| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her parents, regarding Miss Milne Rae, who is secretary as in her father's lifetime; writing to Miss Telford but again receiving no reply; mention of parents' problems with wild beasts; mention of Mr. Craig of Old Calabar; Dr. Brock is in Woolwich but they have had no news of him since Mrs. Brock went home; she and two companions were held up for a fortnight in Paris on their journey because of troop movements; 'one of the trains of ordinary travellers was blown up and cut in two by the long gun'; there were three long guns bombarding Paris but they are now destroyed; Amelia's teeth are repaired for now at least; her teeth are too soft for the fillings so no solution is permanent; they are worried that her parents are being left with too much to do, and think it very selfish of Mr. C [Chalmers?] to leave a post he was trained for, particularly when hostilities seemed to have eased; they speculate that Dr. I. will also leave; Mr. C. left the electrical department with no one to replace him; a business would not stand for such behaviour; reference to Mr. Daly making a visit to Edinburgh to see Mr. Ashcroft; Dr. Elmslie ought to return to his work; missionaries are useless when they fail in leaving their wives behind; as Mrs. Elmslie cannot travel at present she should consider it her duty to stay at home and encourage her husband to go; in the army this would be taken for granted; her parents are not to feel bound to write regularly if they are tired or overworked; her own letters may be delayed if she is near the 'Army zone'; criticism of Aunt Amy's writing habits; reference to their account of Mr. Storr's visit with his servants; reference to a steamer having been saved by the smoke from a destroyer; description of a destroyer seen in an illustration in the Graphic, with braziers for making smokescreens; reference to the continued war in German East Africa; story from Captain Wales Cameron of British officers being stilettoed in the back in Genoa, so much so that they are confined to barracks; passersby mutter 'There go our padroni (bosses)'; the Americans are all the rage at present and the British are being blamed for prolonging the war; the situation with Uncle is becoming intolerable; it is trying to wait, but worse when Uncle is against her going; she has too much time to think while she is sewing and the scirocco exhausts her; she is mending, cleaning and tailoring, all to save money; he expects Amelia to be a servant; even his hymns are monotonous and she is not allowed to change them; reference to article on Paul Jones in the Bible Weekly; she will never return once she has gone, unless Aunt is ill; she still hopes she will be able to have Aunt with her eventually. |