Letter from Walter Reed to Emilie Lawrence Reed, October 6, 1900 |
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Monday morning
Oct. 8. How is
the sweetest oom-
sey & the sweetest
Cocoon this morn-
ing- Love & kisses
unnumbered for
my dear, dear
babies- Devotedly
Papa.
Columbia Barracks,
Quemados, Cuba,
Saturday Evening
Oct 6, 1900.
My precious wifie:
Your dear
letter of last Sunday,-- al-
most one week ago -- was
received, this morning, and
you can't imagine how
glad I was to get it, and
that, too, from the very sweet-
est woman in the world!
How I would like to have
seen dear Miss Room-fixer
down on her very "Mar-
-row-bones", demonstrating
to that horridly stupid
man how to wax a floor!
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That was right, lovie, dear-
give it to him! There
is nothing like making
a man do things right!
Of course the parlor looks
sweet & attractive, if my
joy had the arranging
of it! How's that for
a real, nice compliment?
you see that although
your bad mantee has
come all the way to
Cuba, he hasn't forgotten
how to pay compliments
He hopes that many,
many years will pass
ere he ceases to say
sweet things to his
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precious, precious wifie!
Now, you musn't have
any fear about my being
here now any more than
you did in June for there
is much less danger Now-
Then we had an epidemic
next door to us- Now
it's no nearer than Ha-
vana -- 6 miles away-
Honestly, lovie, dear,
could you ever have
respected & loved me
if I had proved my-
self to be a moral
coward? I don't believe,
when you come to con-
sider the matter carefully
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but that you will yet
say that I did the right
and proper thing- Certain-
ly my conscience would
have never rested ea-
sily- Dr Lazear contracted
the disease at the yellow
fever [Hospital in Havana] by letting an in-
fected mosquito bite
him- He saw the insect
on his hand & deliberate-
ly let it get its fill
of blood in order to
test our theory- Five
days later he had his
chill, followed by high
fever- His case was
a very severe one from
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the beginning, his death
occurring on the 6th
day there after- He was
a splendid, brave
fellow & I lament his
loss more than words
can tell; but his death
was not in vain-
His name will live
in the history of those
who have benefited
humanity- The dan-
gerous part of the
work is now over &
there is no need for
you, my sweetheart, to con-
tinue to worry about me.
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When I want any thing
done in Havana, Dr
Carroll goes in for me.
I am so glad that Mr
Wilde came over and
fixed your corner shelves,
I know that you are much
more comfortable than
you were- By the way,
I must enclose a nice
little note that dear
Doctor Flexner wrote
to you in care of the Surg,
General & which the chief
clerk stupidly sent
here to me, Flexner
is a dear, good, kind-
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hearted friend & you
must write to him
at once & thank him.
I can't write any more
just now, sweet oom-
sey, but will add some
more tomorrow- Boo! Boo!
Sunday Evening. 7th October - well
what a lovely day this has been
& I have enjoyed it so much-
Dr Kean, your friend, has been
over to see me and four or
five other officers called to see
me- I am getting along very
nicely in my old quarters
and have a most surprising
appetite- I can't imagine why
I should eat so much here,
but is nevertheless true.
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If it were only cooked a
little bit better, I am afraid
that I would hurt myself
eating- How has that dear joy
gotten along at school? Have
patience with her, mother, dear,
if she doesn't progress rapidly
in literature- I hardly need
think that she needs to take
French- She probably wouldn't
advance very much in it-
Did you get the pencil letter that
I wrote off the N.Y. Light Ship-
The pilot said that he would
mail it, but I am afraid that
he did not- Of course, you
haven't had any letter yet
as the first mail leaving Ha-
vana since my arrival was
only on yesterday- I missed
Wednesday's mail as I arrived
on Thursday- Boo! Boo! |
