Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Letters from Grandpa 22 February 1916

Golconda Hot Springs Hotel
Golconda, Nevada

Miss Allene S Kelley, 
Modesto, 
California

Little bread is better than no bread at all Dearest, and it will be the little that my girlie'll be getting today. Haven't had a moment's time all day till now and the train will be here in about five minutes, or less, so if there's an abrupt ending you'll understand. Trains only come to about a standstill and then start right up again at this place,-and I don't blame 'em.

Tho't you'd appreciate those pictures of me. Honestly I didn't know I did look that way. Hardly see how pictures can lie tho'.

That's a real luxury,--living so close to the City [San Francisco-ed.] that you can go almost whenever you wish without losing a lot of time. Selfishness makes me glad that the Berk'y [Berkeley-ed.] and Oak'd [Oakland-ed.] boys have dates ahead till the 24th of March and causes me to wish they'd continue to have dates ahead--way ahead. Of course I want you to have a dandy time--all the time dear--but the City is no place for a nice respectable girl to be running around loose with college boys (or any others) than Carlin is for a boy.

Train's coming--
I love you dear.

Frank.

Washington's Birthday

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Letters from Grandpa 21 February 1916

Golconda Hot Springs Hotel
Golconda, Nevada

Miss Allene S. Kelley,
Modesto,
California

Dearest, kindly tell Mrs Maze I thank her for the perfectly frank manner in which she expresses her opinion of my intelligence,~~or rather the lack of it. You might add that I'm a very hard worker, -when I get started,-and don't need a coat when I'm at the small end of a "Number 2" shoveling snow.  Also I'm going to answer her letter,-that great big dandy "thriller" that make me feel so good.

Yes, that nice chubby round face man is Dr. Whitesides. He's 6 feet 2 and weighs a little over 200. And he's been married and has a married daughter and he's engaged (so I was told) to a nice lady in San Francisco and he's a pretty fine fellow and I hope he does well in matrimony, for his sake, and business, for ours. And I'm a dude and wear white collars in cold weather because I catch cold when I wear flannel shirts unless I leave them unbuttoned at the throat and by golly, it's too cold in this country in winter to do the likes of that.

Oh say dear, I'm sorry you had to go clear up (or down, or over, or across) to the express office after that package. Next time I express anything, other than myself, I'll try and remember to put the street number on the outside

Let's see,-about tomorrow I'll get a letter with a comment on that picture of me in the gateway at Midas. Would like to see you try to make a face like that. The snow was about four feet deep on the level when that was taken. A trench or path was dug from the level of the packed snow in the street to the ground at the gateway. The picture hardly shows the picturesqueness, but it was very pretty in reality.

We're going to leave for Battle M't'n next Sunday afternoon and will go up to Austin Monday morning on the motor.~~~~~Providing, of course, no new work comes in to hold us. I hope we're held cause we're a good many hundreds of dollars short.

Yours with love, dear.
Frank

Monday, February 21st, 1916