Letter, Kate Gleason to James Gleason
A letter from Kate Gleason to her brother, James Gleason. Kate reports on campus life at Cornell University, where she attends college. She tells Jim about her attempt to learn to play tennis, a classmate’s “crush” on him, and the likelihood that he will be “rushed” by multiple fraternities when he arrives at Cornell the following year. She praises the school’s drill parades and confesses she was recently distracted from her work by a baseball game, which she watched through the classroom window. She complains that the bad weather has interfered with her weekend plans for a picnic and an outing in the woods and tells her brother that she is “more determined than ever to lead a life of unmitigated toil” when she returns home to Rochester.
[page 1]
Sibley College Drafting Room
Rochester, N
Ithaca, N.Y.
May 12 ’88
Dear Jim,-
Your touching appeal
has moved me to write to
you the ten page letter you
ask for; if this letter
does’nt amount to ten
pages it will be because
I am not swift enough
to get that much written
in the hour between
now and dinner.
Those five letters you
mention must be an
effort of your brilliant
imagination. I hav’nt
seen them,- I only wish
I had.
The fact that I play
[page 2]
Tennis so much worse than
any one else down here
is a sorrow to me and one
of the girls suggested that
the best way for me to
learn was to begin some
morning and play all
day even if I had to be
carried in on a stretcher
at night; that to practice
half an hour at a time
would’nt do me any good
so I dedicated this day
to the effort. Began with
Mr Dix at six o’clock this
morning – he was exhausted
by eight. Then I captured
Bryant Blood (Bryant is a
fellow who went to Prof. Hale
the year before you did, says
he has heard the Prof. speak
of you) and he played
[page 3]
until after ten. Then
Vivian Fay who had also
been playing since early
dawn for the same laudible
purpose that I had, began
to play with me. After four
hours steady playing she was
somewhat tired and as she is
a wealthy young lady she hired
a small boy to “shag” her
balls but I was as fresh
as ever yet and did my
own “shagging” We were
just getting on in great
style when a thunder
shower came up and now
it’s raining as though it
had come for a week
[page 4]
so I came over to do some
drafting but have changed
my mind to write to you.
You will be charmed to hear
that you have made a
“crush” on Ruth White, Ex=
Pres. White’s daughter; or rather
your picture has. She was
in my room yesterday after=
noon and noticed your photo
sticking in the looking=glass.
She proceeded to admire
it and when I told her it
was my brother who is
coming here next year,
she asked me to give
you a letter of intro=
duction to her because
she wanted to meet you &
rush you for the Si
U fraternity. My son
if you come down here
[page 5]
next year I can give you
the information that you
are going to be rushed.
Mr Dix has “put all the
Theta Delt’s onto you” and
Mr Blood the Delta U’s
through what he heard
from Prof. Hale. You will
probably have some fun
for a month or two.
The Rochester parades and
uniform drills won’t seem
so fine to me after see=
ing the battalion drill
here three times a week.
They have a uniform
like the Florence Cadets
except that only the
[page 6]
officers have the white stripe
down the leg; the privates
have plain trousers. The
helmets are like that white
one that young Chapin
left upstairs in the office,
cheap affairs of course, but
they look well at a distance.
the Colonel and his staff
are mounted and [illegible]
out in great style, they al=
ways have the band for
drilling and it is a fine
way [illegible]. Yesterday they
did the double=quick
from the civil=engineer=
ing building to the Armory,
quarter of a mile and
you would admire the
way they kept step and
kept the lines straight;
it looked as though it
[page 7]
were hard to do on the
hummocky ground.
Yesterday afternoon the
Hobart nine played the
Cornell’s,- score 17-3 for
Cornell. I can see the
game from my drafting
room and from the
amount of drafting I did
yesterday afternoon, I am
afraid I must have looked
at the game more than
at my work. The Hobarts
had one good man, the
captain. Two of their three
runs, he made on home
runs, the other one he
made a three=bagger &
[page 8]
and the next fellow did
manage to make a base
and let him home but
such a lot of sticks as
the rest of that nine were,
it must just about break
the captains heart to
watch them pretend to play.
It’s a mean shame it’s rain=
ing to=day; seems to be Sat=
urday and Sunday ought to
be exempt from this kind
of weather for I always
depend on having a pic=
nic Saturday afternoon
and sitting out in the
woods all day Sunday
trying to get sunburned;
I am only succeeding
in getting freckled but I’m
doing that [illegible].
Emma had not told
[page 9]
me you had gone into
the yacht. It must look
right smart when all that
money has been spent on
her, those boys must have
had a raise in salary in
order to stand it. I suppose
the reason you have your
engagements all filled up
with the Rochester girls is
because you have girls
aboard only once in
two weeks. You might
as well give away my
dates for I am more
determined than ever
to lead a life of unmit=
igated toil when I come
[page 10]
back and if there was a
chance for me to go out
on that sup sumptuous
vessel, the temptation
would probably overpower
me so if you give
away all the dates, it
will be all the better for
me. I am sorry to say
the hour is up. – thought
I could get through more
than this in that time,
would keep right on in
with this delightful
letter but that after
that Tennis playing I
feel the need of some
dinner.
Lovingly Yours
Kate.
P.S. Have just drawn $30 to pay my
board in advance.