| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, regarding postal delays which may indicate problems by land or sea; Uncle is tired as he has been working over his Bible Society accounts; 233,000 portions and Testaments have been distributed since March; soldiers at Cortona have asked for 30 Testaments, and there seems to be growing interest; the cold weather in the north means that food is frozen and transport is stuck; Mrs. Brock intends to stay in Rome for the winter; she hates the food in the north; Muriel Brock is to arrive soon and will stay till Easter, to the detriment of her education; Dr. Brock has decided that the war will last for another three years and that their apartment should be given up; Mrs. Brock disagrees, though the rent is heavy and the Doctor will have difficulty starting up a practice again amongst few visitors after the war, at his age (he is now 60); Mrs. Brock will see it as a step down, socially; the war has upset so many; Uncle is also upset by the Continental Committee's report, which announces that the Nice church is to be sold instead of the Genoa one; further economies are also required; the Committee thinks that Continental work has virtually ceased because of the war, and the economies are understandable when there are so many other claims on money at home; in Florence Coldstream and others have become responsible to the bank for the debt incurred for Blake's salary; news of Lloyd George's cabinet; mobilisation of all men from 16 to 60 is appealing, as it will mean that Blake, Crozier and Mr. Green will all have to go; there are a good many in Rome who should be at home; the government is preventing people from travelling to Switzerland, especially ladies intending to work amongst soldiers; the Misses Fraser were to help Sutherland at Château d'Oex but cannot go; Mrs. Laing and Mrs. Lewis Davidson were turned back at Turin, and so was Mrs. Livingstone Wilson; they should try other work; the Anglican chaplain at Château d'Oex was alarmed at the influx of women; Miss Forster Walker is becoming very frail and suspicious of all around her; she wants to leave the Italic, a bad idea; Hale Benton's foot is cured; good lesson from Mr. Green. |