Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958

WWP23021

1919 February 12

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.

My dearest

    I was so delighted to get your wire tonight that you had arrived safe and well on the 9th, so everything seems to have passed off well, and you will be daily meeting old friends again. I can imagine your joy and excitement!

    This morning I also received yours of the 3rd written from the P. Splendide and the letters from Mary and Betty. Please thank them very much from Daddy – I am not forgetting the Babes’ 10th birthday; I have my eye on something very nice for her, but I think I will have to send it a few days later. Anyhow you can give her an extra hug from me. It must have been a sad parting with Doeje, as Mary said.

    Your letter cheered me much, as I was fearing you would be over – tiring yourself with all this business; let us hope you will not have the reaction like when you came.

    I am glad you got an English boat, now is the time for Bill to give me his impressions of the trip. I am quite curious to hear how he felt about it, getting back to his beloved England. Glad everything went off allright with the landlord. I suppose Tony has gone to Mrs. Barnower.

    You may be interested to hear that I “did” the gala performance at the opera last night in honor of President Wilson. We couldn’t get a free seat, so the office paid a hundred francs for a stall, but that is a detail. It was a brilliant house; everybody who is anybody in Paris was there – diplomats, ministers, generals &c. and it was crammed to the roof. I had a good view of the President, Mrs. Wilson and Mr. and Mrs. Lansing who occupied a box, and Mr. A J Balfour was leaning in his indolent fashion against a pillar. Next me, in a box, sat the King of Hejaz with his suite, in brilliant Arabian robes and turbans set with jewels. The opera was “La Damnation de Faust”, by Berlioz; a delicate hint, very French, methought, at the fate of Germany of her worship of things material! I enjoyed the music greatly, and the staging was superb. No need saying that the President had a very cordial reception.

    Home by the last tube, and had the life nearly squeezed out of me. I have never seen such crowds on the London tubes. I have not moved yet; being told today that my room was not yet vacant. The overcrowding here is something serious – I wonder how you are getting on for lodgings in London. Hotels have regular waiting lists here, so they don’t care what happens.

    The frost is still holding here but it is dry withal, and there is a fog tonight which may precede a thaw. I hope there are good fires on wherever you finally land.

    In order to pay back to the office the unexpended balance of my draft for traveling and living expenses, I had to draw £60 out of my bank and use my January salary also. You understand that I left all that money in the Hague and had to make it up here. So I shall replace £30 at the end of Feb and £30 at the end of March. Meanwhile there is only £90 at the bank in London instead of £150 which you must remember, only I don’t suppose you would want anything like £90 right off. So the £150 will be there allright at the end of next month, minus of course what you will find necessary to draw.

    I suppose you are reveling in tea and bacon and things. Won’t Bill be enjoying his breakfasts! Love to you all and kind greetings to the Thomom family.

Letter

Bouman Family