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Gr. Mouthairon, France

Dec 5.1918

My Dear Brother Sis and Neice [sic]:-

Just got your letters a while ago and while the boys are going down for mess I thot [sic] I'd answer. 
Your letter was Dated Nov 1 so you see it took a bit over a month to reach me.

I have not seen Co. C for over a month so can't tell Jan to write and Sergt. Petterson has been or 
was at Officer's Training school the last I heard from him. So you see I can't see him

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But Nell wanted me to tell about the country over here and I can do that.

The most noticeable thing to me is the number of villages one sees. Farm houses by them selves [sic] 
are very scarce; very seldom one sees one. About every two or three miles is a village. I have counted 
about twenty from the top of one hill and was not a very high one either.

France for the most part is hilly, altho [sic] the valleys are rather wide and long. In these 

valleys one always finds the farming done; while the hayland and forests are usually on the hills. 
I have seen a great number of gardens tho [sic] made on land that I thot[sic] was steep enuf [sic] 
for the gardeners to fall off of it. It is nescessary [sic] tho [sic]; on account of the population. 
The French never waste anything during the harvest either; all of this is done by hand there fore [sic] 
everything is cleaned up. The plots of ground are too small to have machinery, hence all

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of the hand labor.

The sail for most part is sandy and quite a bit of it is rocky but good crops are raised. Because of 
this sandy, rocky sail, one strikes water down about five or six feet because the hardpan [sic] holds 
it from sinking further.

France has many forests, and all trees have to be marked before they can be cut The marking is done 
by government men. As far as that is concerned no trees can be cut without permission of the government 
whether in a forest or not. The largest of these

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forsets [sic] that I have seen are: Argonne Forest and Forest d'Haye. The former was where the big 
American drive started Sept. 26th of which I told you all of in a former letter. The latter named forest 
is West of Nancy, it being about seven or eight miles one way and four five miles the other; while the 
Forest d'Argonne is twenty or thirty miles long, at least, and I don't know how wide. In the mountainous 
part of the country, as in the [illegible text] mountains there are some large

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timber tracts, but all are on the mountains, the valleys, as usual being under cultivation. The garden 
and farm products being nearly the same as at home, except that they do not raise any corn but do cultivate 
lots of sugar beets. Grapes, in the southern part of this country is their largest crop, it is too cold 
for them in the north.

Steam power over here is used but little, comparatively, except for locomotives and lighting plants in 
the larger towns and cities. Water power is used for the rivers and large streams

are usually swift. However they are seldom very deep. I have seen the Meuse, Moselle and aire rivers 
and none of them are large; they would be called creeks in the U.S.

Now for the transportation. The railroads are standard gauge but the engines are small. Their heaviest 
ones being about the passenger type on the Wabash, and not nearly so fast. The "Box" cars-shold [sic] 
be called cracker-box-cars are about half as large as our mail cars. The coal cars hold about six or 
eight tons of coal. The passenger cars are practically as long as ours but lack some

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of being so wide they are built in compartments there, being from from [sic] four to eight compartments 
to a coach. These compartments do not join, but the passengers get in on the sides, along [sic] foot 
board runs the full length on the outside of the coach. The tickets are collected at the end of the 
trip. Most passenger coaches have air brakes; freight cars do not. All are hard couplings with a chain 
and big link that hooks on a hook on the other car. The road beds are all of rock and are very solid. 
Wrecks are not common

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There are three classes of highways in France, first, second and third or Nationale They are all macadam 
and for most part very smooth. The roads near the fronts are pitted quite a bit by shell fire and heavy 
traffic. The third class roads are wide enuf [sic] for two vehicles to pass and are for most part, 
merely short cuts the second class roads are the most numerus [sic] wide enuf [sic] for three large 
trucks to pass easily and

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these roads connect the towns The first class or Routes Nationale are the main highways and connect 
the larger towns, they are from forty to sixty feet wide.

Practically all roads have rows of trees planted on both sides of them-cotton woods mostly. Sharp corners 
are exceptional altho [sic] one often finds hairpin turns and sharp curves; the roads wind in and out 
the valleys or

along the bottom of a hill, thus saving the valley land for agriculture.

There's lots more I could tell you, in fact, I could write till[sic] this time tomorrow of many little 
things we see but I can't think of them now, besides, I want to mail this so it will go out.

Love for all
Charley

Corp. Charley Piersie
Co D. 110th D.A.T.
A.E.F. France

CENSORED BY
L.W. SHADBURNE
1st L' 110th D.A.T.

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[postmark illegible]

Soldier's Mail

Mr. Aaron C. Piersie
Kirksville, 
Missouri
U. S. A.

Gen. Del.

CENSORED BY
[illegible text] 
[illegible text] PASSED AS CENSORED

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W.W.I.128.47