Sept 4th 18

Dear Wife,

Just received your letter of July 8th, delayed on account of postal people here. On the whole receiving mail fairly well, tho I have lost some papers.

I received that tobacco you sent me all right and acknowledged it in my letter of July 7th. You may send some more, three plugs do not last an awful long time under these conditions, and decent smoking that a Christian man can smoke is hard to obtain. Ran across an American YMCA the other day, even they had no pipe tobacco, so stocked up on cigarettes. Used and gave away a portion, but lost the bulk in a haversack that slid off the water cart. I consider this one of the disasters of the war correspondents, so you wont see it mentioned in the papers, but if you would, say, once a month or so send a supply of plug it would help. Xmas and July 8th help, but the hoarding between those dates is furtive and strenuous.

Wrote Jack yesterday, he is cheerful. Have not heard from Syd or Frank lately. Expect Frank is pretty busy, Canadians are on the push just now, and needless to say effective. I am out of the very active area, just an occasional shell, but not near, am back with the horses. We were on the move through August, but may settle down for a rest soon.

How is the coal problem in the ‘Peg? If the politicians do not settle that satisfactorily with the profit grabbing miners of the west, they will hear something drop when this is over. The politicians we ill easily get, and the placing of mines under public control for community good is no idle dream. For the present there is a war on, and for the good of all we submit ourselves to military discipline. Don't let those microbe souled skunks imagine they will get away with the bacon.

I am afraid some of our officer class will suffer. The trouble is they consider themselves a class, but when they find themselves again units of a democracy with a searchlight on the public trough, throwing them on their personal values of earning, they are due for an awful bump to their Prussian mode of thought. Many of their army orders are absolutely funny, so après la guerre they will lose their colored specs and regain their sense of humor. Love to all

Dad

J. Row