August 17a, 1884 |
Fahrlander Family | ||
| Siegelau 17 August 1884 Dear Hermann We received your last letter of the 8th of June on the 1st of July, and enjoyed very much to hear from you again. We were particularly glad to hear that you are always well. I would like to report some news to you right away. Two weeks ago today, Sunday, on the 3rd of August, Casimer Holzer arrived here again from America. It is true I have not talked with him very much. According to him, he had been working with Weiss in New York. He has been staying at home. Some say he plans to leave for America again next spring, but one hears from others that he would like to secure work for himself in a factory here. He turned considerably fatter in America and looks very well. Last Thursday, the 14th, Mr. Santo, the teacher in Bleibach, informed me that his son August, your former classmate and companion in suffering when you went to Meersburg, had arrived on the 5th of July.* Teacher Santo has a brother who owns a store in America for quite some time, and the teacher told me that August lived with him. I have asked the teacher to give me the address and he was kind enough to do so. I include on closing here, in case you would like to write him. We are having a very dry summer here. The hay harvest went very quickly. The result is mediocre as to quantity; the quality is very good for it has not rained on it. There have not been any cherries. As far as other kinds of fruit are concerned, it varies with some kinds. There are quite a lot of apples, and with others we got hardly any. We did not get very much. The early harvest is finished. We brought in the last sheaves of oats on the11th of August. The rye yield is small. The sheaves were mediocre, but very light, wherever they were threshing, for about six to seven sheaves were needed to yield-----------.** The wheat looks pretty good, so do the oats, but not with that much straw. The potato harvest appears to turn out pretty good. A fire burned off meadow lands. In the Kaiserstuhl and Oberland areas there will be only a very small yield of wine. However, it is said that the Unterland yield should be better. As far as we are concerned, we can say that we have had a very small yield here. The price of cattle, as a result of the drought, has fallen drastically, as well as the price for young hogs. The situation for wood is also quite unpleasant. I think I already told you that on the Kandel Mountain a new rest house was built for visitors. It is finished now and has been in operation since the 15th of July and is visited a lot. On Saturday the 11th our teacher was up there with the older students. On the 18th of June your sister Rosa gave birth to a strong boy. Probably she will inform you about that. She has been meaning to write you for some time. I was just over to her house and told her I was writing to you, that she should get going and write too, and could include her letter along with mine, which she promised. Both Rosa and the children and family are well. I want to conclude now. Please accept our heartfelt greetings and congratulations. Our gracious Lord may keep you well and bless you with happiness. Greetings again, and please write us again soon. Your Father, Fr. Ant. Fahrlander Address of Carl August Santo c/o Eduard Santo Indianapolis, Indiana North America *This refers to the time Dad went to Meersburg to take examinations for entry to Teachers' Seminary. Santo had also taken the examinations. Dad passed, but the classes were filled for the next session, and he would have to wait another year, and take the examinations again, to enter. Before that time, he decided to go to America. Meersburg is on the east side of Lake Konstanz, of Bodensee. **Not certain as to unit of measurement.
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