{Lutheran Theological Seminary and Waterloo College
Waterloo, Ont.} Jan’y 25,1925
Dear Mother:
As it is Sunday evening again and I am at home, I will try to write you a few lines. I received last week two letters from Herbert, the first giving a full account of Bessie’s sickness, death and funeral, and the second containing Pearl’s beautiful tribute and a picture of Bessie’s flower-covered grave. I thought I would get around to write to Herbert before this, but owing to pressure of duties have not been able to do so. And as I am not sure just how soon I can write him I will enclose the histology of Bessie’s case which he wished to have returned and will ask you to give it to him. Herbert wrote a very pitiful letter and I know he must feel his loss very keenly. May the Lord bless him in it and give him strength to bear it. We too feel very bad over her untimely death. Her pleasant cheerful disposition endeared her to all and we cannot help but feel her departure as a distinct loss. The boys over at the Seminary are having a skating party to-morrow night and they phoned me to make them an humourous address; but in view of Bessie’s recent death, I didn’t have the heart for it and asked them to excuse me. We
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had a solid week of winter last week – very steady cold and for the most part fair weather. But the very day we wanted it nice (yesterday) in order to see the total eclipse was cloudy. It became very dark at 9:07 and continued so for about two minutes, when it suddenly cleared. We could not see the sun during the totality of the eclipse, but about 9:15 we had a glimpse of it through the braking of the clouds when it appeared like a gold ring around the (orbit) disk of the sun. The Seminary roof was crowded with people, perhaps 50 being up there. I would have gone up there myself, but I knew that under the circumstances, they couldn’t see any more than we could on the ground, so I didn’t bother. The cloudy morning was no doubt a great disappointment to many people around here, but it couldn’t be helped. No doubt somewhere in its path there was a good view of it. As I have been studying philosophy for the last week or so I took the matter philosophically. I was down at Church this morning. Bonnie and the big boys are down to-night. The rest of the children are at home and are raising Cain. Consequently they are enjoying themselves. Bonnie has been working to-day solving puzzles for which rewards are offered by the Toronto papers. She expects to make anywhere from $100 to $1000. When she does that we will be on our feet and may perhaps think of making a trip next summer. So, you may imagine, I am wishing her all manner of success. I suppose you all have the cross-word puzzle craze, as it seems
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to be world-wide. I never monkey with any except those in The Lutheran. They are easy as they tell you just where to find all the hard ones. Next Sunday evening I am booked to preach in St. Peter’s, Kitchener, for the Rev. Dr. Sperling. They ought to pay $10 or $15, but they only pay $5. However every little helps and there is no outlay. Carolus took a picture of the big snow bank between here and Rumballs that I have been keeping shoveled out this winter. When he develops it I will try to send you a copy. It generally takes me about an hour to shovel it out and I do it bare-headed even in zero weather and never take cold. I am quite hardened, as to my head, am perhaps a block head. Herman and Carolus have slight colds now. All the others are over theirs. I tried to get the boys to take an onion poultice last night, – but they preferred the disease to the remedy and finally compromised on a mustard plaster. But onions is the thing. It knocked the baby’s cold out in one night and she had a desperate case of it. She is feeling good these days and is in all kinds of mischief. She likes to take her shoes off and lace them up again in the most incomparable manner. It takes me about 5 minutes to unravel her lacing. But she is the most cheerful and best natured of all the children and is always ready for sport and to join in their plays. She talks a lot
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and quite plain and is as plump as she can be and as pretty as a picture. To-day was quite mild – the first day of the winter on which the snow melted a little. The Seminary boys have a wonderful coating of ice on their rink. I have been on it several times at night lately and intended going on it this afternoon, but heard that it was a little soft and I didn’t want to cut it up for the boy’s skating party to-morrow night. We are moving along nicely in our Seminary and College. In the latter we hope to be able to give degrees by next year through affiliation with Western University at London, Ont. In order to have the requisite staff I have allowed my name to go on the Faculty of Arts list for one subject a week in the College. Dr. Potter is pushing the matter along. Well, I must close. With love to you all, I am
Most Sincerely yours,
[signed] Carroll H. Little
