Vassar College.
March 8* 1896.
My dear Mother,—
I have put off writing today, till nearly bedtime, for 1 have
been reading aloud this afternoon and evening to Winifred and Gertrude.
You know Winifred has been In Brooklyn for a week, resting, and Just
got back here Friday night. When she works too hard, she gets pains
in her head and has to stop studying.
Ray went down to Brooklyn yesterday; her brother Charlie was
there and telegraphed for her to come dowa. She will come back tomorrow
morning- She has been down to Brooklyn quite often this year. Mr.Capen
came here Friday night aad stayed till Saturday noon.
Tomorrow is Ray's birthday, and Mr. Capen's mother has sent
her a box of things to eat. It is now reposing down in Ray's bedroom,
for she made us promise not to open it, till she got back. We are afraid
there Is something In it that will spoil, but we have to wait in patience
till tomorrow. It will be a welcome relief to have a little of something
different to eat, for the food has been rather limited and monotonous
lately. I don't blame the girls who are well-off for going to Smith's to
dinner frequently.
Ray will be only twenty tomorrow. It seems as If she ought to be
two or three years older. Gertrude, Winifred, Cariie and I chipped in
together and bought her a pair of silver embroidery scissors for a dollar
Feb, 23, 1896 - 4
and a half. We went to all the jewelry stores in town; the stock at some
consisted of one pair, at others of two, and finally at the place where we
made our purchase, we found three pairs, and the pair that we bought waa
the only one in town that we liked.
Kate Dunham and I have written to the Margaret Louisa to
reserve ^ rooms for April 3. That is Good Friday. Kate wants to stay
till the following Tuesday evening. I have not decided whether to stay so
long, but of course I can simply take the train and come home whenever
I feel like it. We have to engage the rooms so far ahead, for last week
they wrote that they had no vacancies tUl after March 21, but we do not
have to tell till we get there how long we are going to stay. The time
that we spend there will be the last part of vacation, which lasts from March
27 to April 8. You see we will be in New York on Easter Sunday. Ed. does
not yet know when his vacation Is going to be, but I could not wait any
longer for him to find out.
Ray is going to spend her Easter vacation partly with her grand-
mother, in Springfield, and partly with the Capens in Jamaica Plain.
Carrie did intend to go down to New York with me, but her mother
has written her that the money is getting reduced, and that she must be aa
economical as possible, so she will stay here all the vacation.
Friday evening we were to have had a lecture by Prof. Wheeler
Feb, 23, 1896 - 4
of Cornell, on "Athenian Sepulchral Monuments and Epitaphs", but at
dinner time came word that Prof. Wheeler had the measles, and there-
fore could not come. Miss Leach had arranged a reception for him, to
which she had invited all the faculty, and for which she had provided
ice-cream. She had her party all the same, so as not to waste the ice-
cream.
I have been working so hard on special topics. They always
take just about three times as much time as the teacher allows. We
have to have one in Biology ready for today. We each have a certain
subject to look up, and then when we come to class, Miss 0*Grady calls
on certain girls to deliver theirs. And each girl has to go up on the
platform and give it just as if she were the teacher, without looking at
her notes, and doing experiments or drawing pictures on the blackboard
to ilUistrate. No one knows beforehand who is to be called on. My sub-
ject is seeds of plants: how they are protected and preserved, and how
they are scattered and carried through the air, and how different seeds
are adapted to different surroundings- It is an extremely interesting
subject.
We have been having a number of special topics in history. We
are working on one this week too. I have to look through twelve volumes,
and take down all the things which either prove or disprove that the wars
Mar. 8, 1896 - 4
between England and France during the Eighteenth Centaury were due
to the expansion of England in America and India. I feel like Samuel
Weller, when he said, "But whether it*s worth while go in* through so
much to learn so little, is a matter o•taste".
We are all impatient to have next week come, for a week from
tonight the Honors will be announced. We cant guess so well about this
class - who will get them - as we could about the class last year.
Prudence Sherwin is coming here to visit Kate Dunham and Irene
Easter
Lawrence, just beforeAvacation.- in about two weeks. Kate says her Aunt
Belle has not decided whether to come home in time to see Kate graduate,
or to stay over all summer. But she will probably stay over, as Kat&'a
Uncle Cal sailed the other day.
Lovingly Adelaide. jClaflin j