Illinois

14| January 4, 1917

Transcript

                                                                                                                                                                  S. S. Americaine No. 5.
Formation Harjes.
B.C.M. Paris.
Convois Automobiles.
January 4- 1917.

 

Dear sister Selma:

                  To-morrow or the day after I go back again to the front. I am now in Paris, having just returned from Nice this morning. It was wonderful at Nice and I want to thank you for sending me the money as you did for it permitted me to take this little trip down to Cannes, Nice and Monte-Carlo.

                  There were two Canadian volunteer nurses at Cannes and together we had a very good time. I had the pleasure of going to some nice teas with them at the country villas of some of their friends. And one of the girls knit me a most wonderful pair of sox [sic].

                  At Monte-Carlo I did not gamble, but I heard a very fine symphony orchestra concert in the casino there. New Year’s Eve I spent in a good hotel at Nice, there not being much excitement, I went to bed at 12 P.M. 

                  On Christmas day I was at the front in a very interesting sector. In the evening, we had a wonderful regular Christmas dinner. Thru [sic] the kindness of friends of our section in Paris we had nuts, cakes, fruits and champagne and to finish off everything two big, sizzled-in rum plum puddings. We certainly enjoyed ourselves on that night.

                  Jan. 5- I was so tired last night that I did not finish this letter, but will add a few words now.

                  I was over to the office of the military authorities this morning and I go back to the front again to-morrow morning. I am glad to go back again for life in Paris when one has nothing else to do is rather fatiguing.

                  This morning on the rue de Rivoli I met a Miss Fish and her sister. Miss Fish was nursing in a branch hospital of the American Ambulance last summer and I knew her quite well. She is of a rather prominent New York family. She invited me out to tea this afternoon at four thirty and if I get time I shall go and meet her and her friend.

                  The winters here are very different from winters I was used to in The States. Here there is no snow and only freezes occasionally, but there is plenty of rain.

                  My engagement of six months with this section will be up March first and I hope then to go home. I would like to stay here until the end of the war, but would want to go home for a month first.

                  It was rather strange, to spend Christmas and New Year’s away from home and I should surely have liked to have been with you.

                  When I get back to the front I will write you more. For this time, although tardy, I will close with best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year.

                                    With much love,

                                                      Ever your brother,

                                                                        Luther.

Metadata

Title: Letter 14, Luther Nelson to Sister Selma
Date: 1917 January 4
Collection: RG1/051, Luther Nelson Collection, 1916-1918
Repository: Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs
Creator: Nelson, Luther
Publisher: Digitized by AFS staff in 2016.
Rights Statement: This item cannot be reproduced outside the guidelines of United States Fair Use (17 U.S.C., Section 107) without advance permission of the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs. In the event that this letter becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required.
Digital ID: 1_051_14