Pte. MELVILLE MELLIS has written his mother, Mrs. W.A. Mellis as follows:
France April 17th, 1917.
Dear Mother:
Just a few lines hoping to find you and the rest of the family all enjoying the best of health as this at present leaves me. Just received letters of March 10th. I was glad to get them, too, believe me. Some time ago I got the papers and the Jack Kanuck, which were also very gladly received. I was glad to hear that Jim Beatty was coming back to Canada. Jim has been over here a long while. It is about time he was getting a pass to his blighty. If you have been watching the papers, which I presume you have, you will see what we have been doing the last few days. The papers will tell you more about it and our whereabouts than I can. We just came out of the line a little while ago. I guess we will be having a rest before we go in again. What do you think of Old Uncle Sam coming into the war? I think they would have made it better for us had they come sooner. Oh, it will not be long before the whole world will be at war with one another. I think we can use a few of Uncle Sam's men over here if he sends them along, but we have got old Fritz just on the hop now. Maybe the war will be over before Uncle Sam gets his men over, but I guess it will make the war last longer now, don't you? Say, I almost forgot to tell you that I saw one of the famous tanks last week. They sure are funny looking things. I think that if they were to call them snails instead of tanks, they would be better named. They just look like snails. No matter where you look at it there is a machine gun muzzle sticking out of it. Well I guess this is all for now. I will write again when I get a chance. Write as often as you can.
MELVILLE.