Seaford Sussex
Feb 25/17
Dear Mither.

Still here, but every one must imagine that I have left for there have been no letters from Canada this week I got a few stars, & a parcel from the Parker girls but nothing else. In fact no one has had any but a few odd bits straggling in now & again but one thing about it we alway look forward to the morrows mail in expectation of a whale of a pile of letters but if it dont hurry we will even quit that.

I am to lazy to go down to the Y this Afternoon so I am using my own paper & doing the writing in the hut. I have just finnished a letter to Emmie but it is not much of a letter for I feel in no humor for writing today due chiefly to the shortage of news & the shortage of mail from home. Oh say I got cheered up yesterday for I walked into a canteen & there was some real honest to goodness raisin pie. One bound landed me before the counter. How much per slice old top I says. 4d says he, Coming over says I & then & there I had three or four slices of the best pie I have had since I left Gods country. Best because it was the first I have had since I hit this Island of mud & slop. The whole camp was in the canteen half an hour later & now they can't make rasin pies fast enough to supply the demand I was in a few minutes ago & about 20 fellows were waiting for the pies to finish cooking. When one pie was done the auburn haired waiter brought it to the counter. You should have seen the rush & mr pie was gone in five seconds. The unlucky ones had to retire & waite for the rest of the pies to cook. It was just like feeding the calves back home when one bunch had to wait for the second dose of milk. Of course they do not fail to cuss the waiters who are English & therefor most abominably slow. Never mind the pie tasted fine but the pastry was a little like the rest of the country slow & behind the time.

Say we had a treat at the Y.M.C.A. the other night. The Rev John McNeil of Toronto Spoke there & say he was good. Believe me he hit this country awful heavy on the booze. Our speakers never let an opportunity slip to take a slam at the Booze. He was about the strongest and he compared the booze influence here with that of Camp Hughes & he sure hit old John bull a slap on the snout He was well backed by the audience too for it was nearly half Canadian. The soldiers sure will never vote the booze back into Canada for nearly all them think alike on the subj even though they do not always find it easy to get back from down town at night.

Oh yes & wonders never cease I actually saw a real fine looking girl the other night. But she was not a native she was imported from Italy & her name was Ida something or other.

Fred King is sleeping on the boards behind me. Gee he looks peaceful with his arm folded on his Breast & his overcoat wrapped around him. Catching flies I guess.

Gee Im hard up for news but; I forgot we move to Shoram Shorncliffe or some other place this week if we don't go to France but, that has got to be a sort of a joke now. I don't believe they intend to send us to France at all. Whether they think we are not worth sending or to good to send I dunno but anyway they don't send us. I'd just as soon wait now & see another of these English towns even if they aren't any good I might as well see as much of the world as I can while I can see it for nothing but a little discomfort. Discomfort is right for they say we will have to march the whole way there which is about 60 miles. I hardly credited it at first for I thought we would have had to go quite a long way into the sea to get 60 miles in any direction in this country but I guess they go the long way around as per usual.

I am mailing a box of little stuff I don't want to lose home to you. Be carefull when you open it for my badges are wrapped in a newspaper in one end & you might throw them away thinking the paper was just there as packing. Well mither I guess I will quit & get me ready for Supper.

Yours Lovingly

Rae