text_original: Their letters, once hopeful, became despairing. "It looks to me to day," one of them wrote him along in the middle of January, "as if the whole war machine had broken down. I have believed and believed, but the fact is we are not getting men over. It's all nonsense about our having 400,000 on the other side; there are not over 100,000. It's all nonsense about our building ships  the whole business is simply tangled up.
text_transcription: THEIR LETTERS ONCE HOPEFUL BECAME DESPAIRING IT LOOKS TO ME TO DAY ONE OF THEM WROTE HIM ALONG IN THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY AS IF THE WHOLE WAR MACHINE IS BROKEN DOWN I BELIEVED AND BELIEVED BUT THE FACT IS WE'RE NOT GETTEN IN OVER IT'S ALL NONSENSE ABOUT OUR HAVING FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND ON THE OTHER SIDE THEY'RE NOT OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND IT'S ALL NONSENSE ABOUT OUR BUILDING SHIPS THE WHOLE BUSINESS IS SIMPLY TANGLED UP
phonemes: ðɛɹ lˈɛɾɚz, wˈʌns hˈoʊpfəl, bɪkˌeɪm dᵻspˈɛɹɪŋ. "ɪt lˈʊks tə mˌiː tə dˈeɪ," wˈʌn ʌv ðˌɛm ɹˈoʊt hˌɪm ɐlˈɔŋ ɪnðə mˈɪdəl ʌv dʒˈænjuːˌɛɹi, "æz ɪf ðə hˈoʊl wˈɔːɹ məʃˈiːn hæd bɹˈoʊkən dˈaʊn. aɪ hæv bᵻlˈiːvd ænd bᵻlˈiːvd, bˌʌt ðə fˈækt ɪz wiː ɑːɹ nˌɑːt ɡˌɛɾɪŋ mˈɛn ˈoʊvɚ. ɪts ˈɔːl nˈɑːnsəns ɐbˌaʊt ˌaʊɚ hˌævɪŋ fˈɔːɹhˈʌndɹɪd,zˈiəɹoʊzˈiəɹoʊ zˈiəɹoʊ ɔnðɪ ˈʌðɚ sˈaɪd; ðɛɹˌɑːɹ nˌɑːt ˌoʊvɚ wˈʌnhˈʌndɹɪd,zˈiəɹoʊzˈiəɹoʊ zˈiəɹoʊ. ɪts ˈɔːl nˈɑːnsəns ɐbˌaʊt ˌaʊɚ bˈɪldɪŋ ʃˈɪps ðə hˈoʊl bˈɪznəs ɪz sˈɪmpli tˈæŋɡəld ˈʌp.