Sunday Evening July 11, 1897 11 Oclk
My Dear Emma, Fred, Anna and Aldana,
Here we are at the “North Cape” where we remain until after 12 Oclk then southbound we go. We had church service this afternoon the Captain reading the prayers, there was a goodly number to attend him.
© 2008 All rights reserved
My Own Thoughts:
As I translated these letters I found it difficult to copy what he was writing, knowing that there were blatent mistakes in it! For example the above sentence “….they make it a point to interact ( ) each individual passenger.” I had to insert the (with) since I KNOW that’s what he intended.
I’m not an editor so editing marks are not my forte. At this point in time I wish they were. I would know how to insert words that weren’t written, or correct the spelling, without destroying the original content. So, to remedy this I have just done what I can to make the sentence legible by adding things in parenthesis, or putting things like names of places in quotes (which he did anyway), or adding a (sp?) after something I just know is wrong. I wanted these letters to be transcribed exactly as written.
I will also protect my great great grandfather at this point and provide a disclaimer for him. At no point in these letters does he come across in a racist way or say things derogatory about other lands. What he does do is write his opinion. After all, these are private letters that were sent home to family. He I’m sure never meant for them to be published in this manner. I did ask my father permission to do this project before I started and I was granted that permission.
Remember please that we are in Victorian era manner of dress, speak and behavior. This is an American man living on the East Coast, traveling to places he only ever dreamed of seeing. It was his eventual retirement I’m sure that made this travel possible both financially and time wise.
