet under the ground.
The address of Mr. Block is Convois Autos, S. S. U. 71, Par. B. C. M., Paris, France.
NOTES: This letter is a partial letter written by Maurice E. Block of Paragould, Arkansas. He was in the insurance business. He is writing to Mrs. Esther Horne of Paragould who worked in his office. Block is serving in the ambulance service in France. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Block of Paragould. Block sailed to France several months ago with his cousin. John King of Wynne, Arkansas. Block was born on July 10, 1890 and died on January 24, 1965. He is buried in the Linwood Cemetery in Paragould.
TRANSCRIBED BY LARAUE SHURLEY