| Title: | Mary Smyth, SS Tunisian, to Jas. A. Smyth, Ontario |
|---|---|
| ID | 2992 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Smyth, Mary/57 |
| Year | 1904 |
| Sender | Smyth, Mary |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | on her way to Ireland |
| Sender Religion | Protestant (Presbyterian) |
| Origin | Ship Tunisian |
| Destination | Essex Co., Ontario, Canada |
| Recipient | Smyth, James A. |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | Copyright Retained by Mr & Mrs J Smyth, Castledamph, Plumbridge, Co Tyrone, castledamph@btinternet.com |
| Archive | Mr & Mrs J Smyth, Castledamph, Plumbridge. |
| Doc. No. | 309002 |
| Date | 29/08/1904 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 29:08:03. |
| Word Count | 1170 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Envelope addressed to: - Mr. Jas. A. Smyth, Essex, Ontario. Postmarked on Front: - [---?] [02?] [04?] [CANADA?] Postmarked on Back: - ESSEX AU [August?] 29 04 ONT [Ontario?] [S.S.?] [Tunisian?] [Friday?] [Morning?] 9 O'clock, Dear Brother: - [Got?] [two?] letters from you last night - just as, I came on and also a telegram this morning. After I [got?] my berth & went out to claim my trunks and when I was [early?] [back?] the steward [gave?] them to me they all call me Miss Smyth. The stewards came this morning just as we were getting up & asked for Miss [Smik?] we thought she said & the other lady in the [berth?] said there was no one of that name here. I asked her how the name was spelled so I found it was a telegram for me They all talk so that it is hard to understand them. There is a lady in the room with me who is a school teacher in Eng. [England?] just came out on her holidays here we went to breakfast together and are now [getting?] together out [here?] her name is Miss Ellis. She has come out on her holidays for the last six years. Well I think I had better say something about how I got here last night The conductor on the train saw that I got the transfer all right he was very nice & asked where my people lived & all about it when I was getting off he bade me goodbye The [-----?] took off my satchel & gave them to a CPR man & he took me to the Telegraph office then to where the [bus?] [was?] & he also posted the letters for me, I was left all alone at the bus and I could see nobody only [female?] people I did not [mind?] it though and when the [bus?] came I was glad to hear second Cabin [passengers?] called out so that I would not be with them going down in to cab, it was pouring rain when we were coming down and the cab was packed full [There?]were two Eng. [English?] Girls sat opposite me so I had a talk with them. When we got down I got my things all in to my berth & then went to see after my trunk and had to [wait?] an hour or more before they came down from the station. I forgot to say that I never saw the Essex people from we got off the train until we got here The girls felt awful bad when they saw their [berth?] they would have gone home had they the money. I went down with them and they were crying there was a drunk man down there and he was making lots of [noise?] [I?] saw them again this morning and the oldest girl never went to bed at all and she says the breakfast they had wasn't fit for pigs I told them I'd give them those two [cans?] of fruit as I don't think I will need them, I also gave her some notepaper & envelopes [as?] they [wanted?] [some?] & had none We have just been around on the other side of the boat to see the scenery I guess it was [Three?] Rivers that we passed it was pretty cold around on the other side of the boat' we are on the [swing?] side. We also had to go down & get our seats at the table, at breakfast we got sitting wherever we pleased I don't know how we will get along with the eatables we had ham eggs & a lot of other things but I didn't care about any of it I just had coffee & toast. I don't feel a bit sick yet I'm in the best of spirits When I got on the boat last night it gave me the same feeling as I had coming out; but I soon got over it I had a foot bath before I went to bed I would have liked to get a bath but the stewardess said the [water?] was dirty with standing still. When I got on last night I thought that there was the roughest looking crowd I ever saw but this morning I saw quite a few respectable looking People but I think myself as good as any of them. They are a rough looking lot in the third class saw them on deck this morning I certainly [pity?] those people to have to stay down there our berths are very comfortable Just three of us only the [older?] lady is a Miss Baker she is about 38. There is a cushioned seat for [two?] in each room. It is better in style way than the [pretorian?] there is a nice sitting room downstairs for ladies but it seems nicer upstairs I saw the first cabin sitting room this morning looks a little more elaborate than ours, We have a nice large dining room and also music room but I don't think it is visited very much as yet I heard some boy play a cornet this morning and someone was playing the piano last night so that is all the music I heard yet they are all enjoying the fresh air today. It is getting (colder, now I have on my brown suit and heavy [army?] coat [as?] I don't find it any too warm. I haven't found out yet whether Dr Matheson is on or not I saw three or four men walking around this morning probably he is one of them. I will try and get a list of the Passengers today. I am going to write to Miss [Riordan?] today so that I can [post?] it at [Rimonski?]. I [don t?] want to spend too much time writing especially going along here. Some places we are [very?] close to land and then again we are far from it, As we are not very far from Quebec now I had better hurry & finish this. We are after having dinner I am not in much humour for eating today. I dont think the meals are as good as what we had coming out. I was looking over all the passengers at dinner We have two preachers on (or at least they are dressed like preachers) and there are two or three other smart looking ones and that is about all. Perhaps when I get used to them they will seem different. I went [with?] the music room after dinner and I saw no one to play so left again I hope they do better soon We have 10 stewards one for each [side?] of the table The one we have seems [to?] [be?] [very?] [new?] also the [stewardess?], she is quite young I have got all turned around on this Boat I imagine we are going west because the boat turned around after we got on We are going to get off at Quebec to have a good look at it as we could not see her at Montreal We can't get a list of the passengers until after we pass Quebec Good Bye M Smyth. Transcribed by Jim Buchanan Verified by Mohamed Souissy Validated by Lorraine Tennant |
