BOULE

The "Permissions" read La Bourboule, and no sooner were these handed to
their proper owners than sixty well-groomed "Medics," representing the
Sanitary Train were on their way to the destination specified. After
being jammed into those queer French coaches (third class) with no
thought given to comfort, the train finally picked up speed and passed
out upon the main line. The clicking of the rail-joints seemed to call
cadence for the songs from 1200 throats, all from the 35th division,
whose owners were happy to get away from bugle calls, military
discipline and slushy streets.

After a few hours' ride--just a sample of what they were to get--the
train was sidetracked at Nancy and all enjoyed the best bath they had
ever taken, in what is said to be the largest bath-house in the world.
Here the water comes out of the ground at a temperature of 78 degrees F.
and passes direct into the pool. After this "decootieization" they
boarded the train again and were able to sit and enjoy the scenery for
the rest of the trip.

The first day and night passed quickly, but then time began to drag, and
along toward evening of the second day some great geniuses were born to
the world. These were the men who devised the method by which nine men
could sleep in a space that only seemed large enough for half that
number. Could one have peeped into the passing coaches it would have
struck him as exceedingly humorous--some were stowed away in the
hat-racks over head, while others, with no room to lie down, were trying
to sleep in a sitting posture. So time passed for three days and two
nights.

To step from the train and see no town of any size was the thing that
befell these men, and exclamations of dissatisfaction and disgust were
heard everywhere. Being encouraged by a Y. M. C. A. man standing nearby
that twenty-four hours in the town would change their opinion, they were
content to be assigned to their various hotels.

The village, or town, of La Bourboule is located in the Auvergne
mountains, in the range Puy-de-Dome, and had been a very popular summer
resort for the French people up to the time the U. S. government took it
over as one of the leave areas for American troops. The altitude of this
locality varies, for the valleys are about 2800 feet, while some peaks
are 4500 feet above the sea level. But as a leave sector it was a
disappointment to everyone. There were no recreations at all except
those furnished by the Y. M.