CCC Vol. 2 p. 16 Roswell Young

The spring sunshine of a fine March day would seem to indicate that spring cannot be far behind. And yet, I have lived in New England long enough to know that we may have a blizzard tomorrow, and the one hopeful thing is, that by the time this letter reaches you, spring will certainly have arrived.

First of all, I can report that my family enjoys perfect health, and that my son Philip¹ admits that he is the best reader in his class at kindergarten, and my son John² can get muddier than any other descendant of Joseph and Ann Campbell.

Perhaps the only interesting thing that has happened to me since my last letter was a trip to Europe the first of the year. I sailed January 5th on the "Aquitania", one of the largest of the Cunard [Line] steamships, and landed in Southampton, England, A busy week was spent in London in search of new things in golf stockings³ and fine English neckwear for men. I saw three good shows, one of them at the London Hippodrome, whose feature act was a Paul Whitman Jazz Band. I also saw "Blossom-time" [sic], an opera which I had once seen in New York, and an American movie -- "Down to the Sea in Ships". "The Covered Wagon" and "Scaramouche" were also playing in London to packed houses at much higher prices than we can see them here. As usual, it rained all the time I was there.

After one night in Paris, I took the Orient Express to Vienna, thirty-two hours ride, and continued the search for similar merchandise there. Vienna is a ghost of its former gayness⁴. The streets are dirty, the buildings are grimy, windows are broken and people generally not well dressed. However, they have plenty of work and food now, and consider themselves far better off than three or four years ago when they actually were hungry⁵. The people were all at work and had plenty of orders to keep them busy for months to come.

The Orient Express goes directly across Switzerland. I had two days in the snow covered Alps. Upon returning to Paris, I spent several days, and by far the

1. I wish I had known Phil. True to his start as the best reader in his kindergarten class, he became a widely recognized authority on the writings of Ernest Hemingway. If I recall correctly, at Penn State he was a colleague of, and mentor of, Cousin Bonnie LUGG Kyofski. Also, he was popular as a pianist in jazz groups. He sounds like an interesting person to be admired both in academia and the music worlds - wbt.

2. I'm in touch with children of both Philip and John - wbt.

3. He was a buyer for a Boston department store. In the 1920s, golfers wore knickers and knee socks. At this time, Roswell was the President of the Campbell Cousins Correspondence Club.

4. It took years for Vienna to recover from WW1 and the end of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.

5. There was starvation after WW1. Future president Herbert Hoover, our 1st Quaker president (Nixon was the 2nd) became know to the public as head of the US' humanitarian relief program.

I sailed for home on the January 26th on the French Liner "Paris," the largest of the French boats. The second day out I went to bed with influenza and had a very quiet trip home. Katherine met me in New York and we were obliged to stay there a week before I was able to complete the trip and get back on the job.

Katherine and I were in Elmira two weeks ago and I spent a very pleasant day with my sister and father.

Please let me repeat an earnest invitation to any Campbell Cousin, by chance motoring through New England, to look up Wellesley Hills and make us a call.