"John Bruce Glasier, he has done so much for the cause" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner BC16/Box5/Fold1/1912/19 |
| Archive | University of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | 24 May 1912 |
| Address From | De Aar, Northern Cape |
| Address To | Chambers, St Georges Street, Cape Town, Western Cape |
| Who To | William Philip ('Will') Schreiner |
| Other Versions | |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to Manuscripts and Archives, University of Cape Town, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscripts and Archives Collections. The address this letter was sent to is provided by an attached envelope, on the back of which is the final insertion.
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1
De Aar
2 May 24th 1912
3
4 Dear Laddie
5
6 I know how busy you are but could you drop me a line to tell me what
7you thought of her when you went to Blauwberg on Sunday. Does she seem
8to you any better? Or worse?
9
10 I am much amused by the great business they seem to have made of
11putting that fireplace in. It is one days work or a day & a half at
12most, for a man with a boy to help him hand on the bricks, & ought to
13cost £2 at most for bricks work & all! I have three times put a big
14fire place into a ready made house & if they begin one morning I have
15had it finished, plastered & the mantlepiece in & a fire burning by
16three o’clock the next afternoon! I would not have advised it if I
17thought it was such a vast business! Does she find it a comfort? Here
18it is now so hot that the thought of fireplaces are terrible! We are
19having real summer weather, so our winter will be short.
20
21 It is a holiday today & Cron is as usual playing golf. His mother at
22Muizenberg has had a stroke, & he is likely going down on Saturday
23night to see her. I’m sorry ?Hall has left the ministry, but I knew
24there must be a break up soon
25 Olive
26
27 ^Isn’t it loathsome that all those women & men saved themselves &
28left all those women children to die on the Titanic. I feel deeply the
29disgrace those women have thrown on all womanhood who left their
30husbands to die alone while the escaped. Especially young brides who
31had no large families of children to think of. But some women died
32game. Mrs Strauss & the young girl who made her aunt get in in her
33place.^
34
35 ^Have got your letter many thanks.^
36
37
38
2 May 24th 1912
3
4 Dear Laddie
5
6 I know how busy you are but could you drop me a line to tell me what
7you thought of her when you went to Blauwberg on Sunday. Does she seem
8to you any better? Or worse?
9
10 I am much amused by the great business they seem to have made of
11putting that fireplace in. It is one days work or a day & a half at
12most, for a man with a boy to help him hand on the bricks, & ought to
13cost £2 at most for bricks work & all! I have three times put a big
14fire place into a ready made house & if they begin one morning I have
15had it finished, plastered & the mantlepiece in & a fire burning by
16three o’clock the next afternoon! I would not have advised it if I
17thought it was such a vast business! Does she find it a comfort? Here
18it is now so hot that the thought of fireplaces are terrible! We are
19having real summer weather, so our winter will be short.
20
21 It is a holiday today & Cron is as usual playing golf. His mother at
22Muizenberg has had a stroke, & he is likely going down on Saturday
23night to see her. I’m sorry ?Hall has left the ministry, but I knew
24there must be a break up soon
25 Olive
26
27 ^Isn’t it loathsome that all those women & men saved themselves &
28left all those women children to die on the Titanic. I feel deeply the
29disgrace those women have thrown on all womanhood who left their
30husbands to die alone while the escaped. Especially young brides who
31had no large families of children to think of. But some women died
32game. Mrs Strauss & the young girl who made her aunt get in in her
33place.^
34
35 ^Have got your letter many thanks.^
36
37
38