November 22, 1903

Allegheny Pa,

Dear friend Rose:

Your long and interesting letter received and read with pleasure.

This has been kind of a rainy day.

Mr. Forrester is in room reading and sends his regards to you. He says that Mrs. Churms inquired about Miss Garvey and you. Mr. Forrester will be here for 2 weeks and will then go to Oil City for a week. Then a week in Oleans and then home. Rest of us will follow.

My business at home has diminished so much that I will dispense with my bookkeeper after this week, as she has been offered a position for the holidays.

You say that I don’t say enough about myself. I don’t know what to say about myself. Yesterday I spent all day in the house except going out after my meals. Was straightening out my work, etc. This always takes nearly all Sunday as I have to fix my father’s list out for him etc. Last week I was in Butler Thursday, Friday and Saturday. At about 4 o’clock Friday A.M. they had a $300,000 fire, but I slept through it. The Opera House and a whole block of business places were burned. I never saw a town with so much sickness as Butler has. There is an average of 1 person in every house and there are 500 cases or Typhoid Fever. To-day in Allegheny, on the car, I passed a corner hotel that is quarantined with Small Pox. It is a large place and the whole place is quarantined containing 5 cards.

Am sorry that your hair is coming out. Brush your head well and let all that comes out come as it is dead hair anyway. Did you use Salt Water?

Yours about Bible Reading etc. read and considered. As I can’t say that I disagree with your points will not say anything this time.

I expected before this to hear that you were starting for the Phillipines, but perhaps they don’t need any more teachers there at present.

We have not decided fully where we will go after the holidays. I do not believe that Baltimore will be enough warmer.

I guess I can trust you to tell me anything that you think I should know, and not to tell me things that I should not know.

I hope you will have a pleasant time at the Festival. I suppose it will be a grand affair.

I hear that my brother Chas. is going rather steady (for him) with a young lady and perhaps will surprise us some day.

This section is worked by 3 or 4 other crews with Gum. I met one of the other men in Butler the other day. He is working it on the fake deal.

He gets as cheap a gum as possible and palms off a 4¢ premium whenever he can. But we have been handling good gum and have been pretty fair on premiums, and leave towns better for next agent.

Write soon.

Yours truly,

Max

Gen Del Allegheny, Pa.