Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958

WWP23101

1920 June 27

Letter from Jon Bouman to his family.

Gift of William C. and Evelina Suhler

Germany--History--1918-1933

Correspondence

Berlin, Germany

Rachel Dark

Denise Montgomery

English

PROOFREADING

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.

Sunday eve June 27

Dearest,

I am sorry this letter has to be a disappointment to both of us, not to mention the babes, but Collins has wired to ask: “Could not Bouman remain a little longer” the reason being that he has had to send MacKenze to Prague and two men to Ireland and now until he gets the office fixed up he cannot spare Easterling yet. I don’t know what he means by “a little longer,” and I have telegraphed back asking for some approximate indication as to how much longer he wants me to be here. Of course, just having had my salary raised, I cannot very well kick back about it, but all the same it vexes me much to have to remain here if only for “a little.”

Now you must summon all your determination dearest, to have patience a little longer, but I shall be very much disappointed if I cannot be with you on your birthday; I hope that it may be settled before then. Of course I know Collins was caught shorthanded, he had even to wire for a man from the Paris staff to help. I have this from Frank Grundy, from whom I got a very interesting letter saying he had bought a villa just outside Paris, and telling me of his troubles and worries over the accounts.

I hear that Edwin Wilcox’s locum tenens (successor) here has also to stay much longer than expected because Wilcox, as I understand it, is not well enough yet to resume his post, so he is more or less disappointed too.

I have just received a letter from the Mail Editor in New York commending some of my mail stories and telling me that they have been “put on the wire” in America, which is never done unless they are specially approved. Otherwise they distributed by post. This is of course very gratifying to hear; but all the same I want to be with my own now.

It might not be a bad plan for you to ring up Collins some day and ask if he has fixed up my return yet, so that he won’t forget it. I have not yet had an answer from him on that point – I don’t suppose he can tell yet; but I don’t want him to feel that the Berlin situation is comfortably covered and dismiss the question from his mind. I ought to be getting on the way tomorrow or Tuesday according to the old plan, and it is annoying to have it upset.

I don’t know what you have thought about holidays etc. I suppose you thought I would be just back in time to fix them up, but you will just have to make the best arrangements possible if I am to be kept longer. At the moment of writing, I am quite ignorant as to how long it is to be.

The bairns will be disappointed too, but you must tell them to have patience also, and we will have a joyful reunion when the time comes.

I was at the Reichstag the other day, an historic event: the opening of the first German republican parliament, after the general elections. Before, it had only been a national assembly; now the regular parliamentary procedure begins; the regular session opens tomorrow, where the fur will begin to fly. I certainly hope there will be no more serious internal disturbances – it would be extremely annoying if the trains for instance weren’t running when I want to get away!

Let us hope it won’t be very long, so cheer up, dearest. I don’t know whether there will be time for you to reply to this before I am on my way back.

With all my love and hugs to the bairns,
Thine,
Jack

Letter

Bouman Family