Chicago, Nov. 16--
Brother Charley. Well Charley I dont see how it is
that these banks ever gos broke & blows up & they
take a bout as many chances as the phone Co. that makes
you put in your nickle before you get a hold of central.
& here the papers keeps after us for not halling in
all the stick up men they is on the sts. & dont never
say nothing a bout halling in these here banks that is
the worst stick ups they is. I went down to
the bank yest. p m & seen the man in the
lone dept. & showed him the lot was all payed for
& I had the plans all fixed up for the house & he
says how much is the house going to cost & I told him
$2000 & then he stalled a round for ½ a hour &
come back & asked me how much did I want to borry
& I says $2000 & he says well we will lone you
$2000 but not no more then that & I says who asked
you to lone more then that & then he says let me see
your contrack with the contrackter & I showed it to
him & he says the only way we do busness is to have
enough money to pay for evry thing includeing the extras
& the archateck & all that & we do the paying
down here to the bank & you dont have nothing to do
with it but we keep the money and pay it out on the
orders of the archateck. I says all right that's
all right with me & I wont half to worry a bout
it. He says you will half to indors the archatecks
orders & I says all right.
Then he got a pensil & a
peace of paper & says how much do you owe the
archateck & I told him & then he says they aint
nothing in the contrack a bout electrick light fixtures
or finnished hard ware or wall paper so I called up the
archateck & he says no they dident never includ them
things because they was picked out to sute our tast after
the house was build. So I come back from the phone
& told the man we would pick them things out after
words & pay for them our self & he says o no you
wont because we got to have all the money here to cover
all the expences. I says well then add it up what
you think it will be & I will borry that much more
but he says no $2000 is all we can lone you. I says
well them things wont come for a long wile & meen
time they can be building the house & long before
they get it build I will give you the rest of the money
but he says no your own moneys got to be payed out 1st.
& ourn after words. So I called up Grace &
told her a bout it & she says how much extra will it
be & I got the man to figure it up & he says the
total would be $305 besides the $2000 & the extra
$305 is $75 for the archateck & $70 for hard ware
& $50 for wall paper & $50 for electrick lt.
fixtures & $30 for insurence & $30 more for the
banks comishan which I got to pay the bank for there
trouble when Im the 1 thats haveing the trouble.
The insurence is for 5 yrs. & if the house burns the
bank gets the insurence & I dont get nothing but I
pay for the insurence & then besides all that they
will be $25 more that the bank sokes me for geting an
other garantee polisy for them self so they will be sure
the title is o k & I all ready payed $25 to find out
the same thing & Im satisfide but I got to pay for an
other 1 for the bank.
Well Charley I got to dig up
$330 some wheres & I dont know where it will be at
but its got to be some wheres or they wont be no house
& winters geting closter all the wile. Dont
never get mixed up in nothing like this Charley.
If it wasent to late Id tell the bank to go to.
Fred A. Gross.
Chicago, Nov.
20--
Brother Charley. Wear started at last & Grace
borryed the extra $330 off of her old man & Ive gave
it to the bank & now they got it all tho there
suposed to be loneing it to me & I pay the int. &
the comishon & all that & dont never even see the
money or dont know weather they is any or not. But
what do you think Charley the bank wont even let me pay
it back when I get it but I got to wait 2 yrs. & ½
& pay int. all that time before I can pay it all up
even if I should pick up a million dollars on the st.
tomorrow & I cant pay so much per wk. but I got to
pay it this way. 6% int. twict a yr. besides paying
back on the prinsipal evry yr. for 5 yrs. unless I want
to pay it all up in 2 & ½ yrs. & if I dont it
will be $400 evry yr. for 5 yrs. besides the int. &
yet the papers keeps after us and pans the life out of us
because theys 1 or 2 stick up men a round town.
I had to bring the contrackter
to the bank with me & him & the man in the bank
went over the contrack to gether & fixed up how he
was going to get payed & he gets a little at a time
& the sub contrackter hes hired for the diffrent
parts of the house gets there money when ever the
contrackter tells the archateck they got some comeing
& then the archateck signs a order on the bank &
I in dors the order but before the archateck signs the
order he over looks the work & sees that its o k so I
dont half to do no worring a bout that.
Well theys 1 good thing Charley
I wont half to lay a side no $80 per wk. but will only
half to lay a side a bout $45 per mo. provideing I dont
want to get all cleaned up till I half to which is 5 yrs.
from now but if I want to get all cleaned up as soon as I
can which is 2 ½ yrs. I will half to lay a side a bout
$80 per mo. & I guess thats what I will do. We
dont half to worry a bout the $330 Grace borryed off her
old man because he sends her $100 evry berth day & he
wont half to send her nothing for 3 yrs. & we will be
all square.
Fred A. Gross.
Chicago, Nov.
29--
Dear Charley. Well Charley they started work on
the house & what do you think they done right off the
real. They dug the foundashun the rong way of the lot
& now they got to do it all over again but it wont
cost me nothing because its there own fault & they
dug the foundashun like as if the long way of the house
was going to run the way the st. & it dont run that
way in the plans & they got to fill in part of what
they dug out & do some more diging & it dont
matter but it takes time & if they dont hurry up
& get the foundashun layed the ground will be froze
stiff & they cant get started before winter. I
told Grace to let them go a head & build the house
the way they started but her and the archateck give me
the laugh & so there going to have it did over.
It snowed a little this a m but
the archateck says that dont make no diffrence as long is
it dont freez hard & the ground gets froze. You
see the foundashun is concreet & if it should get
froze it might maybe crack some time & brake &
give a way & the house might may be fall down on our
head.
Well Charley I guess things will
go a long o k now & Im glad wear started & if I
was you I would get in to the game because liveing in a
house is the only way to live when you got childern &
I guess its all right for the bank to have all my money
& all the papers a bout the house & lot because
this is a old bank & no chance of blowing up but it
seems kind a funny that I cant keep the papers or nothing
to show that I own a lot or own any thing but liveing in
a house is the only thing when you got childern &
speaking of childern how is little May & both Ed
& the baby is geting a long o k.
Kindest rgds.
from I & Grace.
F. A. Gross.
Chicago, Dec.
23--
Brother Charley. This is to wish you a mary xmas
& Charley I know you will exxcus I & Grace from
not sending nothing to you & Mary this yr. but this
house building has got me on the jump & I cant spend
a nickle on nothing this yr. Grace is sending little May
a box of candy that she made her self & next xmas may
be we will be better fixed & can send you some thing
as usul but you can see where wear up against it this yr.
& cant send nothing because things cost a hole lot
more then I thot or I wouldent never of started to build.
The latest is the archateck told
me we should ought to do some gradeing on the lot a round
the house because the weather was so good & then we
wouldent have to do no gradeing in the spring but could
get busy right a way & fix up the lawn & plant
the grass seeds. Well I told Grace a bout it & she
says it was in the contrack that the contrackter had to
do the gradeing with the dirt that was dug out of the
ground where the foundashun is at & I told the
archateck a bout that & he says on acct of there
diging the foundashun the rong way at the start they
wasent no dirt left over because they had to fill in
where they dug out and shouldent of dug so I had to go
& get a hold of a man to come & do some gradeing
a round the house & he stuck me up for $60 but thats
all over now & out of the way.
Then Grace found out that they
was only 2 of the rms. up stares that theys a place for
closets in them & I says 2 closets was enough but she
says no they got to be closets in all 4 of the rms. up
stares & I asked the archateck a bout it & he
says it was foolish, but Grace kicked like a mule &
the archeteck says he could put in the closets but it
would make them 2 rms. smaller. I
asked him if it
would cost more money & he says no he dident think so
so we had him go a head & make plans for 2 more
closets & yest. he come & told me it would cost
$50 more & I says I thot you told me it wouldent cost
nothing more & he says I thot so my self but I was
miss taken. So what could a man do but pay the
extra $50 only I aint payed it yet but will half to.
But the house is geting a long
fine & the out side is most all up & they are in
a hurry to get the roof finnished before the real bad
snow comes & as soon is they get the roof on they
wont care if the weather is rotten or o k.
Best wishes for a mary xmas to
you & Mary & little May & kind rgds. & I
know youll see how it is.
Fred A. Gross.
Chicago, Jan.
21--
Dear Charley. They got me all most drove crazy
& if any body ever says to you build a house bust
them in the jaw. The archateck keeps ringing me up
on the phone all the wile a bout 5 times a day &
asking do I want this or that & what do I know a bout
it & he is getting payed for doing the worring but in
sted of him doing it he lays it all off on to me, some
times he wants to know do we want a tin or ivory bath tub
& its in the contrack for us to have a ivory bath tub
but when I tell him that he says I thot you might of
wanted tin because ivorys going to cost more money &
when I say what do I care what it costs because all I
half to pay is what the contrack calls for then he says
the price of ivorys went up & we cant put it in for
the money I thot we could so I & Grace argu it out
& then tell him to go a head & its $25 or $30
more or what ever it is.
Then he keeps wanting me to tell
him if we want this or that & how do I know what is
it we want when its all in the contrack & he should
ought to know with out bothering me. & besides
that the real estate man told me that taxes was pretty
near nothing in Allison but I got notise to day that I
owe $90 taxes & if thats pretty near nothing Im glad
it aint no big amt.
Then an other thing when the
archateck drawed the plans he made a misstake a bout
putting in the radiators for the hot water heat & he
aint got enough of them in & hes going to put in 2
extra 1s and he aint told me yet what that will amt. to
but it will be a plenty.
Where I was going to lay a side
$80 per mo. I aint laying nothing a side & they dont
seem to be no chance of ever saveing a nickle un lest we
dont eat nothing & you know Charley I wasent never
the man to starv my self to death. I told the man
down to the bank a bout the radiators & the bath tub
& he says I should ought to of had some sort of
writen contrack with the archeteck so he couldent keep
hanging them things on me all the wile but its to late
now & any way I guess they wont be no more trouble
tho I wisht they would go a head & not worry me to
death asking them questions.
Rgds. to Mary.
F. A. Gross.
Chicago, Feb.
2--
Brother Charley. Well Charley Im up against it now
right. We was so busy down to the station & a
round town that I dident get out to Allison for 2 wks.
& I went out there yest. & went to the house
& they wasent no body working & I seen 1 of the
naybers & they says they hasent been no body working
for a wk. tho the weathers been grand & they should
ought to be husling on the job to get it finnished before
the 1 of march.
I called the archateck up &
asked him what was comeing off & he says the
contrackter couldent do no more till he got some more
lumber & the lumber Co. wouldent let the contrackter
have no more because it wouldent trust him for no more
money & if I would garantee the money all right. What
do you know a bout that Charley?
I says why should I garantee the
money when its all down to the bank & the archateck
says that dident make no diffrence to the lumber Co.
because the contrackter all ready got all the lumber that
was called for in the contrack & now he wanted some
more & I says what for & he says the contrackter
used more lumber then the archateck thot they was going
to need. Well I says I wouldent garantee nothing
& the archeteck says he wouldent neither if he was me
but if we couldent get no more lumber the work would be
held up till we did get some so there you are.
I talked to the man down to the
bank & he says the contrackter wasent no good &
dident have no credit & if he used more lumber then
the contrack called for he should ought to pay for it him
self. I called up the contrackter & told him a
bout it & he says he was sick of the job any way
& I could go jump in the lake because he wasent going
to do no job where he was loosing money.
I told them that down to the
bank & the man says I could make the contrackter
finnish the job but if he couldent get no credit &
dident want to finnish the job I wouldent have no house
for a yr. or just as long as the contrackter felt like. I
says no because it says right in
the contrack
that the house must be all done by the 1 of march &
the man at the bank says yes but suppose it aint done
then what will you do a bout it. I says I will sue
the contrackter and they says you couldent get a nickle
because theys no penalty in the contrack for him not
geting threw by the 1 of march & even if they was you
couldent get nothing out of him if hes broke & hes
probly broke or else they wouldent be no trouble a bout
him geting credit.
So I went to the archateck &
talked it over with him & he says the contracter
under bid on the contrack & seen he couldn't build no
house like mine for no $2000 & thats why he wanted to
quit & I says that may be so but what do I care if he
looses money its his own falt & we will make him go a
head & finnish the job.
Then the archateck says yes you
could do that but you couldent make him finnish it in no
spesifide time & he might be 10 yrs. doing it so the
best thing you can do now is let me get a boss carpenter
to finnish the job & let all the sub contrackters go
a head with there part & the carpenter can do the
work the contrackter was going to do & you can pay
him by the wk.
I says how much more will that
cost. He says hardly any more & you will get
the job finnished quick that way so I says all right go a
head & hire a carpenter so hes going to hire a
carpenter but he says they aint no chance in the world of
getting the house build by the 1 of march & may be
not till the middle of march & I & Grace all
ready had the flat sub letted to a famly from the 1 of
march to the 1of May & they was going to keep it
after words for them self so now I & Grace will half
to stay at some hotel or some wheres from the 1 of march
till the house is finnished & it will cost us some
more money besides storeing our furnitur for a couple
wks.
But may be by the 1 of march the
house will be so as we can stick the furnitur in it but I
dont know & they got me worred & the archateck
aint worrying at all tho thats what he gets payed
for. I give him $100 to worry for me & then I
take his job a way from him. If it would do me any
good to go out to that contrackters house & brake his
jaw I would do it but what would that get me. Nothing.
I hope the archateck can get a
hold of a good carpenter right a way & rush the job
threw but theys no teling how long it will be & I
lerned all ready not to look for no good luck.
Kindest to
Mary.
Fred A. Gross.
 
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