To: Thos. E. Reid
17 Dobbin St. [Street?]
Armagh
Ireland
From: John D. Reid
179 Varick St [Street?]
N.Y. [New York?]
Jan. 17 1900
My Dear Father,
I was very glad
to receive your letter & enclosure
of £5 which netted me $24.10
at the current exchange rate
of $4.82 per £. As you say
I must not allow so long
to elapse without writing
again. With the money you
sent I have paid off some
debts & have still the price
of a suit of clothes remaining
I was very glad indeed to
receive Berties letter &
photo & will answer her
at length before long. I am
now sending her some illustrated
Papers. She looks fine indeed.
I was very glad to hear
that you were all to be together for Xmas
& only wished I could
be there, still, I am doing
fairly well & will do better
& there is absolutely no
occasion for worry about
me. As you say it is
pretty bad to have to
ask you for money but
with Gods help it is the
last time. I made enough
this summer but allowed
it to slip away from me
foolishly & when work got
slack I ran in debt.
There is nothing wonderful
going on here just now.
#PAGE 2
Interest is centred [centered?] in the
So [South?] african war & sympathies
are pretty divided with
the Wealthier & more intelligent
classes in favor of the
English. Just now there are
rumors of a big battle going
on & Ladysmith is in hard
straits. I hope to hear of its
relief soon which will go
a long way to end the war
by reassuring public opinion in
England & causing disaffection
among the Boers. After years
of delay work is about to be
started in New York on
a tunnel to solve the problem
of rapid transit for the city.
Travel is now by overhead
steam Ry [Railway?] & Electric surface
cars but the always increasing
traffic demands new modes.
The elevated RR's [Rail Roads?] carry
on average over 1/2 a
million passgs [passengers?] per day.
I have been very very
busy lately writing for
11 & 12 hours a day on an
average & it is hard work
at top speed. You must
excuse me now as
it is bedtime. I will
write Bertie as soon as
possible & will from this
on send you papers
regularly. with love to all
Yourself, Robt [Robert?], Tom Bell
& Bertie, I remain
Your affectionate Son
John
