jApril 21, 1895,
My dear Mother, -
One more week has flown by- They are busy ones now, and so
they go more quickly- especially the Saturdays and Sundays, to which we
look forward* We always expect to do so much on Saturday, and then,
somehow, when the day is gone, it seems as If we had done so little. Aad
Sunday too, when it is gone, seems so short. Today we w ent to town to
church, because the minister who was to have preached did not come. It
was such a pleasant day that we walked in - I walked in to town yesterday
too, with Belle, as she wished me to help her select a hat. They are begin-
ning to wear straw hats now.
The new dresses are appearing these pleasant days, and the sleeves,
well- they are so inflated that if they grow any larger they will burst. Tell
Edfe that U she makes a aew dress she will have to remember the rule for
sweetening canned pie-plant. "Put as much cloth into the sleeves as your
conscience will allow, then turn away your head and put some more in."
Most of the sleeves are lined with fiber chamois too*, which j&eeps them
very stiff and rattling. And the fiber chamois in the skirt reaches half way
up the back. It looks like yellow wrapping-paper. I am glad the skirts are
made perfectly plain - I guess the attempt to introduce drapery has beea
given up. But box plaits, box plaits, box plaits in the waist.'
I put my name down to stay here for Commencement this year. The
girls told of having such fun at Commencement that I concluded it would be
Apr. 21, 1895 - 2
pleasant to stay- Class-Day is a great occasion. Anna Graham - of
Cleveland - is going to be Prophet of her class then.
The Juniors have been selecting their rooms for next year, in
the last two days. It is a time of great excitement, for there Is such a
difference in the desirability of the rooms. They draw in this way: Mrs.
Kendrick puts a lot of little blocks of wood, each with a number on it,
into her little black handbag. Then the girls pass in front of her, each
"putting in a thumb and pulling out a plum"- Then whoever has drawn
no.I. has first choice of rooms in the building. No. Z second choice and so on.
More and more girls every year seem to want single rooms, so that there
is great demand for them, and the girls near the end have only poor ones
to choose from. And as for the rest of the classes, they have only a few
left
apieceAand a great many of the girls who want them cannot have them.
Probably sixty girls in our class will want singles and only about twenty singles
will probably be at our disposal. I want to get a single room myself if I
can, if I cannot probably Ray and Carrie and I will room together in a
parlor. Otherwise Ray and Carrie will room together In a double. I think
it is not the best thing for the same two girls to room together next year U
we can help it, though of course we should be very happy if we did- We
shall probably draw for rooms tomorrow, and have our rooms all selected
by the next day or two.
Apr, 21, 1895 - 3
Belle Is not coming beck next year, because she can not afford to*
She did not know of the possibility til! Just lately, and it was not settled
till Easter vacation, I am so sorry she has to stop now, for the two
hardest years only, are passed, and the two pleasantest are to come.
Belle's mother needs her too, I think, for she Is sick most of the time,
and is at home alone* The only other members of the family are Belle's
two brothers who are la other towns. Belle has been eway to boarding
school for a good many years, so that I should think her mother had not
seen much of her.
Mary writes that she is making plans on the supposition that she is
coming back next year* but I do not believe she will come back. She is not
as well as she was when she was here. Her mother has been in Princeton
for ten or twelve weeks, where Mary's brother has been very sick with
typhoid fever, so that Mary has herself and the house to take care of, and
her little sister and her sick aunt. She is having the housecleaning done
now and Is seeing to having the whole house papered. There is nothing like
her ambition.
Kate Dunham has selected a single room * a very pretty little one *
though it is little. She does not appear to be very anxious to come back
next year. I think she would have been Just as happy at home, though she
likes it well enough here.
Apr. 21, 1895 - 4
I like it more and more the longer I stay here, that is, I grow
more attached to it. And we are beginning to Txave the professors now,
instead of just teachers. There are so many things that I would like to
study next year, that I am having some difficulty in deciding on my
electives- The Seniors are beginning to feel sorry about leaving - they
have only a few weeks more of college.
Mr. Thompson - ("Uncle Fred" as the girls call him) gave the Seniors each
a spoon last night, as he does every year. The spoons are rather larger
than teaspoons, and are very heavy - quite a nice thing to keep-
Give my love to the neighbors - I am glad Etta is well. I am
relieved that the Kendricks are settled in their house at last, and did not
have any more fuss.
Lovingly Adelaide. (Claflin}
Vassar College. April 21, 1895.