Powhatan H. Clarke letter to Mother - July 19, 1918
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No 27 July 19 My dearest Mother. Whew
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July to come here and make preparation to receive a company of 250 men and telegraph when I was ready. I left on the seventh, arrived here on the eighth and was greeted with a telegram saying that fifty of my men would arrive on the ninth. Holy Mike & little catfish did I hustle. You should have seen the fun. I didn
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Since then life has just been one damn thing after the other. Another bunch of 50 men came in on half an hours notice. The Labor Companies are something very new and nobody outside the Labor Bureau knows what kind of an animal it is. I have to fight the QM for food. The supply officer, the transportation officer, the construction officer and every body else has to be convinced that my Co. belongs to the army before they will do anything. The men are supposed to be paid on the 1st and 15th. Well I am still waiting for the money to pay the men for the fifteenth. Money has since arrived the man were paid & 45 immediately quit. Hopping around like a chicken with its head of trying to find some money (naturally I wont use any of mine) and at the same time quelling about fifty riots a day because the men want their pay. Oh it
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[page 2] Was for sleeping. All meals were eaten at the brides house & they were some meals & also some wines. I am enclosing a menu as a sample. We had a typewritten menu for each meal & I don
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front line troops yell for ammunition. They certainly have kept things on the move here. All day & most of the night the stuff goes out by railroad & truck train. Its unbelievable the amount of stuff that is used up. For the last few nights truck trains have come roaring in out the dark, are loaded up & roar back into the dark again. The town near here is damnably uninteresting and dull its not very big but even for its size its dead. I certainly wish I were back at Tours or Issoudun again where you could find something to do after work. The only excitement is bumping into generals but of course I got used to that at Tour, where a colonel isn
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American Auto named Lacy Lieut. Eng. Poor old Maury got hit with an explosive bullet Dont spring this on the H-family if they dont know in the leg the first time he went over. The doc said there was very little chance that he would ever be O.K. Seems his leg is partly paralyzed. He was at the hospital here till four days ago & I didn
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[page 3] For example here is an address O I C Flying 2 A I C A P O 717 A E F and another R.T.O. Hq S.O.S. AEF Translation Officer in charge of flying [OIC Flying] Second Aviation Instruction Center [2AIC] American Post Office 717 [APO 717] American Expeditionary Forces [AEF], - Railway Transportation Officer [R.T.O.] Headquarters Service of Supplies [Hq S.O.S.] That
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day, blankets are always necessary at night. Its lovely & cool after 8 o
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here. Heavy wool underwear we can get from the QM at good prices also socks. The other things have to be bought at French stores and great gehozephat you aught to see them prices Mable. But you can get practically anything you want. In Paris you can find absolutely everything. But oh you French shirts. They waste enough material in the tails to make two more. They come down below your knees
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Dejeuner du 7 juillet Menu Hors d Oeuvre Varies. Nelle de Saumon. Oie en Daube. Asperges Sauce Blanche. Filet de Porc Roti. Salade. Desserts Varies. VINS Beaujolais, Bordeaux. Bourgogne, Anjou. Champagne. Caf
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from French wedding [ms illegible: 1 wd] of July 19 [1918]
Details
| Title | Powhatan H. Clarke letter to Mother - July 19, 1918 |
| Creator | Clarke, Powhatan H. |
| Source | Clarke, Powhatan H. Letter to Mother. 19 July 1918. Clarke, Powhatan Papers. A0293. Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Powhatan H. Clarke sent this letter to his mother about his work with the Labor Bureau. Included is a menu from a French wedding Clarke attended. Clarke served with the 21st Aero Squadron and Labor Bureau A.E.F. during Word War I. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--Military life--United States; Labor bureaus--United States; Soldiers--Recreation; Soldiers--Social conditions--20th century |
| Subject Local | World War I; WWI |
| Site Accession Number | A0293 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | July 19, 1918 |
| Language | English |