Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, Feb. 9._

FRIEND AL: Well Al I didn"t have nothing to do last night and I happened to think about that reporter and how he would be comeing along in a few days asking for that poultry.

I figured I might as well set down and write him up a couple verses because them fellows is hard up for articles to send their paper because in the first place we don"t tell them nothing so they could write it up and when they write it the censors smeers out everything but the question marks and dots but of course they would leave them send poems because the Germans couldn"t make head or tale out of them. So any way I set down and tore off 3 verses and he says they ought to be something about a gal in it so here is what I wrote:

_Near a year ago today Pres. Wilson of the U. S. A.

had something to say, "Germany you better keep away This is no time for play."

When it come time to go America was not slow Each one said good by to their girl so dear And some of them has been over here since last year.

I will come home when the war is over Back to the U. S. A.

So don"t worry little girlie And now we are going to Berlin And when we the Kaiser skin and the war we will win And make the Kaiser jump out of his skin.

The ones that stays at home Can subscribe to the liberty loan And some day we will come home to the girles that"s left alone Old Kaiser Bill is up against it For all are doing their bit.

Pres. Wilson says the stars and stripes Will always fight for their rights._

That"s what I tore off and when he comes around again I will have it for him and if you see it in the Chi papers you will know who wrote it up and maybe somebody will write a song to it but of course they can"t sign my name to it unless I get killed or something but I guess at that they ain"t so many soldiers over here that can turn out stuff like that but what my friends won"t be pretty sure who wrote it.

But if something does happen to me I wished you would kind of keep your eyes pealed and if the song comes out try and see that Florrie gets some jack out of it and I haven"t wrote nothing to her about it because she is like all other wifes and when somebodys else husband pulls something its O. K. but if their own husband does it he must of had a snoot full.

Well today was so rotten that they didn"t make us go nowheres and I"ll say its got to be pretty rotten when they do that and the meal they give us tonight wouldn"t of bulged out a grandaddy long legs and I and my buddy Frank Carson was both hungry after we eat and I suppose you will wonder what do I mean by buddy. Well Al that"s a name I got up for who ever you pal around with or bunk next to them and now everybody calls their pal their buddy. Well any way he says why didn"t we go over to the Red X canteen resturent and buy ourself a feed so we went over and its a little shack where the Red X serves you a pretty good meal for 1 frank and that"s about $.19 cents and they don"t try and make no profits on it but just run them so as a man don"t half to go along all the wile on what the army hands out to you.

Well they was 3 janes on the job over there and 2 of them would be safe anywheres you put them but the other one is Cla.s.s A and her old woman must of been pie eyed when she left her come over here. Well Carson said she belonged to him because he had seen her before and besides I was a married man so I says all right go ahead and get her. Well Al it would be like Terre Haute going after George Sisler or somebody and the minute we blowed in she didn"t have eyes for only me but I wasn"t going to give her no encouragement because we were here to kill Germans and not ladys but I wished you could of seen the smile she give me. Well she"s just as much a American as I or you but of course Carson had to be cute and try to pull some of his French on her so he says Bon soir Madam Moselle and that is the same like we would say good evening but when Carson pulled it I spoke up and said "If your bones is soir why don"t you go and take the baths somewhere?" Pretending like I thought he meant his bones were sore. Well the little lady got it O. K. and pretty near laughed outright. You see Al when a person has got rhuematism they go and take the baths like down to Mudlavia so I meant if his bones was sore he better go somewheres like that. So the little lady tried to not laugh on acct. of me being a stranger but she couldn"t hardly help from busting out and then I smiled at her back and after that Carson might as well of been mowing the lawn out in n.o.body"s Land. I felt kind of sorry the way things broke because here he is a man without no home ties and of course I have all ready got a wife but Miss Moselle didn"t have no eyes for him and that"s the way it goes but what can a man do and Carson seen how it was going and says to me right in front of her "Have you heard from your Mrs. since we been over?" And I didn"t dast look up and see how she took it.

Well they set us up a pretty good feed and the little lady kept asking us questions like how long had we been here and what part of the U. S. we come from and etc. and finely Carson told her who I was and she popped her eyes out and says she use to go to the ball games once in a wile in N. Y. city with her old man and she didn"t never think she would meet a big league pitcher and talk to them and she says she wondered if she ever seen me pitch. Well I guess if she had she would remember it specially in N. Y.

because there was one club I always made them look like a fool and they wasn"t the only club at that and I guess they"s about 6 other clubs in the American League that if they had seen my name in the dead they wouldn"t shed off enough tears to gum up the infield.

Well when we come out she asked us would we come again and we said yes but I guess its best for both she and I if I stay away but I said we would come again to be polite so she said au revoir and that"s like you would say so long so I said au reservoir pretending like I didn"t know the right way to say it but she seen I was just kidding and laughed and she is the kind of a gal that gets everything you pull and bright as a whip and her and I Would make a good team but of course they"s no use talking about it the way I am tied up so even when I"m sick in tired of the regular rations I won"t dast go over there for a feed because it couldn"t do nothing only harm to the both of us and the best way to do with those kind of affairs is to cut it out before somebody gets hurt.

Well its time to hop into the feathers and I only wished it was feathers but feathers comes off a chicken or something and I guess these matteresses we got is made out to Gary or Indiana Harbor or somewheres.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, Feb. 11._

FRIEND AL: Well Al they"s several of the boys that won"t need no motor Laura to carry their pay for the next couple mos. and if you was to mention champagne to them they would ask for a barrage. I was over to the Y. M. C. A. hut last night and when I come back I wished you could of seen my buddys and they was 2 of them that was still able to talk yet and they was haveing a argument because one of them wanted to pore some champagne in a dish so as the rats would get stewed and the other bird was trying to not let him because he said it always made them mean and they would go home and beat up their Mrs.

It seems like one of the boys had a birthday and his folks is well off and they had sent him some jack from the states to buy blankets and etc. with it and he thought it would be a sucker play to load up with bed close when spring was comeing so he loaded up with something else and some of the boys with him and for 50 or 60 franks over here you can get enough champagne to keep the dust layed all summer and of course some of the boys hadn"t never tasted it before and they thought you could bathe in it like beer. They didn"t pay no more tension to revelry this A. M. then if they was a corps and most of them was at that and out of the whole bunch of us they was only 7 that didn"t get reported and the others got soaked 2 thirds of their pay and confined to their quarters and Capt. Seeley says if they was any more birthdays in his Co. we wouldn"t wind the celebration up till sunrise and then it would be in front of a fireing squad. Well Al if the boys can"t handle it no better then that they better leave it alone and just because its cheap that"s no reason to try and get it all at once because the grapes will still be growing over here yet when all us birds takes our teeth off at night with our other close.

Well Al the reporter that asked me to write up the verses ain"t been around since and probably he has went up to the front or somewheres and I am glad of it and I hope he forgets all about it because in the first place I am not one of the kind that is crazy to get in the papers and besides I am to busy to be monking with stuff like that. Yes they keep us on the jump all the wile and we are pretty well wore out when night comes around but a man wouldn"t mind it if we was learning something but the way it is now its like as if we had graduated from college and then they sent us to kindegarden and outside of maybe a few skulls the whole regt. is ready right now to get up there in the trenches and show them something and I only wished we was going tomorrow but I guess some of the boys would like it to never go up there but would rather stay here in this burg and think they was haveing a good time kidding with the French gals and etc. but that"s no business for a married man and even if I didn"t have no family the French gals I seen so far wouldn"t half to shew me away and I been hearing all my life what swell dressers they was but a scout for the Follys wouldn"t waist no time in this burg.

But I"m sick in tired of the same thing day in and day out and here we been in France 2 wks. and all we done is a little riffle practice and stuff we had back home and get soping wet every day and no mail and I wouldn"t wonder if Florrie and little Al had forgot all about me and if Secty.

Daniels wired them that Jack Keefe had been killed they would say who and the h.e.l.l is he.

So all and all they can"t send us up to the front to quick and it seems like a shame that men like I should be held back just because they"s a few birds in the regt. that can"t put on a gas mask yet without triping themself up.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, Feb. 13._

FRIEND AL: Well Al wait till you hear this and I bet you will pop your eyes out. I guess I all ready told you about Miss Moselle the little lady over to the Red X canteen. Well I was over there the day before yesterday and she wasn"t around nowheres and I was glad of it because I didn"t want to see her and just dropped in there to get something to eat and today I was in there again and this time she was there and she smiled when she seen me and come up and begin talking and she asked me how I liked it and I said I would like it a whole lot better if we was in the fighting and she asked me if I didn"t like this town and I said well no I wasn"t nuts about it and she said she didn"t think I was very complementary so then I seen she wanted to get personal.

Well Al she knows I am a married man because Carson just as good as told her so I didn"t see no harm in kidding her along a wile so I give her a smile and said well you know the whole town ain"t like you and she blushed up and says "Well I didn"t expect nothing like that from a great baseball pitcher" so you see Al she had been makeing inquirys about me. So I said "Well they was only one pitcher I ever heard of that couldn"t talk and that was Dummy Taylor but at that they"s a whole lot of them that if they couldn"t say my arm"s sore they might as well be tongue tied." But I told her I wasn"t one of those kind and I guest when it came to talking I could give as good as I sent and she asked me was I a college man and I kidded her along and said yes I went to Harvard and she said what year so I told her I was there 2 different yrs. and we talked along about this in that and I happened to have them verses in my pocket that I wrote up and they dropped out when I was after my pocket book and she acted like she wanted to know what the writeing was so I showed them to her.

Well Al I wished you could of seen how supprised she was when she read them and she says "So you are a poet." So I said "Yes I am a poet and don"t know it" so that made her laugh and I told her about the reporter asking me to write some poems and then she asked me if she could keep a hold of those ones till she made out a copy of them to keep for herself and I said "You can keep that copy and pretend like I was thinking of you when I wrote them." Well Al I wished you could of seen her then and she couldn"t say nothing at first but finely she says tomorrow was valentine day and the verses would do for a valentine so just jokeing I asked her if she wouldn"t rather have a comical valentine and she says those ones would do O. K. so then I told her I would write her a real valentine for herself but I might maybe not get it ready in time to give her tomorrow and she says she realized it took time and any time would do.

Well of course I am not going to write up nothing for her and after this I will keep away from the canteen because it isn"t right to leave her see to much of me even if she does know I am married but if I do write her something I will make it comical and no mushy stuff in it. But it does seem like fate or something that the harder I try and not get mixed up in a flirtation I can"t turn around you might say but what they"s some gal poping up on my trail and if it was anybody else only Miss Moselle I wouldn"t mind but she is a darb and I wouldn"t do nothing to hurt her for the world but they can"t n.o.body say this is my fault.

Well Al I pretty near forgot to tell you that the boys is putting on a entertainment over to the Y. M. C. A. Sat.u.r.day night and they will be singing and gags and etc. and they asked me would I give them a little talk on baseball and I said no at first but they begged me and finely I give my consent but you know how I hate makeing speeches and etc. but a man don"t hardly feel like refuseing when they want me so bad so I am going to give them a little talk on my experiences and make it comical and I will tell you about the entertainment when its over.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, Feb. 15._

FRIEND AL: Well Al I just been over to the canteen and I give the little lady the valentine I promised to write up for her and I wasn"t going to write it up only I happened to remember that I promised so I wrote something up and I was going to make it comical but I figured that would disappoint her on acct. of the way she feels towards me so here is what I wrote up.

_To Miss Moselle

(Private)

A soldier don"t have much time To set down and write up a valentine but please bear in mind That I think about you many a time And I wished I could call you mine And I hope they will come a time When I will have more time And then everything will be fine And if you will be my valentine I will try and show you a good time._

Well after I had wrote it I thought I better have it fixed up like a valentine and they"s one of the boys in our Co. named Stoops that use to be a artist so I had him draw me a couple of hearts with a bow and arrow sticking through them and a few flowers on a peace of card board and I coppied off the valentine on the card in printing and stuck it in a envelope and took it over to her and I didn"t wait for her to open it up and look at it and I just says here is that valentine I promised you and its 1 day late and she blushed up and couldn"t say nothing and I come away.

Well Al she has read it by this time and I hope she don"t take nothing I said serious but of course she knows I am a married man and she can read between the lines and see where I am trying to let her down easy and telling her to not expect no more tensions from me and its just like saying good by to her in a way only not as rough as comeing right out and saying it. But I won"t see her no more and its all over before it begun you might say.

Well we pa.s.sed some German prisoners today and believe me we give them a ride. Everybody called them Heinie and Fritz and I seen one of them giveing me a look like he was wondring if all the U. S. soldiers was big stroppers like I but I stuck out my tongue at him and said "What do you think you are looking at you big pretzel" and he didn"t dast say nothing back. Well they was a fine looking gang and they"s been a lot of storys going the rounds about no soap in Germany. Well Al its all true.

Well I finely got a letter from Florrie that is if you could call it a letter and to read it you wouldn"t never guess that she had a husband over here in France and maybe never see him again but you would think I had went across the st. to get a bottle of ketchup and all as she said about little Al was that he needed a new pair of shoes and they"s about as much news in that as if she said he woke up in the night. And the rest of the letter was about how good she was doing in the beauty parlor and for me not to worry about her because she was O. K. only for a callous on her heel and I suppose she will go to the hospital with it and here I am with so many of them that if they was worth a frank a peace I could pay the Kaiser"s gas bill. And she never asked me did I need anything or how was I getting along. And she enclosed a snapshot of herself in one of these here war bride outfits and she looks so good in it that I bet she goes to church every Sunday and asks G.o.d to prolongate the war.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, Feb. 16._

FRIEND AL: Well Al they"s a certain bird in this camp that if I ever find out who he is they won"t need no tonnages to carry him back when the war"s over. Let me tell you what come off tonight and what was pulled off on the little lady and I and if you read about me getting in front of the court marshall for murder you will know how it come off.

I guess I all ready told you about the show that was comeing off tonight and they asked me to make a little talk on baseball. Well they was as many there as could crowd in and the band played and they was singing and gags and storys and etc. and they didn"t call on me till pretty near the last.

Well Al you ought to of heard the crowd when I got up there and it sounded like old times to have them all cheering and clapping and I stepped to the front of the platform and give them a bow and it was the first time I was ever on the stage but I wasn"t scared only at first.