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18950323 See an image of this letter, https://doi.org/10.17613/1d2h-0z41

 

Pernambuco,   23rd March  1895

 

My dear Mother,

My last letter was from Ceará 12th inst.; since then I have returned to P’buco and here I received the missing letter of 21st Jan. and three later ones, 18th & 26th Feby., and 4th March, for all of which many thanks, as well as for the shamrock; it was withered but Mrs Latham is trying to see if she can revive the roots.[1] I was at sea on the 17th but I happened to find a little plant very like shamrock growing in a flower-box in the stern of the steamer and I decorated myself with a sprig of it.[2] An Englishman on board, whom I did not know, came up to speak to me and said how he had forgotten it was St. Patrick’s day till he saw my shamrock. I drank your good health and I hope my wishes were effectual and that you have shaken off that bad cold.

I am at Mrs Latham’s again. The house is full and meanwhile I am sharing a room with Youle.[3] To-night I go to the Gatises for dinner and whist and I have an invitation for Tuesday from Williams.[4] Mrs Williams is a sister of that Miss Boxwell.[5] Her uncle, Mr Boxwell, leaves for home to-day. I have just been on board the Roy. Mail steamer, “Magdalena”; several people I know are homeward-bound, and I had a friendly greeting from several officers with whom I have sailed on various occasions.

I shall likely go down to Bahia on the steamer with Bertie Weinberg.[6]

Keiller is all right but business is not going very well with him I think.[7]

Love to all.

Jack

 

Address

c/o Messrs Adolf Spann & Co[8]

Caixa 1

Rio de Janeiro

  1. Mrs Latham runs an English boarding house in Pernambuco. See Index to People. ↵
  2. 17th March being St Patrick's Day. ↵
  3. Frank Schwind Youle. See Index to People. ↵
  4. Mr G C Gatis, Mrs Mary Fredina Gatis, and their seven children. ↵
  5. Mrs Edith Ann Williams née Boxwell, sister of “that” Miss Boxwell (Ada Boxwell). See Index to People. ↵
  6. Bertie Weinberg: Herbert James Weinberg),  died Perth, Scotland 1896 (the year after letter, aged 28). See Index to People. ↵
  7. John Gibson Keiller (b 9th July 1865 Dundee, d 1897 Pernambuco). Fred Weinberg’s brother in law. See Index to People. ↵
  8. Adolf Spann = Moore & Weinberg agent in Rio de Janeiro. ↵

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John McCaldin Loewenthal: Letters Home from a Victorian Commercial Traveller, 1889 - 1895 Copyright © 2022 by Michelle Fink, Robert Boyd, Sarah Watkinson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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