Letter From H. Legard

Letter From H. Legard

The following letter was received last weak from Pte. Herb. LeGard, who was employed on The Advance staff when he , joined the old 147th Battalion :

France, April 3, 1918.

Mr. W. H.Thurston:

Dear Sir, - Maybe you will wonder why 1 have not written to you before, but the real cause is that I don't like writing from here because 1 can't say 1 just what I want to. I receive The Advance quite regularly and sure enjoy getting it. There Is not much news I don't read and criticize. What has happened to the two merchants whose advertisements appear among the missing ? Have they closed their stores, on account of coal shortage, or is it the high cost of living?

The Kliaki League has been very good to us out here, and it is nice to know that the people around home have not forgotten us during our absence, which I hope won t be much longer. We get pretty lonesome out here sometimes, and anything from home cheers us up quite a lot. We have been kept pretty busy all winter, and that helped to make the time go faster.

I had my pass and went up to Scotland for fourteen days. The people were very good to us there and seemed willing to do anything for our amusement. There are different clubs for the soldiers in all the cities where beds and meals can be had at a very low rate. The clubs also have reading and writing rooms, pool rooms, baths and other things to make the soldier comfortable while on leave, which only comes about once a year.

I wish you could see the place I am living in just now, it would put you in mind of a root house on a farm, and in fact the ground around here is ploughed up like a farm, because Fritz can still reach here with his long range guns. I would like to describe to you some of the things we do out here, but the censor wouldn't allow that.

We had a very nice winter here in regards to climate. There was only one month of cold weather and it wasn't cold enough to be called winter.

Well, I think 1 had better close my little episode and get to bed, because one can never tell how long he is going to sleep until there a working party wanted, so, hoping to find you all in the best of health, I remain as ever,

Pte. H. J. LeGard.