| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, thanking for post and news of Miss Telford; Miss Bulwer has gone to England to attend to the affairs of the late Miss Vansittart; Mr. and Miss Cotterill have arrived in Rome for the Easter music, but it is not satisfactory; lack of reverence in the singers which is always present in Germany in Holy Week; Miss Cotterill is plain and badly presented, and has had to give up playing music because of a wrist injury; she turned instead to teaching singing but the war has disrupted it; her father forbids her to return to Germany where she has most chance of success; she is becoming despondent; Mr. Cotterill talks endlessly; he is critical of the Italians; Bulgaria's hostilities against Serbia have complicated matters further; Paul Rossi is now a Lieutenant and much improved in character, to his father's delight; Dr. Rossi says Italy has decided to go to war but is waiting for the outcome of the Dardanelles; rumour of 60,000 Germans and Austrians dressed as Bulgarians being in Argentina is untrue - they are Italians and have been summoned home to serve their country, sailing on an Argentine Republic Steamship Company's ship; Mr. Morgan thinks the church numbers will go up when numbers of British soldiers start appearing - hopes that Italy will not borrow British soldiers as well as British money; rumours of Prince von Bülow's mission having failed and Lord Rosebery's expected arrival in Rome; the Anglo-American nursing home is once more at the Government's disposal with Dr. Brock's services; no one knows who is expected to use it; Uncle is as usual making no plans for the summer, except when threatened with having to look after Miss Jazdowska [There were Jazdowskis associated with teaching and art in Aberdeen: James Bronislas Jazdowski, son of John, teacher in Aberdeen, graduated from Marischal College in 1856 and according to an annotation of the Search Room student list died in Rome in 1902]; Miss Jazdowska may go out of Rome with Mrs. and Muriel Brock in April; she is calmer this week; Italians fear the German Zeppelins and the possible destruction of art treasures; Germans said to occupy the Austro-Italian frontier; delays expected in action till May or June to give time for reinforcements to come up; Germany capable of transporting men quickly from one front to another by rail; progress with Dr. Spiro before his departure; first lessons with Mr. Green; design of prospective organ received from Herr Jehmlich but still a long way off; description of design 'most chaste'; Uncle is pleased but people will not employ German workmen at present; the arrangement of the stops is that of Herr Pfannstiehl. |