| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, thanking for letters; regarding Muriel Brock's sore throat and facial eruption; her war work consists of helping in Lady Rodd's shop in the Via Veneto; Mrs. Brock has to keep in touch with the Embassy; she seems to go to the shop more often than Muriel; Aunt Amy's visit to the Soldiers' and Sailors' tearoom at the Waverley; Miss Fleming's occupation with station work; her mother has asked Amelia to check over their possessions left at the Hotel Beau Site; Mrs. Haase is the owner and has been able to prove her Swiss nationality, so she may act more freely now; reviving winter millinery for the summer; the spring weather has begun; Aunt needs new blouses but Amelia hopes to be in uniform all summer and not need another; it is cool in summer and warm in winter; she will need a costume to bring back to Rome but does not know where she will be to get it; Le Goff has written that the Bristol at Aix is closed; as it was a cool place to work she will enquire whether it will require a masseuse when it reopens; she would like to work for Dr. Jacod again; she is now out of touch with the Aix staff; Mlle. Perolaz is now working in the suburbs of Lyon in a hospital for massage and mechanical exercises; that is a possibility though working with her again is not appealing; Uncle and Aunt would find things more difficult in Lyon; they are on war bread at last, which is bad for Aunt; it varies in quality; rations are to come into force soon which will restrict them in their choice of baker; gas regulations have just come into force, which will not please Miss Jazdowska and the Brocks [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]; Uncle was to give them one of their two remaining lamps, retaining the other solely for his own use, but Amelia pointed out that she would not be able to finish her translation from French of an article on S. Prisca if she and Aunt had no lamp, and she is doing it for him for a lecture; Mrs. Brock and Miss Jazdowska are quite able to provide their own lamp if they want to sit up late; daylight saving comes in again next month; Aunt is a little better; Amelia is suffering from a succession of colds; she is managing a certain degree of discipline among the men, and the women appreciate it; it only happens when Amelia is there, though, and she may leave soon; the volunteer nurses have been asked not to return until further notice because of cases of suspected meningitis; Aunt thinks this is a good opportunity to retreat altogether; the scirocco is beginning already; she is unwilling to help patients who just want to avoid military service; she has told Uncle that she will only treat wounded men in the future, ones who wish to be healed; the cleaning is going well; argument over a bed-rest, which the doctor will not allow to be used in case it is broken; she is pleased to leave; Florence Polkinghorne visited to say that her mother is suffering at the hands of her masseur, so now Amelia is treating it; the injury is serious but is progressing well; Mr. Irving's visits to tea, in Rome for the Revision Committee; plans for the printing of the new Testaments; Miss Jamieson has lost a nephew, died of wounds, 'a brilliant soldier by profession, who had already invented two important machines for aerial service'; her lesson was postponed for the funeral of Major Heiberg, military attaché to the American Embassy, who died in a fall from his horse while visiting the Italian front as a neutral; David Henderson's sister has returned to Russia (Rumanian Unit) and has no time to write to him. |