| Title: | James A Smyth, Ontario to Mary Smyth, Castledamph |
|---|---|
| ID | 2748 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Smyth, James Alexander/28 |
| Year | 1900 |
| Sender | Smyth, James Alexander |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | school teacher |
| Sender Religion | Protestant (Methodist) |
| Origin | Essex Co., Ontario, Canada |
| Destination | Co. Tyrone, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Smyth, Mary |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | Copyright Retained by Mr & Mrs J Smyth, Castledamph, Plumbridge, Co Tyrone, Castledamph@btinternet.com |
| Archive | Mr & Mrs J Smyth |
| Doc. No. | 0604005 |
| Date | 11/06/1900 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | |
| Word Count | 1036 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | [Front of envelope] [Stamped] Essex JU 18 00 ONT Miss Mary Smyth Castledamfsh Plumbridge Co'Tyrone Ireland [Back of Envelope] [Stamped] Newtownstewart [---?] [---?] AM 00 [Page 1] Dear Sister, Yours of the 29th of May, to hand last week and I am glad to know you are getting along all right in your new sphere. I hope you will like it and get along well. When you are away from home you must exercise discretion in a good many ways as you are always dealing more or less with stranger [sic]. And may I say something which is applicable both to boy or girl, always be sure of the company and associates with whom you are mingling keep good company and, for goodness sake, keep far from the boy or girl, man or woman who is given to drink or other bad habits. I notice in a great many of the failures around home the cause is attributable to drink. Mary, you write a rather short letter, perhaps you don't know how disappointing it is to get one of these letters from the post office and find that it only gives [Page 2] you a few lines of news. Now I don't infer that mine are always overflowing with interesting news for the simple reason that many of the happenings here would not be of interest to you but everything that is going on there would interest me. Likely you have received my letters informing you of Belle going to visit you. I am sorry I am not going along. I was speaking to Belle and Sara Duncan on Friday in town here. They are going from here on Friday morning by way of new York. Thence on the Steamship Fusnessia. To Londonderry so all being well they will land there on the 2nd or 3rd July. I intended going down yesterday but I had some business in school to do so then I did not go last night as I would had to walk back to day again. However I am going down some night this week or perhaps twice. You may be sure I would like to be going myself and this was my intention all along until a few month [sic] ago but I find I couldn't spare the cash just now. At any rate it will not be longer than this time next year until I am going and perhaps it may be sooner. [Page 3] Well my holidays began on June 29 and end on Sept 4, so I have quite a while to myself. I hardly know how my pupils may turn out. Their exam begins on 26 June, so I have not long to wait. Your success in teaching in this country and the salary you draw depends in a large measure upon the success of your pupils at examination. School teaching is no snof [easy job?]. There is a lot of patience needed and it requires a lot of drilling to get some things into their heads. I have [sic] about to use the strap once a week. One boy get [sic] it regularly in that period I gave him a good one on Thursday for chewing gum in school. Last week I gave it to him for [talking?] improperly to the girls. On both occasion [sic] I think he thought I had plenty of muscle. I certainly applied the strap vigorously. I did not have the occassion [occasion?] to punish any of the girls physically, yet, but it may not be long. We have a gun club in town as you probably have seen by the paper. [Page 4] We have considerable fun shooting every Wednsday [Wednesday?] morning. I don't suppose you have ever seen what they call trap shooting. Well it is an object something like a saucer and make [sic] of such a substance that almost one gram of shot breaks it. This object or blue rock or target as it is called is placed in a trap made for the purpose and placed in a little box about [2?] ft long and 3 1/2 ft high. The shooters stand about 10 yards behind this box and as soon as the call "pull" the men pull the spring of this trap and it sends this shell or rock out with great velocity and it goes about 60 or 70 yards before it falls usually it goes about 4 or 5 yards above the ground and at different angles. [Sketch given here] This would represent a cut. Figures 1 2 3 4 5 denoting the [shooters?]. Box a.b. denoting where traps are usually 3 or 5. The lines indicate the different angles at which the shells [Page 5] go out. If you hit one it breaks it [sic] pieces immediately. The total number of shots fired on Friday evening was almost 400. It is great fun, on Wednsday [Wednesday?] match I broke 11 out of 20, I broke 8 out of the first ten. I left off writing and went to church this evening so now it is almost 11 o'clock I attended the Methodist church tonight as there was a lady singer there tonight and we all went to hear her. I have just witnessed a death since I came out of church. A man was killed by one of the Express trains. He was hit some place west of this station and the train carried him to this station. He was hit right in the skull and made an ugly gash. He never regained consciousness and died about one hour afterwards. He died easily owing to his not being conscious. So far nobody knows him. Perhaps he may be identified tomorrow. Such is life. We don't know when our time is comming [coming?]. [Page 6] I shall expect a great batch of news from Belle when she returns. I will go down to Woodslee and have about a day questioning. We had several great celebrations here over the victories in So [South?] Africa. I am sure the young ones will remember it as they get a half holiday on the [majority?] of such events. Probably you have received my pictures by this time. How do you like them? Willie Gilkison, if alive would have told me what he thought of them. Now I think I have [ready?] a fair letter. So write soon giving me all the Plumbridge news. Your Brother, James A Smyth |
