NEWS: Carey H. RUSSELL Writes Home, 1918, Tyrone, Blair County, PA

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CAREY H. RUSSELL WRITES HOME FOLKS

Mother Gets an Interesting Letter from Son in 51st Engineers in France

  Mrs. Cecelia G. Russell, of Washington avenue, is in receipt of an 
interesting letter from her son, Carey H. Russell, who is now in France with 
Company B, 51st Engineers.  The letter in part follows:
  Somewhere in France, July 14, 1918.  
  Dear Mother and All: My last letter to you was rather short so I will 
endeavor to make this one a little more interesting.  This is our first 
Sunday in France and it sure is a dismal one at that, it being also French 
Independent Day; the same as our Fourth of July.  I thought when we landed 
here that it would chase the fun out of our bunch but they are just as crazy 
as ever with never a thought of what they are liable to get into.  In the 
evenings you can hear our boys with their guitars and any other instruments 
which they can find, having a little harmony all to themselves.  I guess this 
country was never made to have any night for they play baseball on the field 
of the barracks until 9:30 and 10 p.m. and then it does not actually get dark 
until 11 p.m., and about 3:30 a.m. the sun again puts in its appearance.
  I thought the French money was confusing at first but I got hold of a 
little French girl at the Y.M.C.A. the other day and had a little talk with 
her in my best French and I could get along good enough to understand her but 
you would have laughed had you heard that conversation.  The people here are 
a very sociable lot and not at all hard to get along with, but they are away 
out of date in some things, especially railroading.  The brakemen here get 26 
cents per day.  Imagine our brakemen working for that amount.  Their 
locomotives and cars are all of the funniest type I have ever seen; the 
passenger coaches resembling the double-deck stock cars in use on American 
railroads.  From here it takes a train four days to get to Paris, while our 
Chicago Limited or any other flier can make the distance in fifteen or 
eighteen hours.
  The Y.M.C.A. in the barracks here furnishes us with entertainments just the 
same as they did in the Liberty theatre at Camp Lee, by bringing 
professionals to the place.  One evening a number of sailors from an 
orchestra of a French cruiser gave us a few selections.  One sang "Over 
There" in French and when the chorus was reached every man in the audience 
broke loose and they surely made things hum.  I just wish you could see these 
French soldiers with their pale blue uniforms, even their leggings being 
blue.  But I wish to state that not one of them looks as fine as a United 
States soldier dressed in his O.D.  Some of the French uniforms are very 
flashy, the Zouaves having scarlet coats with blue trimmings, blue bloomers 
trimmed in red and big leather boots.
  You should see the church in this vicinity.  At night I can hear its bells 
ringing the different hours.  It is of Louis XIV style and is of white stone 
on the interior.  It has modern stained glass windows.  The pipe organ has 
2,462 pipes and was restored in 1887 by a Carmalite Brother of Florence.  Its 
pulpit is of mahogany, empire style ornament with gilded leather upheld by an 
eagle.  On the lower right side is an ancient picture of Moses striking a 
rock and the water gushing out.  The altar is of red marble with four antique 
columns in rough marble from Libyia and given to Louis XIV by the High Turks.
  This is not military information but let me tell you that America is not 
asleep as the people of the states surmise.  All I will say is that our Uncle 
Sammie is getting his boys over despite the kaiser's subs and soon these subs 
will be at such a discount that they will not amount to any more than a match 
in the sun.  The walls on the interior of our barracks are whitewashed and 
very smooth and ever since the troops began to arrive the boys wrote their 
names, organization numbers and home addresses on the walls.  Now there are 
names from every state in the union and in fact almost every city.  Even 
Altoona is represented and now Tyrone is among the number.
  Has any special excitement developed since you last wrote me?  It is rather 
queer that I am now 4,000 miles from home and as contented as a lark and not 
the least bit homesick, but you know I will be glad when, if the Lord permits 
me, to again put my feet on good old U.S. soil and highball for home sweet 
home.  You speak of high prices now existing in America; here eggs are 
selling for 20 cents apiece.
  Well, I guess that I will have to bring this to a close with heaps of love 
to all, I am          CAREY.

Altoona Tribune, Thursday morning, August 8, 1918, page 2