Letter from Walter Reed to Emilie Lawrence Reed, December 31, 1900 |
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Columbia Barracks,
Quemados, Cuba,
Decr. 31st 1900.
My precious wifie:
If my letter
of the 24th did well in reaching
you on the 27th, yours of the
latter date made just as good
time nearly, for I got it this
morning -- your dear letters
now come through very
promptly, and all of them are
written in such a cheerful
strain, that it makes me
very happy whenever I get
them- Of course, no one suf-
fering with your foot, as
you did, could possibly
write cheerful letters-
Even with a growling tooth
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I feel cross and ill-natured.
All day long my old "snag"
has growled and groaned
as if it proposed to take ad-
vantage fully of every re-
maining hour and minute of
the 19th Century- I even had
to seek relief from the appli-
cation of Cocaine just before
6 o'clock -- this evening- It has
about reached the height
of its anger, so that I expect
to be more comfortable by
tomorrow- Out it goes, just
as soon as I can reach a
dentist- It has tresspassed
on my forbearance and good
nature just once too often-
Say, sweet Miss Gouty,
tell me about that cake
you sent! When & how did
you send it? by express?
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If so, it hasn't reached Hava-
na yet -- at least, it hasn't
escaped from the Havana
custom-house. I had for-
gotten to thank my sweet wifie
for her thoughtfulness in send-
-ing it, and will certainly en-
joy it, when it once arrives,
as it will after awhile!
I would have gone to Cap't.
Slocum's, this evening, to see
the old year out & the new
in, but my face felt so un-
comfortable that I thought
that I had better stay at
home and retire early-
Last evening, I called on Col.
& Mrs. Burton, whom you will
remember as our next door
neighbors at Fort Sidney-
They are very pleasant people
and the Colonel has been par-
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ticularly courteous to me, since
I have been down here- The
little girls whom you will probably
recall, are now grown young
ladies, -- one being married to
an officer- I don't pretend to do
much visiting here, for the gar-
rison is so large that one could
spend half his time in making
calls- I occasionally get out
and make a few & then feel
so thankful when I don't have
to go out. But I'll make some
visits with you, sweetheart,
when I get back! Oh! yes I
will -- with my long-tail coat and
my very high hat! won't we
cut a "figer"? well, I should
say so! I wonder what my
precious girls are doing to-
night? Staying up to see the
new year & Century in? I wonder
if they really are doing so? or
is dear little fat love still
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down with Helen? If so, she
will probably dance the New
Year in, while Mother, dear, will
like a sensible woman, retire
early and dream of her Mantee.
Boom! There goes the nine
o'clock gun, fired from Morro
Castle! we hear it here very
plainly on a quiet night, as
this is. Not only is it a quiet
night, but it is a most beau-
tiful moonlit night- just such
an one as we might have
at our dear little Mountain
home in June; with the ther-
mometer standing in my room
at 77°! It is impossible to
think of such a balmy, warm
night, as being the 31st of
December! What a country
for a heavenly climate this
Cuba is! But I, also, hear
the bugles blowing tattoo and
I must check, for a while,
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this letter- Heaven be with
my precious girls and with my
dear boy, while the moon creep.
on through the Heavens [night] ! God
keep them well and give them
happiness through the new
year! 11:50 P. M. Dec. 31st 1900- Only 10
minutes of the old Century re-
main, lovie, dear. Here I have
been sitting reading that most
wonderful book- La Roche on
Yellow fever -- written in 1853-
Forty-seven years later it
has been permitted to me &
my assistants to lift the im-
penetrable veil that has
surrounded the causation
of this [most] dreadful pest of hu-
manity and to put it on a
rational & scientific basis-
I thank God that this has
been accomplished during
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the latter days of the old
century- May its cure be
wrought out in the early
days of the new century!
The prayer that has been
mine for twenty or more years,
that I might be permitted
in some way or sometime
to do something to alleviate
human suffering, has been
answered! 12 midnight! A
thousand happy new years
to my precious, thrice precious
wifie and daughter! Congrat-
ulations to my sweet girls on
their good health upon the
arrival of the New Century!
Hark! there go the 24 bu-
glers, all in concert, soun-
ding "Taps" for the old year!
How beautiful it floats
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through the midnight air and
how appropriate! Good-night
my sweet joys, a thousand sweet
dreams of father and dear brother!
kisses & love & love & kisses for
my precious, thrice precious
girls in these first minutes
of the 20th Century! January 1st, 1901 -- 9.30 P. M.
What a perfectly beautiful
day this first of the year has
been! It has been such a
perfect day here, that I
can hardly believe but that
you have, also, had a nice
day in Washington- At
noon, we paid our respects
to the C.O., and at 2 P.M. went
over to see the horse-races-
Cuban horses ridden by
Cuban riders- It was lots
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of fun, sport and excite-
ment and I enjoyed it very
much- The gesticulations
and chattering of the crowd
was [were] even better than the
races- Had a real good
dinner -- chicken -- sliced
tomatoes with mayonnaise,
ice-cream & cake & c -- we
don't often have such a
good bill of fare, and hence
it was duly appreciated.
Jerusalem! if I could only
once more get a real good
cup of coffee, what would
I not give! Ours is simply
vile and I swallow it always
under protest! Have some
for me when I get back
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lovie, dear- I celebrated
the day by writing to Gen.
Sternberg & requested him to
have the order for our return
issued, so that we could
leave here right after the
Close of the Pan-American
Congress. Six weeks from
to-day, sweetheart, I hope
to be back with my pre-
cious children- I enclose a
check for $312.50 which you
must have Beechner deposit
for you- I wrote to Mr Meyers to send
him over for it- You don't have
to endorse the check, lovie, dear-
I sat up so late, last night, sweet-
heart that I am going to bed
early to-night & will mail this
before I retire- Send expenses for
December- Love & Kisses for my
dear, sweet girls. Devotedly,
Papa
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