TRANSCRIBED FROM THE NEWPORT DAILY INDEPENDENT SEPTEMBER 17, 1918 P. 2
Dear Brother:
I am “over here.” Am also doing well. How’s every little thing in Dixie? I guess you are seeking the depths of the dark and shady and discarding innumerable sweat rags. Boy, I’m proud of the four blankets they issued me, and wouldn’t object to another one. It gets fairly warm, however, in the daytime. Well, I didn’t tell you where I am. I am in England, and that’s about all I can tell you about it.
I’ve learned a lot about England that I never knew before. One is, they have the habit of turning to the left in the roads instead of the right as we do. That seems like a little thing, but it is one for the first thing you notice. Another thing I have learned is that England is a very beautiful country. Of course there are no forests, but plenty of shade and ornamental trees. The country is what we would call hilly or rolling, but there are no rocks or woods. The streams are the clearest I ever saw, and the people are the picture of health. I first thought everybody had paint on their faces, but it is the natural color. Two more odd things are the trains and the absence of wooden buildings. The railroads are narrow gauge; and the cars have doors on the sides like box cars. You cannot go from one coach to another without getting off the train. They have first, second and third class trains, and three classes of waiting rooms at the stations. Those little trains run through like the devil. I rode about 8 hours on one and did not see a wooden building, not even a barn or shed. Everything is brick or cement. I saw one old-time castle on the road.
As to trip across, there was no excitement until we went to mess. The Chinese cooks declared the “Melican soja no thinka bouta the submarine, but just thinka aboua eta” The crew said we were the (deleted by censor) and ever brought across. I was seasick three days. and I was sick too. Must stop here and get ready for retiring I’ll have some real stuff to tell you next time.
Homer Richie.
NOTES: Richie is writing from England to his brother E. M. Richie of Tuckerman, Arkansas.
TRANSCRIBED BY PAYTON DHOOGE
Dear Brother:
I am “over here.” Am also doing well. How’s every little thing in Dixie? I guess you are seeking the depths of the dark and shady and discarding innumerable sweat rags. Boy, I’m proud of the four blankets they issued me, and wouldn’t object to another one. It gets fairly warm, however, in the daytime. Well, I didn’t tell you where I am. I am in England, and that’s about all I can tell you about it.
I’ve learned a lot about England that I never knew before. One is, they have the habit of turning to the left in the roads instead of the right as we do. That seems like a little thing, but it is one for the first thing you notice. Another thing I have learned is that England is a very beautiful country. Of course there are no forests, but plenty of shade and ornamental trees. The country is what we would call hilly or rolling, but there are no rocks or woods. The streams are the clearest I ever saw, and the people are the picture of health. I first thought everybody had paint on their faces, but it is the natural color. Two more odd things are the trains and the absence of wooden buildings. The railroads are narrow gauge; and the cars have doors on the sides like box cars. You cannot go from one coach to another without getting off the train. They have first, second and third class trains, and three classes of waiting rooms at the stations. Those little trains run through like the devil. I rode about 8 hours on one and did not see a wooden building, not even a barn or shed. Everything is brick or cement. I saw one old-time castle on the road.
As to trip across, there was no excitement until we went to mess. The Chinese cooks declared the “Melican soja no thinka bouta the submarine, but just thinka aboua eta” The crew said we were the (deleted by censor) and ever brought across. I was seasick three days. and I was sick too. Must stop here and get ready for retiring I’ll have some real stuff to tell you next time.
Homer Richie.
NOTES: Richie is writing from England to his brother E. M. Richie of Tuckerman, Arkansas.
TRANSCRIBED BY PAYTON DHOOGE