File:Erica (Thorp) de Berry to Thorp family, 5 May 1918 (91d26dcc-2e97-4a70-a46e-8e787d519dd9).jpg

Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1006/004.006.002-006#020

Will you address letters directly to me here now, as I seem to be a fixture.
Colonie franco américaine Sunday, May 5, 1918
Lacaune (Tarne)
France
Dearest Family,
It was so fine to get home letters this week and hear all the exciting news. Thinking of old[?] [????????] I can’t get over it.
And the Liberty Loan parade with all of you in it! It all seems such [in it] away and yet so near. I’m glad that you got my cable about our flight, and don’t wonder that you pondered over Toulouse. I put that in to give you an approximate idea as I knew you would never find Lacaune on the map.
The weeks slip by so quickly and busily and still we are only just beginning to get settled. The bad weather is practically all over and heavenly[?] days of real spring are beginning [raised:] with us [back to normal line:] but that means that all the remaining male [??] [??] of Lacaune must hasten to the [??] delayed planting of[?] building operations all have to[?] [?????????] Lacaune has been stripped of men by the war. Only the old and the maimed remain. Our carpenter, one of the most charming men I have ever seen, was severely wounded the first week of the war, and Cross[?] one of the farmers, has a maimed leg. He is a charmer too the living[?] image[?] of Paul Withington, absolutely irresistible in blue smock and [p. 2] chasseur cap. The two postmen are each [missing?] an arm and our refugee gardener has a bad leg. All the rest are [rellards?] except for [??] and Hans the German prisoners [raised above line:] [??] [??] [???] [down to normal line:] who are coming to help us unload Red Cross supplies tomorrow!
If you could see the ?atter, two freight cars full! The shout that went[?] up when the 100 lbs. of candy was opened could almost have been heard in America. Would that all the devoted souls who packed our lodes[?] [of?] boxes, &all who paid for them could have been here! Now we have provisions for months, and such [sp?]lendid ones too. It makes one burst with pride for the generosity of our country[?] and I[?] assure[?] you[?] [?????????] are simply our luck[?].
I love the busyness of it all and our responsibility, and having things held up so makes any step forward infinitely more exciting. Use[?] for shabby[?] & idle[?] [??] till the end of the war for plumbing material, as it[’s?] simply not[?] obtainable unless you can persuade the Ministere de Commerce to give you a [???], but we improvise as best we can — lots can be done with the [??????] state[slate?] and our endless water [??]. Have I told you that a “source” of lukewarm water runs into our basement, the source which made the place famous? We use the dozen[?] little baignoires235 for our weekly baths, and it runs off so smoothly [??] the system as well as the water [p. 3] that we can finish up all 80 in 2 hours and a half!
Bread cards are the order of the day, and such a funny time as we’ve had! They can’t seem to say [raised above line:] see [down to normal line:] the time saving value of a [??] collective, so we have to hand in our 212 feuilles236 to the baker[?] to be clipped each day according to the number of grains allowed in the various categories. Poor M. l’Abbé being a rettard[?] gets only as much as an unfair [????] [?????????????]which those[?] of us who are old[?] [????????] being [??]to [????????] [??????????] get 400[1] It’s a funny system, and [???????] as only a French system could [??] Day before yesterday I went to[??????] to change our[?] money — a heavenly 4 hour ride starting at dawn, thro’ golden-[??] covered mountains! In the valley below everything is at least 6 weeks ahead of us — gardens in full flower — lilacs, peony buds, wistaria, and a market place full of oranges, artichokes & asparagus. It is a fascinating old city with a regular Venetian[?] waterfront over the river, and tranquil old villas slumbering in flowery orchards. The streets are full of blessés & refugees, & one sees German[?] prisoners at every turn some 200[2000?] of them in the vicinity. I think I was about the first American that most of the inhabitants [p. 4] had ever seen, & all were so nice to me & so interested in the colonie, reducing prices, carrying bundles for me and helping in every possible way.
The admiration and confidence in America that one finds everywhere in this region is most touching[?]. They somehow feel that we can do anything. and If only we could!
It’s funny to see the scorn[?] that the refugees of the north feel for the [???] counting[?] here as our establishment is all refugees many are the scathing[?] remarks[?] passed upon manner of planting, manner of dressing, manner of talking of the Lacaunaire. The dialect & accent are impossible [raised above the line:] [I must admit?] [down to the normal line:] even the Sisters can’t understand it [???] you can imagine how[?] helpless I feel before a torrent[?] of plumbing dimensions given in Lacaune [??] between puffs of a vile-smelling pipe.
One of our household is a poor[?], half witted soul from Luxembourg imported by Mlle de Rose, another the son of the gardener & man-of-all work was partially buried by another[?] &has been very quick ever since playing [strange?] tricks hiding keys, forcing [???] [???], etc. etc. We also have a refugee washerwoman from the north, another from Rheims, a pitiful solitary girl from goodness knows where whose brother is a prisoner in Germany, our refugee abbé and all our refugee elves[?].
Monsieur l’abbé & I dine together in the big salon, talking unceasingly [p. 5] of crops & the weather. He is a nice old soul from the Ardenne, gentle and ramble, fond of a garden & children and absolutely adaptable. Can you imagine us dining day in and day out together with our three topics of conversation!
Mlle de Rose has gone to Paris on business, so we are left to wander free and wide — and it’s really much easier when[?] you have the whole responsibility. I spend my days trotting to the village to the plumbers, the mayor’s, the [??], the drug-store, rounding up workmen who don’t appear (tho’ one can hardly put it in the plural!) scouring the highways & byways for kitchen utensils that could be had depuis le guerre, struggling over household accounts, and giving daily lectures to quell grumblings. You don’t know how severe I am with “my employees” if they don’t come up to the mark! All the refugees are terribly restless, due to suffering & hardship [??] change, & it’s hard for them to settle down steadily to a job. One understands perfectly their state of mind but it not doesn’t make for harmony & efficiency in a household — where there is [???????] as[?] much work as there are [P. 6] people to do it. The Sisters are magnificent. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as they do. And the children, too, are indefatigable. We have regular working[moving?morning?] trains, & you ought to see the speed with which beds & armoires and tables get shoved about upstairs & down by “our eldest” of 12 & 13. Never have I seen a place left in a wilder mess! It was just as if a hurricane had whirled thro’ & before our arrival, & anything[or angling?] up mattresses & crockety towel racks and tennis rackets. You can imagine how much stuff there would be in a hotel, anyway, actually[?] in the plate & glass line[?] bushels of which [?] entirely unpractical for our use.
At last we’ve got some sort of order by [????] hauling everything up to the garret & sorting them there, but still the halls & corridors fill up with demolished partitions [raised above the line:][??] [down to normal line:] woodwork, etc. And of course to add to the [??] [??] living[?] the electricity of the village has been out of order [raised above the line:] commission [back to normal line:] for a month [??] is unobtainable. However, the faithful bougie is still with us, lit, at the kitchen fire to save matches!
You don’t know how really delightful it all is, though, or what [??] satisfaction I take in it. [??] is humorous that my first experience of running a household should be [??] [??], but I wouldn’t have it [??????????????] any other way.
[Up the left side of the first page:] Dearest dearest love to [you] all
from your very happy and excited
Bun
[Up the right side of the first page:] We almost had a case of appendicitis to add to the variety of life but it turned into something else.

• Keywords: long archives; henry w. longfellow family papers (long 27930); erica (thorp) de berry; document; correspondence; anne allegra (longfellow) thorp; joseph gilbert thorp jr.; europe; france; lacaune; education; world war i; war; school; health and illness; Erica Thorp deBerry Papers (1006/004.006); (LONG-SeriesName); Outgoing (1006/004.006.002); (LONG-SubseriesName); 1918 (1006/004.006.002-006); (LONG-FileUnitName)