| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, regarding short letter as she is tired and started late; invitation to treat sprained ankle of Margaret Barrett, daughter of the butler at the American Embassy; dinner late after church as there were many goodbyes; visit of Mr. Hamilton (Australian) and Mr. Cust to tea; letters to Chambéry and Grenoble; she will be busy up to the last minute despite her preparations, for she has lost part of a filling again and Mrs. Baum is crowning it; the expense of her journey has gone up from last year; Captain Martin and the Highlander Captain Shaw came to visit - both are drill instructors of Italian company commanders; Captain Martin was at the first Mons-Marne campaign, was wounded three times then invalided out and sent to Italy; she was to go shopping with them but her papers needed attention at the wrong moment; the director of the Mission Sanitaire has been terribly kind over it all; she helped the two captains buy dress lengths of navy blue charmeuse (Como silk), one for a wife, the other for a fiancée; it was expensive so she hopes the Inverness circle will admire it; Captain Martin is a friend and neighbour of Mr. Huston; Captain Shaw is in the Camerons; she likes both of them; they are now off to Piave; she has received money for a much-needed workbasket as a present from Miss Maclean, 'an elderly, most attractive Scotch nurse of the old family servant type'; she was most impressed in her childhood by the story of David Livingstone and sees Amelia as a link to him; she wanted to be a missionary but has done more than that; Amelia has received word of accommodation in Chambéry with Mme. Pelaz, but it is expensive because of the arrival of the Americans; because of this she is thinking of applying at Grenoble if Chambéry plans fail; Colonel Randon, the director in Rome, says that if there is another war there will be no Red Cross hospitals as the volunteer nurses are such trouble; his experience of setting up hospitals with volunteer nurses; he tells her to go to Chambéry for a few days then go on to Grenoble and see the Directeur du Service de Santé there; she is to report to him any that try to obstruct her; he recommends she find employment in a military hospital there, because it is a massage centre for a corps; he is touched by her album and says that that is a testament to her work; Uncle is thinking of going to Sondrio at the end of June; the Bible Society has reported that the Italian government has refused to grant shipping rights to cargoes of books for soldiers - 'an R.C. device, nae doot'. Extra sheet: packing; thanks for letters received; attending to M. Barrett's foot; last minute repairs to Uncle's clothing; Uncle's visit to Belgian exhibition of art; Aunt also invited but as there was no meat they had to prepare tongue sandwiches; price of tongue; Amelia has done as much as she can to prepare for Aunt's departure, but wishes that it would be sooner; notes on Aunt Amy's communal cooking; no longer any need for Weekly Scotsman as Daily Scotsman is now available; Mrs. K's sisters may have the house that the Misses Ross used to lodge in. |