Letter from Hattie to Mary, February 7, 1889

Letter from Hattie to Mary, February 7, 1889

Travel; Railroad travel; Pullman cars; Sleeping cars (Railroads); Storytelling; United States--Armed Forces--Political-military affairs officers

Harriet writes to her sister Mary about her travels since leaving home last week. She describes the nature around her, the sunset, and the color of the hills. They passed by Cheyenne early this morning and are now heading into the mountains full of sagebrush and snow sheds. She talks about the passengers on board the Pullman Sleeper "Julesburg." She talked a lot with an officer of the Oceanic on the topic of Christianity. He told her about one of his experiences in South America. He was with the Captain of the military company and the men they were in command of decided to rebel. To intimidate the men, the Captain shot the Lieutenant, but this provoked the men even more and the men fired on them. The officer Harriet is talking to was shot through the cheek and he and the Captain were able to escape. They traveled sixty-eight miles to the shore where, to their luck, a US man of warship was coming into harbor.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #4

Unpublished

1889-02-07

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_393

Thursday -
Feb 7th 1889 -
My dear Mary -
How soon it will be a
week since I left home Today
you will have the missionary
meeting. I wonder if you or
Clara will go perhaps both of you
will .I hope the meetings will be
well attended. I shall never
forget last Thursday evening I
am sure. It [u]seems[/u] to me all
the time that we are travelling
[u]East[/u] and requires an effort to
realize that the landscape I

look out upon through the
windows at my right is Northward
instead of South . The sunset
last night was magnificent
making the barren landscape
beautiful in the mantle of soft coloring
it spread over it. The distant hills
glowed in rich purple and
the plains between were shaded
from the darkest emerald
tints to faintest shades of
sea green .We passed
Cheyenne early this morning
and are now among the mountains
in the region of sage bush and
snow sheds . We are making up
lost time were obliged to shop this
morning at Laramie to change a wheel

2

which had been bent. and
lost nearly an hour. There seems
to be almost as much motion at
times as on a steamer when the sea
is not very rough. I think it must
have been somewhere near here that
Mary Strokes fell out of her berth -
I have not told you all about
our passengers. As I think I
told you I have the lower berth of the
section in the (went until I think it
cut) [u]North West[/u] corner of the Pullman
Sleeper "Julesburg" - The upper berth of
the section is occupied by a young gentlemen
whose Mother + Sister I conclude
occupy the section opposite. Just
now they are taking their dinner
from a generous lunch basket.

The steward produces a nice
little table which makes it very
convenient for those who have
lunch with them. The next two
sections are occupied by two Elderly
couples the ladies are sisters I think.
They are very pleasant ladies -
wealthy I imagine ere from Racine
Wis going out to spend some time
in Cal. The next two sections contain
the four missionary ladies of the
Methodist persuasion. Farther than
this way acquaintance does not extend
I think the little officer of the Oceanic
has one of the berths next. He came
and had quite a little talk with me
last evening is from Albany. and
believes implicitly in the [u]power of prayer[/u].

3

He has had all sorts of [?adventions?]
and hair breadth escapes and
believes most fully that his Mother's
prayers have kept him safe.
It seems so pleasant to find one
in his place who feels so. I have
never before met an officer on
any of those steamers who seemed
to have the slightest faith in
Christianity . He was telling me
of one of his experiences in South
America and last night I dreamed
I was at home telling Edward
and the rest of you about it.
It seems he was with a friend
there who was the Captain of a
military company. I did not
fully understand the merits of the

care but it seems it was at a
time of disturbance + wanting.
One morning he rode out with
his friend to review the company
+ when they appeared the men did
not present arms as usual. The
lieutenant spoke to the Captain +
told him what the men had decided
to do + if he would go with them it
would be all right if not ------
The Captain spoke to our friend
+ told him there would be trouble
but it was no officer of his and
he had better withdraw. But it
seems this same Captain had
saved his life a short time
before and he told him he
would stand by him -

4

The Captain then turned and
drew his revolver and shot the
Lieutenant I suppose hoping to
intimidate them But instead
the men fired upon them and
they fled . This young man
was shot through the cheek the
ball coming out of his mouth and
also through the leg .His horse also
was shot dead. The Captain
pulled him up on his horse
and that day they travelled
twenty three miles .The next day
they made fifteen and then
their horse gave out . Then
they travelled at night heading
in the daytime the Captain
dragging his wounded friend

[Note: Faded]
along . I wonder that he
ever lived to tell the tale.
I think they were thirty days
in making the remainder of
sixty eight miles to the sea
shore . and when they reached
there they [illegible] rejoiced to see
the US man of war [illegible]
coming into the harbor. They
managed to find a boat +
get out to her and were safe.
He said he did not mean to have
his mother know about it but
some of his friends reached home
before he did and told her
all the story . I will
close here + give my
letter to the [illegible] to mail
with love Hattie

周四
1889年2月7日
我亲爱的Mary，
我大约一周前离开了家，
今天你应该会去传教士会议。
/
你或Clara会去还是你会一起去？
/
我希望很多人参加会议。
我永远不会忘记上周四晚上。
/
我觉得我们在向东旅行，
但我知道我们在向西走
我必须提醒自己，
我右边的火车窗朝北，

/
左边的火车窗朝南。
昨天的日落很壮观。
/
阳光柔和的光线浸透了荒芜的风景。
/
远处的山丘发出浓郁的紫色光芒，
/
/
中间的平原从最深的祖母绿色调到最微弱的海绿色阴影。
/
今天早上我们经过了怀俄明州夏延，
/
现在火车在点缀着鼠尾草灌木和雪棚的风景中疾驰而过。
/
因为今天早上我们不得不停下来换一个弯曲的车轮，
/
火车正在弥补失去的时间。

2

/
火车和轮船一样来回晃动，
/
也就是说，
如果海面不太汹涌。
就在这附近的某个地方，
她从Mary Strokes的卧铺上掉了下来。
我才意识到我没有告诉你其他乘客的事。
/
我有卧铺火车车厢西北角的下铺，
/
火车车厢是由Pullman制造的，
它被称为Julesburg。
上铺有一个小伙子，
他的母亲和妹妹住在对面。
/
刚才他们正在用一个大篮子吃午饭。
/

列车员拿来一张小桌子供他们使用，
这让他们很方便地邀请客人来与他们共进午餐。
/
隔壁的车厢里有两对老夫妻，
我觉得这两个老太太是姐妹。
/
他们是非常令人愉快的女士，
我认为她们是来自威斯康星州拉辛的富有的女士们，
她们打算在加利福尼亚消磨时光。
接下来的两个车厢里有四位传教士女士，
他们都是卫理公会主义者。
除此之外我对他们一无所知。
我认为Oceanic海军军官有下一个泊位之一。
/
他昨晚来找我谈话。 
/
他来自纽约州奥尔巴尼，
他相信祈祷的力量。

3

他经历过很多次冒险，
也多次险些死里逃生。
他相信他母亲的祈祷使他安全。
/
我很高兴在他的职业中找到一个如此虔诚的人。
/
我从未在那些轮船上遇到过对基督教感兴趣的军官。
/
/
他告诉我他在南美洲的经历，
/
昨晚我梦见我在家告诉Edward这件事。
/
/
似乎这位海军军官在南美洲时，
/
和一位船长朋友一起旅行。
我并不完全了解他们在南美洲所做的一切，
/
但似乎那是一个大混乱的时期。
一天早上，
他骑马检阅他的士兵，
但士兵们并没有像往常一样展示他们的武器。
中尉和船长想出了一个计划，
中尉假装支持士兵拒绝战斗，
然后上尉假装向中尉开枪，
以恐吓不情愿的士兵。
中尉欠船长一条命，
所以他支持他的计划。
然而，
他们的计划适得其反。
/
/
/
/
/

4

当上尉假装向中尉开枪时，
/
士兵们非但没有害怕，
/
反而被激怒了。 
/
他们拿起自己的枪向船长和中尉开火。
中尉的脸颊中弹，
子弹从他嘴里出来。
他的马也被枪杀。
船长把他拉上马，
/
一天骑了23英里。
第二天，
他们骑了 15 英里，
然后他们的马筋疲力尽了。
然后他们在晚上旅行。
/

船长拖着他受伤的朋友。
我不知道他是如何熬过这次经历的。
/
他们用了 30 天的时间将剩下的 68 英里行驶到了海边。
/
当他们到达岸边时，
他们高兴地看到一艘美国军舰驶入港口。
/
他们找到了一艘船，
逃到了美国军舰上，
他们终于安全了。
他不想让他的母亲知道他的经历有多危险，
/
但她从朋友那里得知了这件事。
/
我的信到此结束并寄出。 
/
把我的爱送给你，
Hattie

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