Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Title
Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Creator
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958
Identifier
WWP23164
Date
1928 January 13
Description
Letter from Jon Bouman to his family.
Source
Gift of William C. and Evelina Suhler
Subject
Germany--History--1918-1933
Correspondence
Berlin, Germany
Contributor
Rachel Dark
Denise Montgomery
Language
English
Requires
PROOFREADING
Provenance
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.
Text
Jan/28
Friday the thirteenth
Dearest;
What I foresaw has happened; the Dictator, Kent Cooper, has written that the AP does not feel it can pay for the moving of my furniture to Berlin after the heavy expense accounts for the 3 1/2 months I was kept there. But your fare to Berlin would be paid.
There is no appeal. And the only answer to that is one I dare not make. So its up to us to make the best of it.
It is true that the time I was kept in Berlin at the expense of the AP has cost them upwards of £ 120. But I only obeyed orders, so I couldn't help that. It seems that I must become like the other Yankees who don't know what a home is, and must be ready to pack my suit case and be off when I'm told to. Nobody's convenience is consulted nowadays. That went out with the old guard, Messrs. Martin and Collins.
To move our furniture to Berlin at my expense is out of the question. It will be necessary to go into a furnished flat. These fortunately are much more easily obtained than empty flats, which I am told on all hands are very difficult to get here. I think it will not be feasible for us to store our furniture for another 12 years.
A woman is, as a wife, more attached to her household belongings than a man. How do you feel about it?
I think, instead of having a forced sale, it might be better to leave the stuff in Naple's second hand department and let it be gradually realised. Bodken of Reuters also had to sell his London furniture and got very little for it, but then he had the firm's furnished flat to come to. All the foreign correspondents here, or practically all, live in furnished flats. One unfortunate Dutchman told me he had to submit to three reductions in salary in two years, so his case is worse than mine.
Let me know what you think about it all. The bedding and the kitchen outfit would need special consideration I imagine. The books could be brought over perhaps (after a liberal weeding-out). And the piano sold to Cramers, if they will make a fair offer.
Of course it is always possible to carry on indefinitely as we are now. Possible, but it would not be a disirable state of affairs. Tell me how you feel about it.
With love to all,
Thine
J.
Friday the thirteenth
Dearest;
What I foresaw has happened; the Dictator, Kent Cooper, has written that the AP does not feel it can pay for the moving of my furniture to Berlin after the heavy expense accounts for the 3 1/2 months I was kept there. But your fare to Berlin would be paid.
There is no appeal. And the only answer to that is one I dare not make. So its up to us to make the best of it.
It is true that the time I was kept in Berlin at the expense of the AP has cost them upwards of £ 120. But I only obeyed orders, so I couldn't help that. It seems that I must become like the other Yankees who don't know what a home is, and must be ready to pack my suit case and be off when I'm told to. Nobody's convenience is consulted nowadays. That went out with the old guard, Messrs. Martin and Collins.
To move our furniture to Berlin at my expense is out of the question. It will be necessary to go into a furnished flat. These fortunately are much more easily obtained than empty flats, which I am told on all hands are very difficult to get here. I think it will not be feasible for us to store our furniture for another 12 years.
A woman is, as a wife, more attached to her household belongings than a man. How do you feel about it?
I think, instead of having a forced sale, it might be better to leave the stuff in Naple's second hand department and let it be gradually realised. Bodken of Reuters also had to sell his London furniture and got very little for it, but then he had the firm's furnished flat to come to. All the foreign correspondents here, or practically all, live in furnished flats. One unfortunate Dutchman told me he had to submit to three reductions in salary in two years, so his case is worse than mine.
Let me know what you think about it all. The bedding and the kitchen outfit would need special consideration I imagine. The books could be brought over perhaps (after a liberal weeding-out). And the piano sold to Cramers, if they will make a fair offer.
Of course it is always possible to carry on indefinitely as we are now. Possible, but it would not be a disirable state of affairs. Tell me how you feel about it.
With love to all,
Thine
J.
Original Format
Letter
To
Bouman Family
Files
Collection
Citation
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958, “Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family,” 1928 January 13, WWP23164, Jon Anthony Bouman Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.