Aug. 7, 1915
Dear Lola and Jenny,
Was glad to receive four welcome letters yesterday. Things must be lovely at your home now. Gardens here are beautiful, the roses especially, they are such a large size, but have not the delightful odor they have at home, by any means. Small fruits have not as good a flavor here either; one would think they certainly do not taste as good as the ones at home.
I would not advise Fred to come out here. We have a very nice lot of young fellows in the ambulance, but the infantry are a pretty rough lot of fellows. I mean the privates, and Fred would have to come as a private on account of lack of experience.
I can quite appreciate the fact that he thinks it's a glorious career, but believe me the average private who gets any glory out of this business has to die to get it. He may think it's his duty, but there are thousands young men in Canada who have no ties of any kind business or family who are the ones who should volunteer. There are young fellows whom I have advised and who have come but Fred is not one of them.
We are now on the frontier between Belgium and France, at a place that is often mentioned in the communiqués. Things are comparatively quiet on our front post now and I hope they do not start anything for a while.
There are no schools in session in this part of the country at all. We usually have the school-house as a hospital. We do not use the churches at all as they are always shelled. We very seldom put up the Red Cross even it makes too good a mark.
The school rooms here are quite elaborate compared with those at home. The master and his family live in there and there are several rooms both upstairs and down. Just now we have our hospital in an estaminet or hotel that has been abandoned.
Quite close is a great big dug-out, in case things get too hot for the patients. On one side of the dug-out are cubby holes to put the wounded when they come in. At the end is a large operating room and on the other side holes where they are placed after dressings. All underground and protected by sandbags.
Will be pleased to hear from you again. Hope you are all keeping well. Best regards to Father and Mother.
Your uncle,
Jim
