| Disgrifiad | Afloat : will arrive in New York tomorrow; has had a bad and rough voyage, which she describes in detail. She has heard that G[rand] M[ama]'s death has kept his "hands very full"; enquires about the funeral; is curious to know if Kitty [her sister] has had "all her things", and wants certain items (a fender stool, pictures, ottomans, and a ring) bought for her at the sale. Describes the local church, with its carpets and stained glass, as "like an oven, the Americans are so fond of heat"; the casual behavior of American servants and tradesmen. Hopes Kitty will join her in the spring; the servant problem; hot-air central heating in America homes and shops; the cold weather gives her toothache [her recurring complaint]; the children are ill with whooping cough; Wynn [her husband] is very busy but not earning a great deal. On 28 Dec. 1871 receives a letter from J J dated 10 December; is homesick from England; her first Christmas in America. Weather is still very cold in Feb; house rents are very high ... 500 to 600 dollars a year for a modest house; the Alabama question and the possibility of war between Britain and America. Is shocked to hear of "John's" death (26 Feb 1872); Wynn has been very ill. She can get 5 dollars 51 ½ cents for every £1 sterling! The May blossoms and wild flowers at Kingston; large numbers of Welsh people and Welsh chapels in the area; American politeness; the heat, storms, flies and mosquitoes; the shortage of fresh meat and ice; 4th July celebrations. Would like photos of the family; her son Hughie has 2 large, front teeth like J J's ... so you see those teeth are not lost but gone before - into another generation"; the Kellogg Company has had an opera season in Wilkes Barre (April 1874); her loneliness; is shocked to hear of the scarlet fever outbreak in Ruabon (December 1874); American servants are not only casual, but untrustworthy and "unefficient"; a mining recession in America (December 1874), with many out of work and riots feared; her husband Wynn's dilemma at a shaft indefinitely closed; has been troubled by ague and the family compliant - indigestion; is concerned to hear of her mother's diagnosed tumour and later her operation; a crowded sleigh-ride - 2 adults and 6 children. Plans to bring Hughie with her when she visits home; a coal shortage in a very severe winter, due to strikes; "hard times prices" and recession in America, leading to the levy of a poor rate (March 1875). Has read of her mother's death in the Wrexham paper (18 March 1875) and is desperately anxious for her father, and to be near him; has also heard that Aunt Lydia [Kenrick] is dying - "a very few short years more and we shall all have gone, and the places that know us will know us no more for ever". Her obvious affection for her father - as witness the many letters between the 2 in the Wynn Hall Mss - erupts : "I am so very, very thankful that you have not been taken away. I do not know that I should ever care to come to England again if you were gone". |