Letter, Kate Gleason to James Gleason
A letter from Kate Gleason to her brother, James Gleason. Kate details items and clothing sent to Jim at Cornell, including an electric lamp. She reports on plans to photograph the family’s yacht and assures Jim that she will send letters of introduction for her former classmates, the “Sage maidens.”
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William Gleason,
Manufacturer of Machinists Tools,
Office, Brown’s Race,
Rochester, N.Y., September 26th. 1888
Dear Jim,-
I have just sent you the lamp (expressage prepaid) which is
destined to light your midnight toil after knowledge. You would
find that a regular student lamp is not a thing of joy, I have seen
a good many of them in operation at Sage and they are prone to get
out of order and while it undoubtedly is splendid exercise for a
body’s mechanical ability to try to tinker ‘em into shape still it
is somewhat exasperating to have the things smoke like Vesuvious
just when a body has four hours worth of studying before him. So I
have sent you a patent electric light and the dealer declares by
the beard of his mother and grand mother and all his female re-
lations that it will never get out of order if you don’t have the
wick trimmed. Mamma send you a satchel to-day with an old shop
suit in it and part of a pair of overalls. The expressage on the
satchel is not prepaid. She expects you to wear the overalls in-
to the cane rush and in case the lower part is not enough for you,
you can buy a jumper down there, she can’t find the one she bought
for you here.
We hav’nt been to the lake yet because the afternoons
that it does’nt rain, it blows a gale; maybe we can go to-morrow; Conrad
is going to take down a regular photographer with us for he thinks
that the yacht won’t look quite perfect if I’m not on it so we are
[cut off] me on and one that I shall take when of course
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as I am not a theosophist and cannot therefore occupy two places at
once I won’t be on.
I will write you at the end of the week and send
you those letters to the Sage maidens.
You better buy your blacking
in that town, it’s not a very high-priced article and they can’t
charge you all your large fortune for one box.
Lovingly,
Kate.