A Letter Written on Jun 4, 1903

[Some paragraph marks added for ease of reading.]

Templeton, June 4, 1903.

Dear Lucy,

I thought I would write a very little to you tonight, though I suppose Edith writes regularly now and will have written most of what I have to write. Most of it is sad news again. Mr. Hale is not getting along well - I think I wrote that he had one foot taken off - the other began to trouble him Mon. or Tues. and it was found that it was injured more than they had found out, and blood poisoning has set in and they said yesterday there was no chance for him to get well. I heard this afternoon that he held his own through last night and was not quite so feverish this morning, but I don't suppose they think he can get well - if he could he would have to lose both feet and except on account of his wife and boy he could hardly wish to live.

Stuart Winch was round with a subscription paper Tues. to get money to help him he had a little more than $100 when he was here and had only been in E- T-n then and I hear that Baldwinville people asked to have the paper taken over there. It is a sad thing and is one of the things that can indirectly be charged to the license, for the car was out to take the people who had been up to E- T-n for drinks, back to Gardner.

Charlie Scollay broke had his leg broken Mon. He went over to the Hawkes's and a cart tipped up and came down on his leg and broke both bones a little above the ankle. Wont they have a circus to keep him quiet? Mary has been over to see him to-night and said he was pretty lively, the two lady boarders are there and I should think Mrs. S- and Annie would be pretty busy. The prize speaking was last night and Mary says tell you the senior class 'scooped' every prize. M- did not go but the other girls went, except Linnie. I thought if she went she would not get to bed till midnight and have to go to school next day, and it would be too much.

Lizzie came home from G- this afternoon and she and Carrie are going to H-n tomorrow if it is a good day. Benjamin is going to carry them over. Lizzie expects to stay a few days but C- says she shall come home tomorrow night. We have kept Amber shut in the house all day because there are some young robins out here whe [sic] cannot fly enough to keep out of his way, the old birds act as if they expected we should take care of the young ones when they poke them out of the nest.

I have not received the box of washing yet, but expect it any day. I suppose you will be home in about three weeks, if we don't have rain soon every thing will be dried up, but things look nice now. I wont stop to write more tonight. I am reading "The Crisis" and will go in and look that over. Have you heard that the three Doherty girls are going to California? I think they go about the 15th of this months.

Well, the rest would send love if they knew I was writing, and I send much.

Mama.