A 100 Year Old Letter _To the Day

Edith Nicholson and Herbert Nicholson, 191o ish. Well, I’ve written Threshold Girl, about Flora Nicholson in 1911/12 and I’ve started in on The Diary of a Confirmed Spinster about Edith, above which involves opiates, the Rossmore Hotel Fire in Cornwall and the Suffragette Movement, and I’m taking a pause on my play about Montreal City Hall in 1927, so here’s a letter from Herb, whom I have no plans to write about, not yet anyway. I still have his sister Marion’s story to plot out, it’s a love story so EASY!!

The Strassburg Hotel

Sugatt and Arbo, proprietors

Strassburg Jan 7, 1912 (It was  a Sunday)

Dear Father,

Was more than pleased to get your letter and must thank you for the Xmas present which is the best present I would wish for. (Paid Mason dues.)  I never get my notice of  Masonic meetings now so I did not know how much to send. You are very fortunate to be having such mild weather.

It turned cold here a day or two before Xmas and at times has been 45 and some say a low as 52 degrees below zero here. Today is considered a very mild day, only about 23 below. It  makes it very bad in my line as the farmers can not haul their grain and as a result I have not been able  to do any business this year so far. Do not know how long the company (Massey Harris) will want to pay my salary and expenses the way things are, although they seem well satisfied so far.

I suppose you see by the papers how serious the car shortage and terminal elevators blockade has become. It looks far worse to me than most people here are willing to admit and what makes it worse is the fact of so much of the crop being threshed after the snow and if it cannot be marketed before the soft weather in the spring. The whole trouble is that the increased acreage each year in crop is more than the increased railway facilities are and will be for years to come.

In other words, they can put the crop in on new breaking faster than they can build railroads and the very way out of the difficulty is to shop our grain south. Take  down the American duties and you will see about twenty miles of railway built across the line instead of stopping at  this time for no reason in the world. It would be of course only a short build in each case and each one would be a new outlet in itself which with our own. It does not matter how many branches they build as there will only be one outlet and the more branch lines the greater will be the block as soon as they strike the main lines running to the terminals.

I tell you the defeat of reciprocity was the worse thing that ever happened to all even the manufacturers as they are forcing a Depression on to the country and when that comes they will suffer like the rest and in the end it is bound to come. Well, do not know of any news so will have to close. Am going to write this to you at home and should you be away mother will forward to you. Hope you are all well. I am getting to fat I can barely move around, weight 187. Dinner ready so will close with love to all around and best wishes for 1912

Your Son Herbert

Letter From Hugh 1912

Marion, in Hudson? Love wasn’t always such smooth sailing. A real ‘love’ letter from Hugh to Marion. In September he blows off a woman, Jean, who has clearly been on his back to marry, so he is seeing two women here, at this moment in time. So his address My Dear Marion is slightly premature

Montreal, Quebec
August 11, 1912
My dear Marion,

Your very kind letter of the 6th came duly to hand a few days ago and intended to answer it at once but have not been able. Bill went away to see about a cut of lumber which was offered our firm and I had to see to the business here. I phoned home on Friday evening telling them that I thought that I would go down for over Sunday by the 1.30 train, but when the hour came around for me to go I was closing a purchase which I made so therefore I could not leave. Then I decided to go down at 5 o’clock, but at 2.50 I was called up by one of my customers at Mile End and had to go out and fix him up, by the time I was through with him, I had the pleasure of seeing the 5 o’clock train going by at the crossing at Park Avenue. So instead of writing you from home in Three Rivers, I am as you will no doubt notice, writing you from Montreal.

I am pleased to learn through your letter that you are having a nice time and sincerely trust that it will continue so right through. I do not doubt your word in the least Re: Edith being a good guide. Leave it to her, as the saying goes.We have had very disagreeable weather since Wednesday. It has rained every day. This morning it seemed to be nice and clear but it started to cloud up and about one o’clock and at present looks as if we were going to have a thunder storm. I hope you are not getting this kind of weather your way or it will certainly spoil your trip.

I do not think that there is very much danger of having the White of my eye frozen right now, but I had an awful time with it from the blow I got a few weeks ago.

Some way or other a piece of paper got into it at the time I was struck and turned out to be very painful as it caused the eye to swell up again, a couple of days after I had written you, I went to the Doctor about it and he took a little piece of green paper out from under the lid. He said that it was the poison from the dye that was causing all he pain, so just gave me a solution to wash it with and it is again better and hope that I shall not get anymore green or white paper in it as it is not at all pleasant to my personal feelings, I would much rather someone else try it for a change as the sample I got was quite sufficient for my liking. The worst of it was that I was not at all satisfied with what he did take out, as I imagined that he would take out something about the size of (he draws a huge blob here) it felt all of that size) but to my great disappointment he only took out a piece about this size (he draws a dot).

That’s what really made me so made after was to think that such a mite should make me suffer so much. The doctor laughed when I first went in to see him at the question or rather the answer I gave him when he asked me what brought me there. I said that I had come to see him about my eye as I thought that I must have something in it. He said, what do you think it is? I said, I don’t think anything, all I can say that it feels very sore and about the size of an elephant. Well, he said if it is an elephant that you have in your eye, I won’t have much trouble in seeing it. I said, you shouldn’t. After examining the eye he took this speck out and said (showing the spec) there is your elephant.

You should be here tonight to hear the Mr. Gordon give a sermon to the young men. The subject tonight will be “Mistakes Young Men Make” so being so young I intend to take it in.

I notice by the advertisements that there will be quite a few nice plays out this fall in Montreal. So if I am here – and of course you also – and care to them in, I will enjoy taking you along. Of course, I would not like to neglect our Old Standby at the Orpheum. But I suppose there is no use planning too far ahead as many changes can take place between now and then.

I saw Purves last Monday and he was telling me that Mr. And Mrs. MacLeod were down at the seashore. He told me where , but I forget. And that Mrs. MacLeod was partially paralyzed since she has had fever. I am very sorry for her and the family as it will go hard with them.

I notice how very neatly you throw sarcasm at me in your letter. Re: You find that you have to send something in the shape of a letter in order to get one yourself. Very good for you, old gal, as I never thought it was in you. But of course ‘Smartness” here will have to comment by saying rather hard to write to Marion Nicholson Boston Mass. When and where do you think that the letter would find you. Then to find out that you are at 148 Hollis St, Framingham Mass. Is another proposition. So go easy. I suppose you have full intentions of trying your hand at the smuggling game upon your return home into Canada. Be careful as you might have to send for help to bail you out. I can see where you would not have anymore rest from the “Kiddy” if you do get caught.

As I have not anything very startling to tell you I will bring this chapter to an end by wishing you all kind of good wishes for a very pleasant and good trip.

Yours sincerely
Hughie