TRANSCRIBED FROM THE SOLIPHONE NOVEMBER 13, 1918 P. 8
This is the first day I have had any possible chance for writing for seven days. I have been out with a convoy of trucks, taking them across France towards the front, but nowhere near it.
I saw some beautiful scenery. We followed a river for miles along a beautiful road and then we branched off through the hills. I like the hilly section better for it isn't so thickly populated and there is more open ground. The roads are like pavement and on each side there is a row of trees and grass clipped as short and neatly as any lawn. All of the roads are like that.
I saw many of the old famous castles and chateaus and was lucky enough to be shown through one of the old castles. We stopped near this castle and I walked down the avenue through two big gates which had big lions carved out of stone on the posts. The avenue was lined on each side with immense trees, all alike and approximately the same size. The castle cannot be seen from the road. One sees it as he enters the third gate which lets him into the immediate grounds of the castle. I was standing looking at the grounds which were beautiful with its flower gardens and walks. Around the castle, which is built directly over the Cher river, is an old moat filled with water. The avenue leads up to the drawbridge, which can be raised or lowered over the moat. Then from the drawbridge to the castle is a long walk up to the entrance. While I was standing looking at the castle and grounds a young boy came out of the castle, and coming up to where I was, said in excellent English: "would the Captain like to see through the castle?" I told him that I certainly would. We entered a long hall with a high ceiling. The ceilings through the building were the most wonderful part of it all. They were carved of wood. I saw the little chapel where they held their mass each morning, the library in which there were a number of original paintings. One of the paintings was of Louis XIV. There was a dungeon which was a dreary old place. In this Catherine Medices, who built the castle, kept her victims. There were two long galleries, very beautiful, which extended caross the river to the other shore.
Along the road which ran along the Loire river, I saw many caves that had been dug into the hillsides where the people make their homes. There are miles of them. The inhabitants have their barns in them and another little cave for their chicken coops. There are no houses there. for everything is under the ground. Although they look very comfortable and dry, I think that I'd rather live in a house.
I spent Sunday in a large camp. Met a good many officers there, too. Had a turkey dinner with cake and lots of other good things to eat. Saw a good ball game in the afternoon, and then after the game all the officers went to a stockade where there were 2,000 German prisoners, and there we were the judges of an exhibition drill between three German outfits. They are the best drilled troops in the world. Their movements are like clockworks, wonderful in their accuracy and unison. The winning company got tobacco. The prisoners get the same to eat that the American soldier gets, and they are glad to be prisoners, too. They are even put out on the farms over France to work without a guard in miles of them. When one of them leaves, he always comes back with some of his friends with him. You know he tells them about how he is treated, and they come back with him. If all the German prisoners we have were freed, they would come back with the whole German army, I'll bet.
That night after the drill and the Germans had eaten their supper they gave a show for the officers. They had a three-act play with vaudeville between the acts. There were some good actors among them. The comedian was especially good. Of course, all of it was in German, but with some interpreters among us. We understood it all. They have to make all their costumes out of scraps that they can pick up around camp, as nothing is allowed to be given to them. At that, they had good make-ups. They had a five-piece orchestra--drum, accordion, base violin, triangle and flute--all instruments made by themselves, with which they really got music.
This is an interesting work and it gives me a chance to see all of France. An orderly just came up and told me that I was to take another convoy out tomorrow morning. Well, I'm ready for it. Guess I'll be out about two weeks this time, for I have a much larger convoy than the last one."
NOTES: This letter was written by Paragould, Arkansas soldier, Captain Dick Rogers from France.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD
This is the first day I have had any possible chance for writing for seven days. I have been out with a convoy of trucks, taking them across France towards the front, but nowhere near it.
I saw some beautiful scenery. We followed a river for miles along a beautiful road and then we branched off through the hills. I like the hilly section better for it isn't so thickly populated and there is more open ground. The roads are like pavement and on each side there is a row of trees and grass clipped as short and neatly as any lawn. All of the roads are like that.
I saw many of the old famous castles and chateaus and was lucky enough to be shown through one of the old castles. We stopped near this castle and I walked down the avenue through two big gates which had big lions carved out of stone on the posts. The avenue was lined on each side with immense trees, all alike and approximately the same size. The castle cannot be seen from the road. One sees it as he enters the third gate which lets him into the immediate grounds of the castle. I was standing looking at the grounds which were beautiful with its flower gardens and walks. Around the castle, which is built directly over the Cher river, is an old moat filled with water. The avenue leads up to the drawbridge, which can be raised or lowered over the moat. Then from the drawbridge to the castle is a long walk up to the entrance. While I was standing looking at the castle and grounds a young boy came out of the castle, and coming up to where I was, said in excellent English: "would the Captain like to see through the castle?" I told him that I certainly would. We entered a long hall with a high ceiling. The ceilings through the building were the most wonderful part of it all. They were carved of wood. I saw the little chapel where they held their mass each morning, the library in which there were a number of original paintings. One of the paintings was of Louis XIV. There was a dungeon which was a dreary old place. In this Catherine Medices, who built the castle, kept her victims. There were two long galleries, very beautiful, which extended caross the river to the other shore.
Along the road which ran along the Loire river, I saw many caves that had been dug into the hillsides where the people make their homes. There are miles of them. The inhabitants have their barns in them and another little cave for their chicken coops. There are no houses there. for everything is under the ground. Although they look very comfortable and dry, I think that I'd rather live in a house.
I spent Sunday in a large camp. Met a good many officers there, too. Had a turkey dinner with cake and lots of other good things to eat. Saw a good ball game in the afternoon, and then after the game all the officers went to a stockade where there were 2,000 German prisoners, and there we were the judges of an exhibition drill between three German outfits. They are the best drilled troops in the world. Their movements are like clockworks, wonderful in their accuracy and unison. The winning company got tobacco. The prisoners get the same to eat that the American soldier gets, and they are glad to be prisoners, too. They are even put out on the farms over France to work without a guard in miles of them. When one of them leaves, he always comes back with some of his friends with him. You know he tells them about how he is treated, and they come back with him. If all the German prisoners we have were freed, they would come back with the whole German army, I'll bet.
That night after the drill and the Germans had eaten their supper they gave a show for the officers. They had a three-act play with vaudeville between the acts. There were some good actors among them. The comedian was especially good. Of course, all of it was in German, but with some interpreters among us. We understood it all. They have to make all their costumes out of scraps that they can pick up around camp, as nothing is allowed to be given to them. At that, they had good make-ups. They had a five-piece orchestra--drum, accordion, base violin, triangle and flute--all instruments made by themselves, with which they really got music.
This is an interesting work and it gives me a chance to see all of France. An orderly just came up and told me that I was to take another convoy out tomorrow morning. Well, I'm ready for it. Guess I'll be out about two weeks this time, for I have a much larger convoy than the last one."
NOTES: This letter was written by Paragould, Arkansas soldier, Captain Dick Rogers from France.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD