[Some paragraph breaks added for ease of reading.]
Bessie B. Nesbit
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Mass.Fri. April 5, 1940
Dear Mama & Papa,
Hello! Greetings!
My cold is a lot better today. I have been treating it with soda, hot water and salt, mistol & Smith Bros. cough drops. I also stayed in most of yesterday. Thanks ever so much for your letters. I was very interested in Dan's letter. He seems to have manners and doesn't put his foot in his mouth every time he opens it. I am so glad we had him to dinner.
Yesterday was rainy and misty but it looks as if it might clear up now. We had a rather exciteing [sic] experience last night. One of the waitresses slipped and fell with her tray. It was quite awful because I watched her go and couldn't get to her to catch her. I guess I got to her pretty quick, though, because some of the people in the dining room thought I was the one who had fallen. Marion cut her thumb quite badly on a broken dish but she applied a tourniquet and the bleeding stopped. She was quite shaken up, I guess, but was on the job again this morning.
Every day Miss Townsend seems less and less capable to me. She is the resident fellow, you know. A few minutes ago she met me in the hall and asked me what had happened last night. I told her that Marion had fallen and had cut her hand. She was quite surprised to find that it was Marion instead of me because she said when she looked around she saw us both and didn't know which had fallen. Imagine the head of house not even bothering to see what had happened when she was sitting right in the room. She, however, is the kind of person who fails in an emergency.
Stelle and I are going to the movies to night to see Eliz and Essex. We both missed it last fall.
Speaking about more gory news - Sally had a mole removed from he[r] back this morning. They injected novocain locally and had to take two stitches. She feels a little uncomfortable now. While she was in Boston during vacation she had her picture taken with her date at a night club.
I can't wait till faculty Show next week. I think it is such a nice idea to have the faculty do something like that. It makes them seem more human. I am doing my religion now and it's like pulling teeth.
When do you think I should write to the man at the bank? Would you give me the particulars?
How did the trained fleas perform? Did they do their duty properly?
Everything is quite tense around campus today because the seniors are taking their major subject exams.
I have had two orangeades at the drug store since I returned because I thought they would be good for my cold. Of course, I also rather like an excuse to get them. Oh by the way, I hea[r]d some pretty good jokes yesterday. Have you heard about the crazy man who used to go around asking for a piece of toast to sit on? Well, everyone was quite surprised until they discovered he thought he was a poached egg. Then there's the other one about a crazy man who went around with a sealed and addressed envelope say[ing] Lick me! Lick me! Again everyone was amazed until he explained that he was a postage stamp.
I must close now & continue with my Religion.
Lots of love,
BessieP.S.
Thanks for the stamps. I can always use them. I'm glad the Art material was all right.
B.N.