Letter From Thomas P. Bromley

Letter from Thomas P. Bromley
of Navarro County, Texas

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Camp Mills, Hemstead L.I. New York
Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Bromly

I received your letter sent to me from Camp Donophan. I am doing fine, located here. We are about 25 miles from New York City, but are close to towns--one about every hundred yards. We left Camp Doniphan last Monday morning about 10 o'clock coming by Oklahom City and on to St. Louis, MO. We stayed here about two hours. Nearly all the boys in this company are from St. Louis, and you never saw such a crowd as there was here when we arrived. The factories, steamboats and trains blew their whistles so you couldn't hear anything. They sure gave a welcome. We crossed the Mississippi river here going into Illinois, missing Chicago. We went through Indiana, and at some of the larger places got off and drilled.

Missouri is a rough, hilly country, but Illinois and Indian are pretty smooth. In Ohio we saw some very pretty country--Dayton and Columbus are very large places. We passed thru a small portion of West Virginia, and believe me this is one of the roughest countries I ever saw. We went through Pennsylvania, which is made up of mines, and such coal mines and mountains you never saw. There is a mining town here about every 100 yars, and from the trains that are there, they do the buisness. There are three or four railroad tracks from St. Louis to New York. Trains pass by you like canon balls on every side. The mountains inPennsylvania were covered with snow. At Pittsburg we got off the train and marched up the street. This is the finest built city I have ever seen. It is built between mountains. You can see buildings below and above you. When we left the city whitsltes from the factories, mines, trains and steamboats turned loos, alarming the whole country. You could look down ans see people waving, and look u and see them waving from windos on builldings, trains, steamboats and from everywhere. I never saw anything to beath the ovation that was given us at Pittsburg.

Leaving the city we passed over and under buildings, and thru tunnels. We went through Philadephia at night, taking us sometime. We passed through a small partion of New Jersay and into new York. I didn't get to see much of New York as we passed under the city thr a tunnel nine miles long. We went under the Hudson river and the greater part of New York.

We were on the electric train through here, and these trains sure do fly. Coming from under the Hudson Friver we entered Long Island, which is a very pretty place. It was raining when we arrived. Water was standing in the roads and fields all the way from Oklahoma City to Long Island.

The Curry boy came with us, and I guess the Williams boy will arrive in a few days.

We are in tents--think it must be a new Camp. Don't believe it is any colder here than at Fort Sill, Okla. I'm a little turned around. Seems to me the sun rises in the north, but they say it is the east. Guess I will get straight pretty soon. It took us three days and nights to get here, and we had sleeper to come in.

Don't think we will stay here long. Think we will go to Camp Merritt, N.J. We have had no examination yet, but guess we will get one later on.

See Mr. Kelly and have him send me the Star [Frost Newspaper] up here.

Your son,
Thomas P. Bromley
H.Q. Co. 138 Inft.

Notes:

Donated by Virginia Crilley