Letter, Kate Gleason to James Gleason

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William Gleason,
Manufacturer of Machinists Tools,
Office, Brown’s Race,

Rochester, N.Y., Nov. 8th. 1888
Dear Jim,-
Emma was in the office last night at five o’clock when
your letter came so that she too has received the benefit of its
vivid descriptions, interesting narative and sparkling wit. By the
way, my son, I would advise you forthwith to answer her last letter if
you have not already done so because there was an ominous gleam in
her beautiful orbs when she said that she had her opinion of you for
making her wait three weeks.
I hardly know what to think of the card
you enclose. If it means that you have joined the Delta U’s I
have nothing to say. If it means you are thinking about it, I
would advise you to wait until after Christmas as you said you would
before you left home. You can’t know, Jim, how the opinions
about people you form in your first term will change and if there is
one thing more than another that is a weariness of the flesh it is to
belong to a college fraternity when the members are no longer con-
genial to you. However, it’s safer to join Delta U. in a hurry
than Beta Theta Pi or even Si U. The Beta Thet’s have too lately
come from under the shadow of their past reputation to be beyond
risk. And the Si U’s comprise one or two of the meanest prigs in
the university. If Philip Price Barton is still there it might in-
terest you to notice him as an instance of how really disagreeable a
person can become when he gives his whole mind to it. Once I had
him for a partner at a progressive Euchre party and he was so cold he
made my teeth ache. But the Delta U’s have some disagreable mem-

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bers too. However I suppose we can’t have the Earth and as long
as Harrison is elected I won’t grumble at my share of it. Father
made a power of money on the election Tuesday night. He did’nt
bet a dollar before election for fraid of having his vote challenged
and he did’nt mean to vote Tuesday but when the returns began coming
in at night, it was supposed that N.Y. State had gone Democratic and
the Democrats were going about flourishing their money and offering
to bet all the way from two to one to five to one. And the Repub-
licans maintained a tearful silence. It made Father mad and he
felt sure of the election anyway so he put up all the money he had
with him and all he could borrow from his friends and the conse-
quence is he is in a handsome sum over all the money he has paid out
to campaign committees which was no trifle and is expecting a large
assortment of silk hats. Archie Mahon is out $40 and young Connor
who is the president of our ‘Dawn Club’ is out $125. We had some
fun with the Democrats at the Dawn Club party last night. There
was Harry Moody, Louis Beattie, Archie Mahon, Connors, Connolly, Barthol-
omay and the Joyce’s all rabid Democrats and Emma, Od Spiehler, George
Motley and I managed to make their life a burden to them. Emma’s
latest seems to be Connors, at least he followed her around between
dances and the times he was’nt dancing with her he spent watching
her dancing with some other fellow. I don’t know whether you ever
met him. He is in Howe & Rogers, about 24 or 5 and the iwttiest
fellow and best dancer I’ve seen in a good while. Mabel Hebard, a
girl who was at Sage last year has been visiting me for a week, went
home yesterday morning. She said she saw you once. She had gone
over to Sibley with Marian Colt and Betty Marcellis to look for Prof.
Smith when ‘a little blck-headed boy jumped up from behind a draft-
ing board and told them where to find the prof.’ After they had
left the room, Marian told her that the black-headed individual was
the brother of his illustrious sister and she was sorry she had not
known before you were worthy of close inspection. Emma will
start for Detroit next Tuesday morning to be gone until Christmas
anyway possibly until the first of February and in prospect the world
seems a dreary blank. If I can, I am going to resign from the Dawn
Club until she returns.
Mother is going down Thanksgiving safe enough,
she is already seeing about having her teeth fixed. She has some
idea of taking you down with her to Athens to have Thanksgiving with
Mrs. Mc’Evoy. Business is still good. We have discharged
Shatzel for general tomfoolishness connected with drinking too much
beer but he is the only one of the old men who has gone lately.
As soon as the bank opens, I will go hence and buy you the
customary $25 draft and enclose it in answer to your touching appeal.
Lovingly,
Kate.
Hope you will cultivate Prof. Smith all he’ll let you. If you
manage to acquire any of his charm of manner, I’ll give you my blessing.
Irv. Briggs wants you to write him. Archie Mahon will write you
as soon as he recovers from the present low state of feeling arising
from his party’s defeat.