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Vassar College,
Feb. 16, 1894.
[Two words in Greek]. -
Papa, I hope you notice the classic beginning to my letter, which shows that I have been imbibing Homer. We were reading in the Odyssey the other day about a maiden who asked her father for something and addressed him in the above phrase, which means "papa dear." I never knew before that the word papa was in the Greek literally, except that it is spelled pappa. And now that I have addressed you as the Greek maiden did, I must follow her example further, and ask you for something, and that is, to please attend to my semester bill, which came this morning, and which I am requested to forward to you immediately. You see there are no charges for extras, as I have taken pains to need no medical attendance or extra washing. It is very easy for me to get along without extra washing, and I dont see how it is that some girls have laundry bills of forty or fifty cents every week. Still I dont know many girls who have not had some laundry bills.
And it is extremely economical to keep well. There is one girl who has been in the Infirmary since the day after Christmas vacation, and the charges are $ 1.50 per day. She has a kind of malarial fever.
In Hygiene last week we had a lecture on House Sanitation, in which Dr. Thelberg told us all about waste pipes and drain pipes, and traps, but she did not describe the kind of traps we have at home, under the sink.
There is a regular March wind howling around today, though they get the worst of it on the other side of the house. There is a great deal of snow on the ground. It has snowed so much and so steadily, and the snow never has time to melt away before more comes. I think the ground has not been bare of snow since Christmas.
Last Saturday the Vassar Glee Club went down to New York to sing before the New York Alumnae at their annual lunch. President Taylor and some of the Faculty went along, and [crossed out: they] ^the Glee Club had a good deal of pleasure, considering that their expenses were all paid. They had a public rehearsal here the night before, so that we could have the benefit of their songs too.
[crossed out: Friday] Tonight Prof. Stoddart of the University of the City of N.Y. will lecture here on "Some Aspects of Shakspere's Maturity, as Shown In the "Tempest." They say he is very good. I am not sure whether I shall go or not, as I have to have an essay in tomorrow, and I have not yet even decided on my subject.
In English we have just begun to study Charles Lamb, and we are reading the Essays of Ella now. For today we have to read as many of them as we can. Today we have Elocution. Last week in Elocution we each had to read aloud, and Ray selected on purpose a piece with a great many r's in it. The Elocution teacher, who pronounces (?) her r's in the Eastern fashion, made Ray pronounce words over and over so that she would not "pronounce her r's in the back part of her mouth" as she expresses it. Miss Monroe says, "That's bettah."
With love to all from your
affectionate daughter,
Adelaide Claflin.
and love to you from Rachel.
Feb. 16, 1894.
[Two words in Greek]. -
Papa, I hope you notice the classic beginning to my letter, which shows that I have been imbibing Homer. We were reading in the Odyssey the other day about a maiden who asked her father for something and addressed him in the above phrase, which means "papa dear." I never knew before that the word papa was in the Greek literally, except that it is spelled pappa. And now that I have addressed you as the Greek maiden did, I must follow her example further, and ask you for something, and that is, to please attend to my semester bill, which came this morning, and which I am requested to forward to you immediately. You see there are no charges for extras, as I have taken pains to need no medical attendance or extra washing. It is very easy for me to get along without extra washing, and I dont see how it is that some girls have laundry bills of forty or fifty cents every week. Still I dont know many girls who have not had some laundry bills.
And it is extremely economical to keep well. There is one girl who has been in the Infirmary since the day after Christmas vacation, and the charges are $ 1.50 per day. She has a kind of malarial fever.
In Hygiene last week we had a lecture on House Sanitation, in which Dr. Thelberg told us all about waste pipes and drain pipes, and traps, but she did not describe the kind of traps we have at home, under the sink.
There is a regular March wind howling around today, though they get the worst of it on the other side of the house. There is a great deal of snow on the ground. It has snowed so much and so steadily, and the snow never has time to melt away before more comes. I think the ground has not been bare of snow since Christmas.
Last Saturday the Vassar Glee Club went down to New York to sing before the New York Alumnae at their annual lunch. President Taylor and some of the Faculty went along, and [crossed out: they] ^the Glee Club had a good deal of pleasure, considering that their expenses were all paid. They had a public rehearsal here the night before, so that we could have the benefit of their songs too.
[crossed out: Friday] Tonight Prof. Stoddart of the University of the City of N.Y. will lecture here on "Some Aspects of Shakspere's Maturity, as Shown In the "Tempest." They say he is very good. I am not sure whether I shall go or not, as I have to have an essay in tomorrow, and I have not yet even decided on my subject.
In English we have just begun to study Charles Lamb, and we are reading the Essays of Ella now. For today we have to read as many of them as we can. Today we have Elocution. Last week in Elocution we each had to read aloud, and Ray selected on purpose a piece with a great many r's in it. The Elocution teacher, who pronounces (?) her r's in the Eastern fashion, made Ray pronounce words over and over so that she would not "pronounce her r's in the back part of her mouth" as she expresses it. Miss Monroe says, "That's bettah."
With love to all from your
affectionate daughter,
Adelaide Claflin.
and love to you from Rachel.
