Marriages for Everyone Else -12/31/1917

Camp Sheridan

Alabama

148th Ambulance Co.

Dec. 31, 1917

My Dear Dad: - 

Yours of Dec. 26, 1917 received. I also rec. the P.P. package of toothpaste, etc. Thank you very much.

Did you send the tobacco, of which you spoke, by Express. I have not heard of it, and learned nothing upon inquiry at Ex. office. If you sent it, perhaps you had better have it traced.

Oh yes, I rec the magazines O.K. & thank you for them & the stamps. 

The Liberty-bond Xmas present is really altogether more than I expected. Leona was the best present you could have sent. 

Just how many L. Bonds have I? You know I have two $50.00 in the army campaign.

I don't believe I ever acknowledged Marion's letter of Dec 24th. It came the say after Mother & Leona left. 

This will be the last letter, I'll write home this year. They are planning a big time for tonight. 

A couple of our boys got married during the Xmas Holidays. Among them was Steve Cartwright, one of the Hillsdale boys, who stayed at the Beach. He was the short funny one. 

I have not rec. a letter from Leona, or Mother, since they left.

Everything O.K. & feeling fine & dandy.

Love to All
Howard

So, if Howard's buddies all got married over the holiday break, why didn't he? My guess was that Leona was too smart, and probably too proud, for all that.

I did some general searching about Camp Sheridan, primary because this letter just isn't that interesting. I'm tired of writing about the post office and liberty bonds.

I found this lovely little book,  When Johnny Doesn't Come Marching Home, which details the life of John Small and his wife Mary at Camp Sheridan at the same time. Unlike Howard and Leona, John and Mary couldn't wait to be married, and they tied the knot in September of 1917. Although their love was evident, it was a hard life, especially for Mary. She lived in a room without heat in a boarding house in Montgomery, and although she was able to spend some time with John, she was lonely. She had no real friends outside of the men at camp, and her family was back in Cleveland. The description of their life together made me relieved that Leona was safe and warm at home with her family in Ohio.

Leona's Christmas Surprise - 12/23/1917

112th Sanitary Train

37th Division

Camp Sheridan

Dec 23, 1917

My Dear Dad: - 
Mother & Leona arrived yesterday afternoon. I can't tell you how surprised I was to see Leona. Mother tells me you sent her as your Xmas present. Well, believe me, you couldn't have found anything in the world, that is appreciated as much as that present. I only wish I could keep her here. I sure am glad you sent her, with mother, & I don't know how I can ever thank you for same.

Last evening we had supper & then went to a show.

They have a fine room and the house is only four blocks from town.

I will probably go up town again this moon, and shall probably spend the remainder of the day with them.

Tell Marion, I am sending her a little remembrance. Mother will bring it her when she returns.

All O.K. Love to All
Howard 

It warms my heart to see that Leona surprised Howard and how in love he seemed with her. If you are new to this blog, Howard had proposed to Leona when he was still a teenager. She told him that he would need need to wait. I can't even imagine how lovely it would have been for him to just be with his mother, let alone Leona. I'm sure it was one of the best Christmases he spent.

The above picture is the one I have of Leona that would be the closest to the age she was when she visited Howard - almost 23. This was her high school senior picture from New Washington High School in Crawford County, Ohio. I think about how my own grandfather carried around my grandma's senior picture in his wallet until the day he died. It makes me wonder if, perhaps, Harold had a photo just like this with him during his time in the war.

Unfortunately, I have never come across a wedding picture of Howard and Leona, which would have been more than two years later in August 1920. In that day and age, Leona being a bride at 25 would have probably made her an old maid. I respect her for not following the "easy" path of getting married at 21 like other girls her age; she was a "career" woman as a nurse and was likely very much her own person when they married. 

No Other News of Interest (Stabbing & Tear Gas) - 12/19/1917

Camp Sheridan

Alabama

148th Ambulance Co.

Dec. 19, 1917

My Dear Dad: -

Your Telegram rec. Will meet the train if possible. We have the room, etc., for her & Mrs. Donaldson.

Went to the dentists this afternoon. He filled three small cavities in my molar teeth. Sat. P.M. I am to go back, and have the fillings polished. He said my teeth were in very good condition, and had had very good attention, for which I should thank my father. So - I thank you.

One of the fellows in our tent, who we have been trying to get moved out, because he was a thief, got in an argument, with one of the other fellows, and stabbed him with a long bladed pocket-knife, the fellow he stuck, preferred charges against him, and he is now, held in the Stockade, awaiting trial - charges, Stabbing, with intent to kill. He is 31 years old and there is no excuse for his actions. He, in my mind, is affected similar to Paul Van Pelt, the fellow who went bugs, when we were in Toledo.

No other news of interest.

Love to All

You Son,
Howard

I found the newspaper clipping attached in this letter both clever and disturbing. For its time, it probably would have been funnier, knowing that these young men came out of the tear gas tests ok. However, we all know the grim side of what chemical warfare would turn into, starting in World War I but getting more-and-more dire up until its use today.

From what I could find in The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for War, it wasn't initially  common for troops to be researching tear gas. Only 200 officers and 500 enlisted men across different departments - Ordnance, Engineers, Signal, and Sanitary Corps, of which Howard's unit was a part. The book mentions these officers and men as being centralized at American University in D.C., but it doesn't say anything about testing by the "boots on the ground". Not sure if the two were linked, but I'm guessing it was likely if the Sanitary Corps was included.

I also found information about the Army Medical Department assigning defensive chemical training to its Sanitary Corps at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Getting close, but still no specific mention of the fellows in Alabama. Here's the closest I could find:

The Army Staff decided to expand the number of training sites to thirty-six to provide for a force that would grow to over 3 million. A central Army Gas School specifically trained division, brigade and regimental Gas Officers at Camp A. A. Humphreys, Virginia and later at Camp Kendrick, adjacent to Lakehurst, New Jersey. The program included a four-day general information class for junior officers and NCOs and a twelve-day course for Chief Gas Officers at division and higher echelons. A lecture on all aspects of gas warfare was followed by a gas mask drill five days a week during the training cycle. Men were then tested by masking in a chamber filled with chlorine gas and then unmasking in one with tear gas.^[8]

I was also curious about dental hygiene in Howard's time. I thought I would see some gory details or ridiculous recommendations, but a book written in 1916. makes it seems like dental hygiene wasn't a whole lot different than today. It was relatively new though - the book about 5 pages to explain how to brush your teeth. It also recommended visiting the dentist every six months. Novocain and fitted gold fillings had been in use for about a decade, although x-rays weren't in use yet.

Waiting for Mother to Visit - 12/17/1917

Camp Sheridan

Alabama

148th Ambulance Co.

Dec. 17, 1917

My Dear Mother: -
Rec. yours of the 13th this A.M. Yes, I have a couple things I wish you would bring along, when you come. (1) my brown, woolen skull cap, (2) About six tubes of Pebeco Tooth paste, three wash-cloths, and a box of Wrigley's Spearmint gum. That is all I can think of that I want.

I'll see Stuart D - tonight about the rooms. Spose he is tending to that.

The extra sleeping boots have not arrived yet, to my knowledge.

If you are going to leave Fri., or before Xmas, better give Leona the present I got for her, and have Dad, get her some chocolate dipped cherries or candy.

I have several small things for you to take back. Things that I do no longer need.

Oh! Yes, please get me about 100 sheets of paper - as enclosed - at Blade Pntg & Paper Co.

I can't think of anything else to write so will close.

Am Feeling Fine

Love to All
Howard

Guess Howard didn't get a furlough to go home. I find it amazing that the Goods had the means to travel to visit him in Montgomery. I would imagine it would have been a very long and expensive trip. I started to do some research on how they would have gotten there. Remember - at this time, car travel was very new. The 1917 Ford Model T's new feature was a canvas roof with side curtains - and this was decades before the interstate system - so I assume car travel would not have been a viable option, even for the richest of families.

Likely, they took a train (or even more likely - series of trains) to get there. This is where I really miss having the letters FROM Howard's parents TO Howard. He gave such lovely detail of his train trip down to the border - it would be nice if we knew which route the Good took to Montgomery and how long it took.

So, I tried to do some research on just that - how hard could it be? My confidence diminished when I discovered the above railway map from 1918. Zooming in, it looked like a spider web across the midwest and through to the deep south. The Goods could have taken an infinite number of routes. Did they change trains in Cincinnati? Louisville? Indianapolis? Knoxville? Nashville? Atlanta? Huntsville? It feels like it could have been any combination of those. Here's to hoping the future letters may tell us...or we may never know.

Telegraph to Dear-ol-Dad - 12/11/1917

Camp Sheridan

Dec. 11, 1917

My Dear Dad: - 
Rec. the $30, O.K. and surely appreciate your kindness. At present it looks very doubtful about the furlough, but if it possible to get one, I surely will do my best to secure one for Xmas.

If Mother, Marion, & Leona do not know of my intentions as yet, and I am able to secure my furlough, I would like to walk in & surprise them. If I can come I'll wire you when I leave.

It rained all morning and froze this afternoon. Every time you push on the canvas of the tent the ice cracks - and they call this the Sunny South. 

Was up town the other evening with Frank Cullen. Have been very busy of late, but am over the worse of it.

Your Son
Howard

Howard must really have been busy during this time - his last few letters really don't give us much of interest to explore.

So, this line about Howard sending his dad a wire got me wondering what telegraphs were like back at that time. Of course, I knew that a long distance phone call would likely be out of the question. The Goods likely had a phone - in 1910, there were already over 7 million phones in the U.S. However, long-distance service may not have even been available from Alabama to Toledo. Even if it was, the cost of a 3-minute call could have been about the equivalent to a half-week's salary ($4).

Telegraphs were much more available and less expensive:

For a typical telegram you paid a flat rate for the first ten words and were charged a per word rate for each additional word. Address and signature were free. For example to send a telegram from New York to anywhere in Georgia was sixty cents for the first ten words and each additional word was four cents. (In 1910)

So, considering that Howard just got $30 from his dad, I'm guessing he could spring for the telegram but probably didn't want to blow his cash to hear Dear-ol-Dad's voice.

The above photo shows a telegraph office.It's not quite perfect - it's from 1918 in France, but it should give you a sense of what it was like.

"Big" Band at Div. Hdq. - 12/4/1917

Camp Sheridan

Dec. 4, 1917

My Dear Mother: - 

Am sending you the names & information concerning the new members of our company. 

Maj. Gen Treet has arrived here, after an extended visit along the Western Front in France. They had a big band concert at Div. Hdq. nearly all afternoon. A 300 piece band, just think of it. Maybe you think there wasn't some swell music.

There is absolutely nothing of interest to write about. Guess I'll write every other day for a while, as I don't get around enough to see anything to talk about.

Feeling fine as usual.

Love to All
Howard

The above picture was taken in New York City, but it shows John Phillip Sousa with his "big" band.

Could it be? Could Howard have seen John Phillip Sousa's band in person? My husband is a band director, and I was the illustrious winner of Pleasant High School's 1996 John Philip Sousa band award. This is a big deal to the band nerd universe in which I live!

Or, maybe it wasn't Sousa. However, here are my arguments pro-Sousa:

• He was obviously patriotic and cared about the troops. In 1917, Sousa enlisted in the navy (at age 62, I might add). He was a true patriot, serving in the Marines, and, of course, leading "The President's Own" band under five presidents.
• In 1917, Sousa formed the 300-piece "Jackie" band...matches up with Howard's description!
• We also know that Sousa toured with Jackie band...would make sense that a stop in Alabama could be on the docket!

When I first read "big band", my mind went to the Glenn Miller type of band we often think about. However, jazz was only just starting up in 1917, and the "swing" era really wasn't even up and going until the early 1930s. Score one more for Sousa!