Cooper, Ethel – January 1917
7.1.17
My dear Emmie,
Sandor came on Thursday… and like every other train, his arrived seven hours late on a six hour journey… Sandor came bursting with pride at having been able to bring me half a pound of butter, an egg, a piece of soap, a pound of gruyere cheese, and a little loaf of real white bread…
There is a horrible suspense now, and an uncanny feeling in the air of waiting, while over the whole world, millions of men and women are waiting for the spring. The Entente answer to the American Peace Note has not come yet, but it is promised definitely for this week. It can only show decidedly that peace is out of the question at present…
14.1.17
My dear Emmie,
The two American Vice-Consuls have been having supper here, and have just gone… They have all sorts of provisions from America now,… so I made a soup and some sort of pudding, and then cook their tinned meats, beans, Indian corn, or whatever they have…
The general condition of finance here simply seems to beggar description. Even the papers and the public speakers say that without a decisive victory, and an enormous war-contribution, the country is ruined for generations. ‘Our enemies must pay the cost of the war for us, or we are lost!’…
The town is deep in snow, and there seem to be no workers left to clear the streets – they have just cleared a track at the crossings, and if you try and cross a street elsewhere you have to plough through…
21 1 17
My dear Emmie,
…It is very cold… But forgetting the future and being quite reckless with coal, I can keep one room and the hall warm, but I saw just now that the vinegar and some soup in the kitchen were frozen…
28.1.17
My dear Emmie
We are having such continuous cold as I have never known…
£25 came through this week from Mr Bullock… I have got my affairs quite in order now, and owe no man anything, thank goodness…
