Post marked: Hampstead NY, October 2, 1917
Monday 1917
Dear Sis,
     I know that this will be a knockout but I guess that
you can stand it. I really am ashamed of myself for not
having written to you before this but when we get through
our days and I write to Dids, I feel something like and that
pretty quick.
     It seems as though there is no news at all. Everything
is just the same one day after the other. I don’t think it
will be long now before we go, of course I don’t know and we
can only tell by general appearances. But we have been
issued all new equipment, have taken down our big hospital
tents (the only canvas we are taking with us) and the mess
officer has given the mess Sergeant to get rid of all the
surplus food and to keep no more than we actually needed. We
have turned in all surplus ordinance and Quarter Master
supplies and in every way that I can see we are already to
go. Besides this the ships and convoy are all ready and
waiting and some of the men from the other outfits have
already gone down to police and guard them.
     This place has gotten so dry that I will be glad to
leave. The sooner we go the sooner it will all be over and
to tell the truth everything that I see all points to the
fact that Uncle Sam is putting up one of the biggest and
most profitable bluffs that a nation could. I see it this
way. First off if she had any real intentions of putting her
men over there for the purpose of fighting in the trenches
she would never have made the big loans to the Allies
because she would needed them herself. We are a rich nation
but you can’t tell me that you can take that much money out
of it and never feel it. The next thing is she is not
equipping the armies as fast as she could. There are
companies in the Ala. Regiment that have equipment for only
about half of the men the rest are still wearing citizen’s
clothes. If we can’t get equipment for these men how is she
going to get it for the draft army. You might think that
they are not bothering about these men because they are so
few in comparison. But if she doesn’t equip the men that are
supposed to go over next who is she going to equip. Those
who haven’t had a days training in their life? And the camp
Q.M. supply officer who is a Maj. and a regular old war
horse says that he can’t get supplies.
     Altogether I figure that she is spending this money,
even though it is a vast sum, to send us over there and this
saves many times this amount by showing what we could do if
Germany doesn’t shut down and stop this wholesale slaughter
of human lives.
     I don’t mean by this that our company won’t see active
service because we are seeing it right now. Where we are not
going out on the field and picking up wounded we have been
doing hospital work that would take very near every man in
our Co. We had about a hundred measles case besides
tuberculosis, appendicitis, spinal meningitis, and enough
other such cases to make about two hundred. So if we never
do pick up any wounded we sure will be needed over there
because there will be a great deal of sickness in a camp
even of this size and I understand that there is about a
hundred thousand or more over there now. So you can see
where we will be pretty muchly needed.
     Well I guess this is enough for that kind of stuff.
Chas is getting along fine he has done better since he has
been in the army than he has ever been. You wouldn’t believe
how fat I have gotten. We both have a good of color in our
faces and you know we never had any at home.
     Well I guess I had better close now as I am just as
stiff and sore as can be we played two games of ball
yesterday and won both. We played the Nebraskas and the
Oklahoma they sure were sore losers they got so mad they
called us everything that you could think of and all we
would do was stand and laugh at them which made them worse.
     Helen I sure do appreciate the box which you and Laura
sent it sure did taste good and everything was in fine shape
to have come so far. How are you feeling. I hope and know
that your trip did you good because they give you such good
grub up there. But I guess that at this time of year you
struck a great deal more work than you bargained for.
     How is Check making out tell him I will drop him a line
one of these fine days. Well I am going to close. Give my
love to everybody at home and tell them that I am going to
write soon. Tell Papa that Chas and I went to lodge last
Thursday and made out fine. We are going to another one next
Wednesday if we can get off.
     Please excuse me for not writing before now but you
know how it is when you start putting it off. It seems as
though you never can scare up energy enough to write.
 Well I must close now with all kinds of Love.
                         Fondly,
                              Jas.
P.S. It is as cold as hingers (sic) up here tonight there
is a stiff wind blowing and it sweeps across this island
just as it does across the deck of a ship.