Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1006/004.006.002-006#018

Lacaune
April 21, 1918
Dearest, dearest Family,
What do you think of the enclosed!! — I can’t [crossed out: believe] ^think^ that it will come as a complete surprise to you, for doubtless the home papers have already got hold of it, but perhaps you haven’t seen this particular version — the Paris New York Herald for April 17th. Isn’t it “incroyable”! — And at the same time so truly Douglas-ian! You can imagine how I felt when I saw “Doug here“ — calmly staring at me from the first page of a 2-days old Herald. I still can’t believe its[sic] not a cut-out letter or a billiard room fireside dream. But the cigarette - incident makes it so characteristically Douglas that there’s no mistaking. Wouldn’t you know that he would do just that! —
Think of Douglas with a Croix de Guerre on his chest! He’ll probably never wear it And the exhibition of the captured machines in the public square, the letter from the commander and all — I can’t get over it and am nearly dying at having no one to gasp over it with.
I knew so well that first and last time I saw Douglas that he
[written up the left side of this first page:]
Refugees pour in every few days. The other night Mlle de Rose had another band from her[?] patronage at Paris &we helped settle them in her mother’s farmhouse nearby. Such pitiful, weary giving little things. (page 2) would make good among the first. He is a born aviator if ever there was one, and will be a second [??] Think, too, of his being among the first in the American army to bring down an enemy.
Shades of past April 19ths! Trust Douglas to find an original way of celebrating it this year of years!][Erica’s bracket]
Begin[Erica’s darker ink] I’m writing by candle & firelight in the great salon, mostly in the fireplace, so chilly and snowy are these April days. It’s a kill-or-cure climate, but ^thanks to [??] & Presles^ I’m thriving as I’ve never thriven before, and am growing positively ruddy of complexion. It’s too funny tho’ to be practically en-plein hiver with every thick[?] thing one can muster on one’s back, and June only 5 weeks away! As a matter of fact, they say [crossed out: here][?] that there are only 4 good months here, which bodes rather ill for the children next autumn & winter — but the war may be over by that time, or they may all be as husky[?] as the natives. Anyway, for the time being we have coal and wood, and things are beginning to get under way atlast[sic]. The big dormitory is almost finished, and we’ve actually scrubbed every one of our 80 from head to foot! The two nurses are finely[?sic] settled in one of the little adjoining chalets which is to serve as hospital &dispensary, and already our little malade, in spite of cold
[Written up the left side of this second page:]
The abbé’s name is Jacques and he told me that he knew the geology Prof. Davis of Harvard — Mrs. Mollie Wyman’s husband n’est-ce pas?
(page 3) and rain, is cheering up wonderfully.
I still wallow hopelessly in problems of housekeeping and the buying of large-scale supplies, but fortunately the colony doesn’t have to depend on my judgment alone. Today, for instance, we had to buy a pair of oxen for the establishment, and you can imagine what expert advice I had to offer! It’s a funny life and a thrilling one and I may end by being really domestic — who knows. Everyone is so kind and helpful, and so far we haven’t, to our knowledge, been cheated once in spite of the rather “close” [??] character of the farmers. I am trying so hard to start in right, and [crossed out: not] counteract the idea that Americans have money to throw away. And yet sometimes, the finenesses[?] of French economy, as practised by Mlle de Rose, almost make my hair stand on end. It’s a most wonderful experience to see it from the inside, and to realize how far into every detail of life it can be carried. I don’t believe any American, even the most conscientious New England housewife ever dreamed of the economies they practice daily over here to save a few sous!
To add to the variety of the days’ experiences, we had a visit last ^week-end^ from Mille de Rose’s cousin, an abbé-professeur ^from Albi[?]^. He was most charming, but hopelessly professorial, driving (page 4) me nearly frantic with searching demands for statistics of this, that &the other thing in America — the population of Boston, the percentage of German-Americans, etc. etc. always correcting me with the right answers afterwards.
We had a heated discussion about America’s entry into the war, he insisting that the final plunge was brought about only by a sudden change of feeling on Wilson’s part, rather than by a growing ^public^ sentiment, &we had it back & forth in wild English & French which grew perfectly hysterical, so powerless was each of us to express our ideas clearly in the other’s language. But, he was a real man — the first I’ve met in his profession — had been at the front for three years of chaplain service in the trenches, and made perhaps the biggest hit[?] of all with me by insisting on sweeping the salon for us, with his poilu cap tilted on the back of his head, & sometime[?] swishing in the dust! I wish you could have seen the Sisters’ expressions when they saw him! The idea of Monsieur le Cure’s being allowed to do such menial labor as that [crossed out: nearly finished] ^simply horrified^ them — but they couldn’t help seeing the humor of it, quand même!
I must dash to the Pole of the upper regions before it grows any later] end[Bun’s end bracket and word “end”] Goodnight dearest People, and forgive this drowsy letter.
Your Bun
I was appalled at the idea of my letters being read at Aunt A’s. They’re so hopelessly flat in comparison with the realities.
[Written down the left side of this fourth page:]
I’m so grateful for the War Hymns, Browning etc. They almost take the place of not having people for the trenches to talk things over with.

• Keywords: long archives; henry w. longfellow family papers (long 27930); erica (thorp) de berry; document; correspondence; henry wadsworth longfellow family papers (1006); places; france; lacaune; subject; education; school; war; world war i; Erica Thorp deBerry Papers (1006/004.006); (LONG-SeriesName); Outgoing (1006/004.006.002); (LONG-SubseriesName); 1918 (1006/004.006.002-006); (LONG-FileUnitName)