Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958

WWP23044

1919 June 1

Letter from Jon Bouman to his family.

Gift of William C. and Evelina Suhler

Correspondence

Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920)

Rachel Dark

Denise Montgomery

Austin Shifflett

English

Evelina Suhler is the granddaughter of Jon Anthony Bouman and inherited the family collection of his letters from the years of World War I. She and her husband gave the letters to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum in 2013.

Dearest,

    I was busier than I thought I would be in the still watches of the night, so did not get you written to. I owed the bairns a letter which I found time to write, as Mary and Betty had been sending me their poems on “trees”. Mary had done hers very carefully, with a drawing underneath, but Betty’s I think had more poetic feeling in hers. It is just typical of them. I should like to have read what Bill had to say about his enchanted garden. He didn’t write that time.

    Thanks, dear, for Uncle Robert’s letter which I return herewith. And so we have another “nevvy” in n/c. I trust all passed off well. Four is a good number “the rich man’s wish” as they say in Holland.

    From what you say, you will soon be on your own now, at last. I am not surprised at the delay, because service of all kinds is of extremely poor quality just now, and hotels are no exception. People don’t seem to have any brains. Fortunately I have a more useful chambermaid now than the one I used to have – an absolute fool! The new one is a middle aged person whose husband, demobilized, is out of work, and they have four children, the youngest only 6 months, and she has to work to keep the lot. And she works, too. She gets my mending to do, for which I pay her well, and I have promised her my old clothes and books when I go back, so she flies! whenever she has anything extra to do for me, the Lord knows it isn’t much. I will give her some of my underwear for her children; she is really a deserving sort.

    Now about the insurance: you remember we had a Lloyds policy last covering all domestic liabilities including servants insurance &c. If you are going to have a servant she would have to be insured. I cannot recall the firm I dealt with at all. First we insured against fire in the Ocean Insurance Co. then against burglary in the National Burglary Ins. Co. and the servant in the Sun Ins. Co. but in the summer of 1914 I took out a new combined policy at Lloyds which I found was cheaper. And in August you remember we were burgled, and they paid up. I believe the Sun Insurance Co. Threadneedle St. also has a combined domestic policy covering all liabilities now. Indeed most insurance companies have them. Our furniture was insured for £300 I think, the fire premium being 2/6 per £100, so 7/6 in our case. I think perhaps we could run along a month or so without fire insurance as it being summer time there would be no fires in the house. Only if you have a servant, she would have to be insured at once, according to the law. And then there’s burglary of course. I would certainly take out no separate insurances, but one covering all risks – I think the Sun is as good an office as any; the Ocean Accident Co. in Moorgate St. is of course also good.

    What about our piano? I suppose the Grundys have still got it. I hope it is in decent condition. They ought to pay for its removal to our house, as they have had the free use of it for 3 years.

    The matter of the signing of the Treaty is still dragging on; I was afraid they would not sign so early as people thought, they are bound to exhaust all their diplomatic tricks first. They ought to get a bit more pressure put upon them; Lloyd George was right when he said if they don’t sign at Versailles, they’ll have to sign in Berlin, but sign they must. That’s one way to talk to the Boches!

    How are the strawberries in London? Here we’ve been having them since early in May, from the south of France. They seem plentiful and not really dear, as prices go. An awful law has just been passed which places another tax on tobacco so that a 4 oz. tin of Craven mixture(100 grams , really only 3 oz. or a little over) costs 20 francs or sixteen shillings! It used to be 10 francs and goodness knows that was dear enough! I have a couple of tins at the old price, but I certainly shall not pay for my baccy at the rate of five shillings an ounce! That is absolutely out of the question.

    Give my love to the babies, and with a hug to yourself

Letter

Bouman Family