Tougaloo, Feb. 4. 1906.
Dear family;
I am glad there is a school-mam at last that suites Mrs. O.B., and that the new library is really a reality. I am very, sorry that it is to be of brick; it will look so out of place in Union. Why don't they adhere to the plan of making it of Union stone? I will give five dollars; we ought to be able to raise fifty dollars in the family. But we need a Miss Tarbell to catalog and nurture our library about as much as we need a building. Miss Tarbell is in Boston this winter, having charge of the "town room" for the Mass. civic club.
This last week I have been selling old clothes; my Mansfield barrels were better than the average, and there was no trouble at all about making sales. After the students and and [sic] the women at the laundry had taken what they wanted Mrs. Wild told her S.S. class that they could come Monday night, and when I got out of school and saw the bargain-hunters sitting on the steps, the benches and walks, I wanted to fly to cover. And when I let them in they all scrambled for the clothes, clutched what they could, and wouldn't let go. In two or three cases one woman got hold of the waist of a dress and another the skirt, and neither would give in. Not knowing what Solomon would have done in such a case, I put a good high price on each part, and a lesser one on the whole dress, but that did no good. they paid and went their separate ways with the parted garments. And at least one woman got away with a quantity of garments that she didn't buy. I don't know how many might have tucked away articles under their capacious capes. But I got about thirty dollars in all, and think that was pretty good. I am going to use it to furnish the new mathamatics [sic] room.
Last Thursday Miss Gordon and I renewed our youth by going out horse-back riding. It worked so well that we went again Saturday with Mr. Dooley. He goes to Jackson and gets a good stable horse for himself but we had fourth rate horses from the Snowden's. Sat. Miss Gordon got thrown off. She and Mr. Dooley were galloping on ahead and she lost her stirrup and went off, losing the skin from her nose and knee. I can't make the horse I ride get out of a dog-trot, so you needn't worry about any tumbles for me. The Snowdens have just lost all their last year's work in the shape of thirteen 500 lb. bales of cotton by the burning of a warehouse in Jackson. It was worth about sixty dollars a bale, and they were holding it until it went up to seventy-five.
The new teacher from Kalamazoo is here, fair and fat, but not forty. Finally we seem to be in running order, but there is still the possibility of Mrs. Dooley's arrival on the scene. next week.
I had a letter from Mr. Roger Monday, which was very nice. I will enclose it. They have only thirty students at Orange Park, sixteen boarders and fourteen day. Lovely warm weather - spring flowers blossoming and birds a singing.
Harold's picture came all right, and everybody smiles back at him.
With love.
Susie.We have Jones' Readers here. in the Grammar School. They are good.