Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Title
Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Creator
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958
Identifier
WWP23180
Date
1928 May 20
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
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
28 Zimmerstr.
Berlin SW 68
Sunday morning May 20 '28
Dearest,
I suppose Mary has been wishing too. I have talked to her over the phone, also with the Schurholzes and Mary said she was quite happy and comfortable, and both Dr. and Mrs. Schurholz said that the beginning had been excellent. I am very pleased at this, for when I kissed her goodbye in the Schurholzes little hall, I saw she was going to have a little weep, so Mrs. S. put her arm round her shoulders and suggested she should walk with me a little way, but both Mary and I declined, thinking we might as well cut it short. I have seen her room, most comfy and overlooking the garden, central heating and all. I sent her a ticket for the Davis Cup final (German v. Spain) which was played yesterday quite in her neighborhood, and today she was going to play tennis with Winnie Hogg but it is raining today for a change, and I am afraid she will have to stay home. Bodken of Reuter has just returned from London; he told me the weather had been ghastly there. Certainly the climate here seems to be better. They are paying him more now, so he is not going to leave Berlin as he intended. I am rather pleased, for he is good company although he doesn't believe in killing himself with work.
I received this letter from Mr. Collins yesterday; please return it after reading. He seems more and more lonely, poor old chap, and of course he finds correspondents dropping off gradually. I will write him when you return the letter.
Order is gradually returning in the Pension where several rooms have been done up and the bathroom modernised. We now have a bath with a tap which automatically supplies hot water from a geyser (by means of a by-pass) without lighting gas at all; just turning the tap does it. This also extends to the wash basin in the bath room and to two or three adjoining rooms of which mine is one, so I now have a fixed basin with h & c which is a great convenience although it has been a great upset and given much hard work to the maids, with all the rubbish and dirt to be cleared away.
I much regret to hear of the death of M's. mother, it will have been a great blow to her; I wish you would send her my condolences, or better still, give me her address and I will send her a line. I wonder what she is doing now, she will feel it very keenly and it will hardly serve to calm her mind.
About the Cologne exhibition there was more than newspapers as it gave the complete history of the development of the press throughout the ages, beginning with the baked clay tablets of the Babylonians, with many rare museum pieces and old prints on which one could spend weeks. It also included the graphic arts and book bindings; a special department devoted to women's activities in the printing and publishing line. 34 different countries and the League of Nations had their own shows; the Russian was very interesting. Some of the American papers and agencies also had good shows - not the AP which has stood aloof, on the ground that "we had nothing to sell in Europe." I think we might have spent a couple of hundred dollars having a little show of our own, but apparently it did not appeal to the powers in New York. Of course there were all sorts of ancient and modern printing presses on view, and the show as a whole was admirably arranged in a splendid setting just on the opposite bank of the Rhine. They illuminated the bridges and also the cathedral, a fairy-like sight, like a dreamland castle arising out of the dark and reflected in the river.
This being election day, I am working this afternoon so I will leave the letter open in case there is anything from you at the office.
4 pm
Nothing here, so will close. I was wondering how I got the hot water in my room. I found when I turned the hot tap on in my room, it automatically lit the gas in the geyser next door, and when I turned it off it exstinguished the gas also automatically. This is a new stunt. Have you seen or heard of anything like this?
Love to all,
Thine
Dac.
Berlin SW 68
Sunday morning May 20 '28
Dearest,
I suppose Mary has been wishing too. I have talked to her over the phone, also with the Schurholzes and Mary said she was quite happy and comfortable, and both Dr. and Mrs. Schurholz said that the beginning had been excellent. I am very pleased at this, for when I kissed her goodbye in the Schurholzes little hall, I saw she was going to have a little weep, so Mrs. S. put her arm round her shoulders and suggested she should walk with me a little way, but both Mary and I declined, thinking we might as well cut it short. I have seen her room, most comfy and overlooking the garden, central heating and all. I sent her a ticket for the Davis Cup final (German v. Spain) which was played yesterday quite in her neighborhood, and today she was going to play tennis with Winnie Hogg but it is raining today for a change, and I am afraid she will have to stay home. Bodken of Reuter has just returned from London; he told me the weather had been ghastly there. Certainly the climate here seems to be better. They are paying him more now, so he is not going to leave Berlin as he intended. I am rather pleased, for he is good company although he doesn't believe in killing himself with work.
I received this letter from Mr. Collins yesterday; please return it after reading. He seems more and more lonely, poor old chap, and of course he finds correspondents dropping off gradually. I will write him when you return the letter.
Order is gradually returning in the Pension where several rooms have been done up and the bathroom modernised. We now have a bath with a tap which automatically supplies hot water from a geyser (by means of a by-pass) without lighting gas at all; just turning the tap does it. This also extends to the wash basin in the bath room and to two or three adjoining rooms of which mine is one, so I now have a fixed basin with h & c which is a great convenience although it has been a great upset and given much hard work to the maids, with all the rubbish and dirt to be cleared away.
I much regret to hear of the death of M's. mother, it will have been a great blow to her; I wish you would send her my condolences, or better still, give me her address and I will send her a line. I wonder what she is doing now, she will feel it very keenly and it will hardly serve to calm her mind.
About the Cologne exhibition there was more than newspapers as it gave the complete history of the development of the press throughout the ages, beginning with the baked clay tablets of the Babylonians, with many rare museum pieces and old prints on which one could spend weeks. It also included the graphic arts and book bindings; a special department devoted to women's activities in the printing and publishing line. 34 different countries and the League of Nations had their own shows; the Russian was very interesting. Some of the American papers and agencies also had good shows - not the AP which has stood aloof, on the ground that "we had nothing to sell in Europe." I think we might have spent a couple of hundred dollars having a little show of our own, but apparently it did not appeal to the powers in New York. Of course there were all sorts of ancient and modern printing presses on view, and the show as a whole was admirably arranged in a splendid setting just on the opposite bank of the Rhine. They illuminated the bridges and also the cathedral, a fairy-like sight, like a dreamland castle arising out of the dark and reflected in the river.
This being election day, I am working this afternoon so I will leave the letter open in case there is anything from you at the office.
4 pm
Nothing here, so will close. I was wondering how I got the hot water in my room. I found when I turned the hot tap on in my room, it automatically lit the gas in the geyser next door, and when I turned it off it exstinguished the gas also automatically. This is a new stunt. Have you seen or heard of anything like this?
Love to all,
Thine
Dac.
Original Format
Letter
To
Bouman Family
Files
Collection
Citation
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958, “Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family,” 1928 May 20, WWP23180, Jon Anthony Bouman Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.