Allison, Ill., Jan. 2.
rother Charley. Well Charley I supose you been
haveing rotten weather down east just the same like we
been haveing out here and here it is only Jan. and me all
ready sick & tired of winter and wisht spring was
here all ready but of corse they aint no chanct of real
good weather for 4 mos. & a mans waisting time when
you wish for some thing they cant have any good to wish I
would be. If it done chief of police all ready and
geting the big money.
Well Charley when you move out
in a subburb they aint no chanct for a man to spend a
quite evning at home onct in a wile because theys some
thing doing evry minut out here ether Co. comes to our
house to set a round & play cards & lap up our
beer or else we go some wheres else to some bodys house
& play cards but you couldent drowned your self in
the beer they give us when wear at there house but when
there at our house its diffrunt. But Grace is
haveing the time of her life & says she dident never
know what a good time was when she lived in the city
& says she use to think she wouldent care nothing a
bout society but its grate stuff when you get in to it so
is long is she feels that way I wont try & spoil her
fun tho it keeps me broke buying clean collars &
geting my best close prest.
Theys a little irish girl that
lives down the st. a bout 17 yrs. old & Grace highers
her to come & set in the house wile wear out nights
& shes got a fellow stuck on her & he comes &
sets with her & Grace pays the girl $.50 a night
& I guess thats pretty soft for the girl eh Charley
because she gets $.50 for spending a evning in a house
thats a hole lot better then her own house & pretty
soft for her bow to because it dont cost him nothing for
a place to spark his girl a way from her old man &
old lady & when I was corting Grace it use to cost me
real money to take her out some wheres so her old man
couldent keep popping in on us evry time I got ready to
hold her hand. By rights the girls bow should ought
to pay the $.50 insted of Grace because if hes any kind
of a sport it would cost him more then $.50 to take her
to Hofmanns garden or some wheres else a way from her
perants. But Grace says we cant leave the babys in
the house a lone because they might start crying but
there both to sleepy to cry in the evning & besides
supose they did start crying the little irish girl &
her bows probably to busy smacking each other to hear
them & even if they herd them what would they do a
bout it because I never found nothing yet that would make
them kids stop crying when they wanted to cry unlest it
was a shot gun or some thing. Well Grace says she
thot it would be nice to show the little irish girl &
her bow where we kept our beer so they could help them
self if they got dry but I says nothing doing & if
they want to drink our beer the girls bow
can pay $.15 a
pt. for it like hed half to pay in a garden only when he
was helping him self to our beer he wouldent half to tip
no rotten waiters. I guess Grace thinks wear runing
the county hospitle or some thing.
Well Charley I hope you &
the Mrs. is getting a long O. K. & standing the bad
weather O. K. & I guess they must get more for
postige stamps in N.Y. city then they do here & is
that the reason you dont write onct in a wile.
Kindest to Mary.
Fred A. Gross.
Allison, Ill.
Jan. 11.
Dear
Charley. Well Charley we was to a party the night
before last & wear going to an other party next wk.
& it takes most of my time geting my shoes shined
& they talk about Chicago being a live place well
Charley its like a grave yd. come pared with this place
& some thing doing evry minut when your a good
dresser & the peopl likes you.
The party last night was
over to Curtis house the wood and coal man & no
wonder his wife ast us to the party because there geting
a bout $20.00 dollars per mo. out of us for 2 & ½
ton of coal & it wouldent hurt them none to .give us
a party onct a mo. & have champane wine but they
dident give us no wine only beer & not hardley enough
of that to wet your tungue & of corse Id rather have
a glass of beer then all the wine in the world but when
Im dry 1 or 2 bottles dont even clear my throte &
they might is well give me a spoon full of butter milk
& expect me to have a good time & if I was in the
wood & coal busness I bet I would give my frends
enough to eat and drink when they come to see me
espeshaly when the peopl that comes to see you if the
peopl that you might say buys your groserys for
you. & all they give us to eat was ice cream
& cake & coffee & Grace hadent gave me much
supper on acct. she thot we would get a reglar meal to
the party. I bet the next time I go to a party a
round here I will stick a couple crackers in my pocket
& a little cheese to go with the beer but I guess if
I want enough beer I will half to take a long some of my
own to.
Well they told us it was going
to be a card party so I and Grace thot of corse they
would play cinch or rummy or may be whist but when we got
over there they sprung this here game they call auction
bridge whist. Mrs. Curtis says if I played whist I
wouldent have no trubble lerning this here game but in
this game you bid back & 4th. like pitch only you
half to say what you are biding on & they got a lot
of funny sines that means some thing & a mans got to
go threw collige to lern all them sines so I just set
there & played when it was my turn & onct I had a
hole fist full of spades & bid 3 spades but my
pardner took it a way from me with 1 heart & that
counts more then 3 spades & I left her have it &
they wasent a heart in my hand & when I layed it down
she balled me out like it was some crime Id pulled off
& we got set & she balled me out some more &
of corse I couldent say nothing back because she was a
woman & I dident even know her name & all I says
to her was If you had left me have it with 3 spades they
wouldent have been nothing to it & she says you
couldent of even made 3 spades because you couldent make
nothing only a mess of things so I says yes & you
couldent make nothing only a monkey out of your self so
the peopl we was playing with give her the laugh &
she seen she was geting the worst of it so she shut up
her mouth.
Well Charley I & Grace
dident win no prize but the woman that give me the
balling out dident win nothing nether so she wasent as
smart is she thot she was but any way the gents prize was
a box to put your collars in & if I had of win I
would of throwed it a way as soon is we got out side the
house because I aint got so many collars that they aint
room for all of them in the drawer & of corse I dont
never have them in the house all at onct nether because
theys 3 or 4 of them gos to the landery evry wk.
The wornans prize was a pare of silk stockings & even
if Grace had of win them she would half to take them down
town & change them off because they was plane black
& she aint in morning for no body. So the peopl that
win the prizes was well come to them eh Charley.
Well the Carrys is giveing a
party next wk. & we come home with them from the
Curtis party & Mr. Carry ast me how did I in joy my
self & I says O. K. only I could of got a way with a
couple more bottles of beer with out standing on the
pianno & singing a song & wouldent have no
trubble keeping a wake if they played rummy or cinch or
some game with a little life to it so I guess after what
I said the Carrys will know enough to play some kind of
cards at there party where you don't have to wave no
diffrunt colered flags to tell your pardner what to bid
& give us enough to drink & not serve there beer
in no medisine dropper like they was afrade to give us a
over dose & poisen & man.
Well Charley the rotten weather
keeps up & I supose the merchunts is glad the cold
weather keeps up because they all ways say they dont do
no busness when it aint cold a round after xmas time so
some bodys satusfide with the weather I mean the
merchunts & I guess may be they get there coal at ½
price or may be there wifes is warm blood it & not
kicking all the wile a bout how cold the house is.
Rgds. to Mary.
Fred A. Gross.
Allison, Ill.
Jan. 16.
Brother Charley. Well Charley we dident have no
more fun to Carrys party last night then over to Curtis
the night they give there party & we played this here
auction bridge at Carrys to & I set there &
pretty near went to sleep & Carry dident give us no
beer but instead of beer they give us some thing they
called punch & they was suposed to be a punch in it
but I could of swum in it with out no danger of
geting a red nose & the stuff they give us to eat
would of been a bout enough for 1 man all to gether but
when it was splitted up for 16 peopl a canery would of
starved to death trying to make a meal off of it &
the Carrys runs a grosery store at that so they should
ought to be able to get stuff to eat without paying no
hold up price for it but may be they thot if they give us
some thing to eat we wouldent buy no groserys off of them
for a day or 2.
Grace come in a little wile a go
looking mad so I says whats the matter & she says
nothing & I says you cant fool me so she told me
about passing by Mrs. Carpenter & Mrs. Hamilton &
she spoke to them & they dident nether 1 of them
speak to her. I guess I all ready told you who they was
Charley. Mrs. Hamilton lives right next door to us
& Mrs. Carpenter next to Hamiltons & there the
peopl Grace called on last summer right after we moved
out here & they dident never call on her back &
Mr. Hamilton was 1 of the guys that wouldent leave us
come in & dance that time we got the invatation by
miss take & went down to the dance. So I says
to Grace what did you speak to them for & she says
she wanted to show she dident bare them no gruge because
they was probly sore on them self for not calling on her
& I says well you will know better next time & I
pertend it like it was a joke but I would like to get a
good chanct to get back at them peopl Charley & I
guess you know Im the 1 that can do it when I get the
chanct.
Kindest to Mary.
Fred A. Gross.
 
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