Sincerely, Joel C. Swisher

Dear Mary [Gatchell],

Thy letter reached me in the second bunch of mail from the U.S. I was very glad to hear about thy trip West and about the doings around home.

We have been having a little touch of winter. It freezes at night but thaws in the afternoon. This Monday we had our first snow fall. I judge it would have made two inches if part had not melted. They claim that this was the first snow they have had in this place for 20 years. That afternoon I attended a military funeral for the first time.

One of our company had died in the hospital from sickness (he is the first in the company) and the whole company marched at the funeral. First came the band, next the firing squad, then the chaplain, then the ambulance with the body, and then the company. At the cemetery the band played while we drew up in company formation. Then the chaplain gave his discourse after which the bugler blew “taps”. The same call as they blow at night when the lights go out, and the firing squad fired 3 volleys over the grave. The whole thing was quite impressive, especially since it took place in a snow storm.

There were three other men, all from other organizations and it was a disagreeable day. By the time it was over, we were glad there were only four to be laid away.

On the whole the health of the company has been very good and since I got over the measles I have never felt better in my life. The hardships are nothing to anyone who has been around any. Furthermore there is a certain novelty in knowing, seeing, and doing, something different most every day. We have been working quite steady up to this week but now we are drilling a little and killing time awhile awaiting transportation from this Somewhere to another Somewhere somewhere else.

You can plainly see that this country [has been] in the war. Men out of uniform are either very young or old or crippled. The ones in uniform have all seen service at the front and have been sent back for light duty. Their way of living and doing things are quite different from ours. In one of my letters, have I described the R.R.’s. They are typical of many other things. The farms are small and the fields are small. The barn is mostly built at one end of the house. When I first landed, I thought they had no barns. In the country, the houses are often 1 1/2 story and have thatched roofs. On the average, they seem to keep one cow, one horse, a couple of heifers, a pig and a few chickens. They stack their crops. The wells are dug and the water is got by a rope and a bucket. Sometimes they use a windlass, often not. The wells were evidently dug without considering the distance to the barnyard. We do not drink water from any well until it is boiled unless it has been approved by proper authorities. The people use mostly two-wheeled horse carts, they have one they use for farm work and one they ride into town in.

On the whole, they are very polite, but in town they certainly like to charge. They say “American rich, lots of money.” This is perhaps due to the Americans’ tendency to blow himself right after payday. My French is coming along slowly. I am trying to get it by attempting to talk rather than from books.

I am writing Harlan but as it is on business I guess I had better put nothing else in it so will let him get his general news out of this. Many thanks for thy writing.

Rememberances to all,
Joel