17

a bath until the middle
of the seventh week after
arriving. When I did get a
bath it was a dirty French
place, and only eight tubs
for about three thousand
men in town. It was a
good thing that snow was
on the ground and no fire
in our bunk room or we
would have all died of disease.
As it was there were as many
as sixteen cases of mumps
at one time in our detachment
alone.

For the first month the
food was terrible. All we
got was bully beef, and
boiled potatoes, bread, no
butter, and dish watter for