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Dec. 3, 1916
Dec. 10, 1916
Dec. 17, 1916
Dear Mother,
The good things sent down with my package this week have been
very much enjoyed, and thank you very much for all of them, fudge,
cake, sweet chocolate and apples and nuts. The cake, and some
of the fudge and nuts I gave to Mrs. Winch to put on the table
with the other things. I took my noon Thanksgiving dinner here
at Mrs. Winch's, and it was a good one. A twenty three pound
turkey was the chief item on the bill; then of course the usual
fixings, cranberry sauce, vegetables, olives, and so on; chocolate
ice cream was the main dessert with fruit, cake, nuts & candy
for chasers. The chief feature of the dinner besides the eating
was the reading of some verses Miss Tolbert had composed for
the occasion; she had written a dozen lines or so about each
one at the table and also about the home as a whole, "Sunshine
Villa", as it has come to be called. She had the verses
written out on separate cards, and then passed them around so
that no one would have their own verses; after that they were
read in order. All of them were eulogies, but very well done.
The last two lines of my verse took off my dietary peculiarities
in this fashion:
"His gravest fault was one of diet
If he liked not its looks, he would not try it."
Several of the folks were away over Thanksgiving, two to be exact,
Carey and Miss Davis, and Miss McClelland came up and had her
Thanksgiving dinner with us, so we only had one less at table
than usual. Miss Davis went up to Bayonne to spend the vacation
with a married sister, and Carey spent the vacation with Cruse
at his home.
In the early part of the week I received another Thanksgiving
invitation, and by accepting it, came in on two turkey dinners.
My evening Thanksgiving dinner was up at Absecon in the home
of a Mr. Madden, a music teacher. There is a group of young people
from Absecon and Pleasantville, who call themselves the Amicus
Club, and I believe every year spend Thanksgiving together. There
must have been at least thirty people who sat down to the dinner
there. The dinner was good, but you can imagine I had had almost
enough when I finished it. Music and games filled up the evening
until about eleven o'clock.
Thanksgiving morning started out rainy, and decidedly inauspicious
for a football game, which was scheduled for ten o'clock. In
fact I went so far as to tell a boy who called me up from Somers
Point, that it wouldn't be worth while for him to come up, as
I was sure the team wouldn't come over from Atlantic City. Most
of our boys showed up at the High School, but a good many went
away when the Atlantic City team didn't appear. They suddenly
arrived, however, at eleven thirty; so we got together a team
which included about five substitutes and played them, losing
to the score of 19-6.
Mr. Wilson asked me the other night if I wouldn't play for a
performance of that minstrel show of his in Atlantic City on
Monday; quite an undertaking to assume on such short notice,
but I said I'd do it, and Friday evening I rehearsed with them.
The solos are all popular songs, and I guess I'll get thru them
all right; a medley overture of patriotic songs with a rather
elaborate accompaniment is the most difficult thing to get in
order. This morning I went over to the school with Mr. Wilson
and practiced on them some more.
Thanksgiving morning I had a telephone call from Sam Sewall,
with greetings of the day, but chiefly to make arrangements for
coming down to see me next week. He is going to come Thursday
morning, and go back early Friday; he wants to see me "in
action", as he says, and is coming right up to the school
from the train. Earlier last week I had decided to go up to Philadelphia
for the day Saturday, chiefly to shop, and was just about to
write him. Of course when I told him I was coming up he wanted
to have me stay all night, and I finally agreed to do so. I went
up early yesterday morning and met Sam at about nine thirty;
he went to Wanamaker's with me while I did my shopping, which
consisted of the purchase of a new overcoat, a pair of gloves,
a pair of dress shoes to take the place of those pumps that were
too small for me, and a few collars. I thought for a while I
might be able to use my light overcoat for the winter, but on
some days already I have not been warm enough, so decided to
indulge. The Wanamaker store is really a beautiful place, almost
palatial; and as there is plenty of room for everything, it doesn't
seem at all crowded, even though there are lots of people around.
Sam had made arrangements for us to meet his mother with the
car at a quarter past eleven; this we did at schedule time and
place, and spent the rest of the morning driving thru Fairmont
Park. With Mrs. Sewall was a young Miss Airey from England, who
has brothers at the front, and a lady whose name I shan't attempt
to spell, from Trinidad (which is an English dependency) who
has a boy that is an officer in the English volunteer army and
has been all thru the battle of the Somme; he's had all sorts
of narrow escapes, such as having his hat knocked off by a bullet,
having bullets just graze his clothes, and so on, but hasn't
yet been even wounded. He had recently been transferred to Ypres,
and just the day before (Friday) the official reports in the
newspapers told of fighting around there.
Sam is not living at home during the school year, because of
its distance from the university buildings. He is staying at
a hotel called the Covington near the University, and we took
our meals there yesterday. After lunch we went to Chin Chin at
the Forrest Theater, which I enjoyed very much. The comedians
Montgomery and Stone were the features of the show. It has an
oriental setting, which isn't saying anything in its favor, according
to my tastes, but it overcomes this handicap in good music, good
action mostly of the mirth provoking kind, and pretty stage setting
and costumes; the chorus came out the last time arrayed in gorgeous
lavender and purple costumes, which, needless to say, commended
themselves to my eyes.
In the evening we played bridge with a Dr. Elmer and his mother
in their apartments at the Covington; Mrs. Elmer and I being
on the short end of a score against Sam and Dr. Elmer when we
finished for the evening. They were very pleasant people and
I enjoyed the evening very much.
This morning I left Philadelphia at nine o'clock, so as to be
able to keep my appointment with Mr. Wilson.
Do you know if Carter Galt, who is a sophomore at Yale, and comes
from Honolulu, is a nephew of Mrs. Galt that we know? I had it
in mind that some of Mr. Galt's family were in the sugar business
in the Hawaiian islands. I am particularly interested because
he recently became a brother of mine, and is on the football
squad.
I'm not minus any shirts that I can think of, as I don't believe
the one with the darker blue stripe is mine either.
I'll be interested to hear if Raymond has started on the Panama
trip, and think it certainly ought to be very beneficial. I hope
Aunt Sarah has recovered from the effects of her fall; probably
she has been asked quite frequently what happened to the other
fellow.
If you happen to think of something which it would be nice to
get for difficult members of the family for Xmas, I'd be glad
to have you let me know. If somebody wants to make me a present
of a new toothbrush, it will find a use for itself by Christmas.
Would that be called a broad hint?
Lots of love to all
Sylvester
Dear Mother,
The chief event this week has been my visit from Sam. He came
down Thursday morning, reaching the school at the time my 3rd
period algebra class was going on; attended this and my Mediaeval
and Modern History Class which follows. In the afternoon he attended
one of Miss McClelland's German classes and gave her pupils a
little talk on Germany, from his visits there. This was the first
period, while I was having my other algebra class; then he and
I together visited Cruse's Physics class for a while and after
that spent the balance of the afternoon in my room, where I showed
him some of my textbooks, plans of operation, and so on. We stayed
after school for quite a while, as there was a practice of the
boy's glee club, for which I play. He got a chance to meet several
of the other teachers including Dr. Whitney. In the evening we
went over to Atlantic City, and attended a movie show, and a
big German charity bazaar for the widows and orphans of the Central
Powers of Europe, which happened to be going on at the Steel
pier, by which we passed. The most amusing thing about the bazaar
was that at the very entrance they had a Scotch booth! There
were all kinds of booths around, and costumed girls sold chances
on anything from huge dolls to cut glass. Sam stopped at a booth
where they were selling calendars with pictures of the Kaiser,
Von Hindenburg, and other German notables, and after considerable
conversation in German with the man and woman behind the counter
bought a huge calendar with a picture of the Kaiser on it. He
is obsessed with his Teutonic sympathies more than ever, is tickled
to pieces over the tremendous defeat the Rumanians have gotten
at the hands of the Teutonic armies, and expects a drive at the
Saloniki army which will end the war by the end of the year.
I am positive that this will not happen, but do feel very much
disappointed over the way things have gone in the Balkans, and
fear that the end of the war is a thing of a very distant future,
because the Germans are apparently every bit as strong as the
Allies still. Sam stayed with me overnight, and attended my American
History class, the best one I have, the second period in the
morning. Then he went back to Philadelphia, in time to keep a
lunch engagement. Things went along pretty well in my classes
when he visited them and he seemed to be favorably impressed.
I didn't get along in the minstrel show as well as I might have
liked, but Mr. Wilson seemed to think it was all right, said
it was "fine", how ever much it meant. I was mighty
glad when it was over.
Yesterday afternoon I went up to May's Landing with our school
orchestra who played in a program which was given in connection
with a boy's and girl's farm & home exhibit, at the Atlantic
County courthouse, at that place. The orchestra did very well,
particularly considering the short time it has practised together,
and was given generous applause. MacDougall was up there, he
having considerable to do with the exhibit in his capacity as
vocational instructor in agriculture at Hammonton; and at night
I came back to Pleasantville with him in his automobile.
The rest of the week has been all work, and as I have nothing
on the docket this week, I expect I'll work most of the time;
don't expect I'll ever get caught up to the point I'd like to
get, but there is consolation in the thought that every bit I
do this year will serve me in good stead next.
I got a fine letter from Lucinthia this week and am glad she
seems to be enjoying herself so much.
About Christmas presents, I think I need socks and handkerchiefs
as much as anything; every once in a while I run out of the latter
particularly.
According to the Alumni Weekly this past week, another one of
my classmates, "Baldy" Crawford of Cincinnati has lost
his wife; nothing was said about details. Our record is still
intact as far as actual members of the class are concerned; even
Hughey McLean has come thru the war safely thus far, and was
at the Harvard game this year, on a brief furlough. I'm afraid
the chances are pretty much against anyone who is in the war
at the present time.
When I come home this time, I think I shall take the State of
Maine express, which gets into Middletown at 10:28. I think probably
Carey will come up at the same time, and as he can't get home
at that time of night, I'll ask him to stay with me at home;
it will be all right, won't it?
I must get at a letter to Squinthey.
With much love to all
Sylvester
Dear Mother,
This letter will be, I imagine, a record for brevity, as the
past week has been rather barren of particular evens, and I have
been working most of the time. Thursday night I went to a lecture
given by Dr. Whitney on Egypt in the High School auditorium,
a stereoptican lecture illustrated with slides which were pictures
he himself had taken. It was given for the benefit of a fund
which is being raised to get illustrative material for the school.
Last night I went to the basketball team's second game of the
season with the Bartlett Athletic Club of Atlantic City. Our
boys were beaten as they were also by the same team a week ago.
This is the first year that the High School has had a basketball
team, as there has previously been no place for them to play.
I wonder if you have had a lot of snow this past week. We have
had two good storms here, and it is sticking; more snow than
they have had since he has been here, Mr. Winch says. There has
been some real cold weather also, so that there is already good
skating, another thing which scarcely ever happens before Christmas
around here. I do hope there is some skating at home Christmas.
Is Lucinthia going to have anyone home with her this year?
We are going to have one session on Friday, so that I can make
an earlier start than I expected to. Dr. Whitney, Carey, &
I are all going up to New York on the same train, 2:30 from Atlantic
City, which I am expecting to connect me with the 6:00 train
at New York, so that I can get home at 9:30; of course if I miss
it, I'll come up on that later train, as I had originally expected.
In the event I catch the 6:00 train, Carey will be able to get
home and he won't come over to stay with me.
I didn't have any new handkerchief in the laundry last week that
I know of; shall have in the next, however; Carey instead of
returning a borrowed one handed me a new one.
Are the presents for certain people to be from all the family?
I am going to do most of my shopping this week, which is the
reason I am asking.
Needless to say, I'm looking forward to Friday evening and hope
I find everybody well.
With lots of love
Sylvester.
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