Vassar College Digital Library

Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) | to Louise Claflin, Jan. 26, 1896:

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Date
January 26, 1896
Abstract
VC 1897
Transcript file(s)
Details
Identifier
vassar:24553,,Box 21,VCL_Letters_Mansfield_Adelaide_1897_062
Extent
1 item
Type
Rights
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: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062001
Vassar College, Jan. 26. 1896.

My dear Lou,—

As it is your birthday tomorrow. I am going to write to you this week. Out of your teens! How old you are getting! I did not use to want to grow older. I used to want to stay a child, but now I would rather grow, so as to be of some use. Ed. asked me this week when the next birthday in the family was, so that he might celebrate it by writing, and when I read it, somehow I never thought of yours at all, but said to myself, "Well, there's no hurry about that. He'll have

 


: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062002
to wait till Feb. 26." So it is my fault that you don't get a birthday letter from him.

We are all thinking about exams, now, - they come this week- I have two tomorrow, and one each day following - finishing up Friday afternoon. Lots of girls are studying for them today: I am glad I feel free to take Sunday for a rest, instead of feeling as if I ought to study seven days in the week.

I came near making myself unable to take exams, this week, by a little escapade in the gymnasium Friday afternoon. Gertrude Smith and I were working at a piece of apparatus without a padded mat under us - which we are supposed never to do- I was hanging by my hands [crossed out] with my feet out behind me and

 


: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062003
two or three feet above the ground when I lost my grip and fell on the hard wood floor, my nose receiving most of my weight, against the floor. Everybody who saw me fall thought I was killed and came running up, but I sat up instantly and told them there was nothing the matter with me. My nose bled a little and swelled a great deal, and the gym. teacher was afraid it was broken, but the doctor said it was not. They made me hold water to it, as hot as I could stand, for more than half an hour, to reduce the swelling and prevent it from turning black and blue. This remedy was very effectual, in fact too effectual, for the water which I held to my forehead was

 


: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062004
so hot as to produce two blisters there. My nose is all right now - it has stopped hurting. The gym. teacher, before she attended to me, turned around to the other girls and said, "Now this will be a warning to all of you never to do this without a mat."

Last night the officers of the Christian Association were nominated. A committee of twelve were appointed by the Executive Board to name five people for President, and there were to be reduced to two by the Association - For the other officers two girls apiece were selected by the committee. I was one of the five chosen by the committee, but not one of the two selected from them by the Association. I am greatly relieved, for there is more work and responsibility to

 


: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062005
the position of President of the Christian Association than to any other position in college. Especially while the Windsor is part of the college. The two girls who are candidates are Mary Dunning and Jessie Thain- I hope Mary will get it, for she is a lovely girl, and has a great deal to her. She rooms next door to me.

Ray is one of the two candidates for Vice-president- I rather think she will get it, for the other girl is not especially suited for that position. That is all the officers who are chosen from our class- The elections take place in about a week.

I have been doing some work for Professor Moulton on the hektograph- You know that is the thing

 


: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062006
with which one sheet of writing is copied off on to & lot of other sheets, it is always written in violet-colored ink- The ink is very hard to write with, for it is sticky and does not flow easily, but the hektograph is easy to work. It is just a ^pan [crossed out: plate] of very stiff gelatine stuff, which has had the writing taken off on it, and then you just take the clean sheets of paper and lay them on straight and take them right off again. I am going to do it between exams, as much as I can spare time.

Some day this week I will send you "Seebohm's Era of the Protestant revolution"- for you will need it for history of the Reformation - It is a very useful book.

The weather has been rainy for the last few days, so that the skating has been spoiled. I hope

 


: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062007
it will freeze again soon- Last week some of the girls, led by Prof. Wentworth and Prof. French, played "shinny" on the ice, every day- It was lots of fun to watch them, but we had hard work to keep out of their way sometimes- Miss Epler asked me to go skating for a half an hour before breakfast the other morning- so that we had to get up in the dark, but when we got up we found it was raining- I was rather glad. That was very sad about Mr. Harris' little girl. I think it was mean not to let him see her.

Give my love to the girls at college. Love to all the family too.
Your loving sister Adelaide.

(over)

 


: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897062008
Just as I was addressing the envelope, I heard somebody in the corridor say "there is a fire down in Ray Schauffler's room" I had just come up about five minutes before, leaving her on her bed, so l wondered what she could have been doing- She had got up to write a letter, and after she lit the gas she threw the match in the wastebasket. The wastebasket blazed up and she took it up and carried it into her bedroom where there were two loose rugs, and covered it, and then put water on and called the girl next door to help her, and so they easily put it out without spoiling anything else- The maid who was watching the corridor discovered it immediately on account of the smoke, which filled the corridor- I guess Ray will get something else to throw her matches in-