1936 October
From LJT to Annette
The Club
Darjeeling
Oct 7th 1936
My darling Annette,
I am glad you are an independent young woman, and able to take yourself about, and buy your own clothes and such. I am always sorry for people who have no independence of spirit. Its not uncommon to meet women out here who say that they could not possible travel without their husbands, or make a great fuss if they have to, and insist on being taken over to Bombay and being put on the boat, saying that it will be alright for a mother or brother or someonf will meet them the other end.
As a matter of fact I don’t think this attitude is very common amongst the post-war people. It is a leave-over from the last century I think.
I never read Whiteoaks, but seem to have heard something about it, which groping memory cannot recall.
Have you ever tried Bourne and Hollingsworth for hats? I have been much more successful there than at Swan and Edgars. I have also occasionally got absurdly cheap hats at the C&A’s somewhere between Evan’s and Selfridge’s. I think it is a C&A’s, thought it may be a shop of the same sort but with different initials.
I wish my typing had not got so bad! As well as all my mistakes, I think the machine is wanting an overhaul. As you see it often does not print the tops of the Capital letters.
It is tiresome about Dad, is’nt it? The only bright spot is that I am glad they have found out what is wrong. Getting his antrum and sinuses put right will very likely have a beneficial effect on his general health.
Have you read Phillip Guedella’s “Iron Duke”? I have just started it and am already absorbed. I like the way Guedella gives one such a lot of background. My knowledge of European History during the times of the Georges is very sketchy, so I like all Guedella’s allusions to contemporary people and events.
How does Rosemary see to be shaping now that she has moved up to the big school? I don’t suppose you see much of her, but as Headgirl I suppose you have an eye on everybody to a certain extent. Rosemary rather seems to be a child whose shine more at home than at school.
Its rather exciting to think that Richard is 19 to-morrow, and also goes up to Oxford. I wonder what he will make of the life up there. It will be fun if you follow him in a year or so.
What a nice person Peg’s Ginny sounds. I was a little afraid she might get taken up with an ultra modern and rather tiresome type of young man.
We still have not got any definite promise of passages, but in a short time I shall begin pulling wires, and I expect we shall get something. I would love to go by lorry across Mesopatamia and Persia of course, but I don’t suppose I could persuade Dad to do it.
Best love my darling
from
Mum
From HPV to Annette
Darjeeling
October 7th 1936
My dear Annette
Yesterday was marked by a deluge: the offscourings of a cyclone which has been playing around in the south of Bengal. A telegram came up on Saturday, probably, to say that Darjeeling was likely to be hit by a severe storm that night and there was a panic in the town. Today has cleared up; the sun is shining: and there is hope for invalids.
The week has been a disappointment to me. Strength gradually returned but very gradually: and not to so marked a degree that I felt any sort of energy. However the antrum became less troublesome and yesterday the doctor washed it out: the technique is to apply cocaine as an anaesthetic and adrenaline to contract the inflamed membranes, then to jab a hollow needle through the side of the nose (inside) into the antrum and to pump water through the needle. The water runs out through the natural opening from the antrum. It seemed to be mostly blood that came out but that was not actually from the antrum. Yesterday I felt pretty cheap, but today I am better than I have been for days and days.
The general verdict was not very cheery. The insides of my nose are all out of place (a legacy of football smashes) and probably I shall have to have your mother’s operation. But anyhow not till the general inflammation dies down: to assist this process the doctor is going to give me an injection today.
Work goes badly: in fact it scarcely has gone at all. One result of flu is inability to concentrate and another is inability to make up ones’ mind.
Much love
Dad
Family letter from LJT
The Club
Darjeeling
Oct 7th 1936.
My Dears,
My letters have been dull since I have been up here, for I have been doing so little to write about, but I have throughly enjoyed this quiet fortnight, and have managed to catch up with a lost of things that I had to put aside in Calcutta. I am just sending off a big packet of manuscript to Col Mason, the Editor of the Himalayan Journal, partly short accounts of the two new passes I crossed myself, and partly accounts of other people’s doings, which I have reconstructed from letters and notes. I have done quite a bit of reading too. Amongst other things I have just finished a book which we have had in the house for years, but which I never seem to have had both the time and the inclination to tackle. It is an account of the life of Ramakrishna, the great Hindu Saint, who lived during the middle years of the last century, and taught the unity of all religions, leaving behind him a devoted body of desciples who live and work at Belaur Math, just across the river from Cossipore. I have been there often to see old Miss Macleod, about whom I must often have told you. The “St Paul” of Ramakrishna was a certain Vivakanander who travelled in Europe and America, and who enrolled a great many Americans as followers of Ramakrishna. Miss Macleod, now aged almost eighty, is one of these, and is one of the happiest old ladies I know, and quite one of the most remarkable for her age. She has a house in Stratford on Avon, and often visits America to see her relations, travelling entirely on her own. Now and again she comes out to India and spends a winter staying at the Guest house at Belaur Math, which she and her sister built. I must say I have been much struck by this life of Ramakrishna, and must now read the life of Vivakanander.
The young Americans, who came out here with the Anglo-American expedition to climb Nanda Devi, turned up here on Sunday with an introduction to me from Mr Tilman. They are both quite young, the elder aged 26, Arthur Emmons, has already been on an Expedition to Alaska, and also was one of the party who climbed that rather mysterious mountain Minya Konka on the borders of Tibet and China, about two years ago. His companion, William Loomis, aged only twenty-two, has made two first ascents of big mountains in the rockies, before coming to India. They are both from Harvard, and both very nice young men. They have formed the delightful plan of saving steamer fares by walking to, and across China! If they ever keep accounts it would be interesting to find out what the net saving would be. They are going by boat to Rangoon, and by train to Barmo, where the railway stops, somewhere I think on the border of the Shan States. From there they plunge into the blue and hope to emerge in Shanghai sometime in January. “In time to get home for the Harvard term, if they hurry”. Mr Emmons can speak a little Chinese, as he was sometime in hospital in a remote Chinese town after climbing Minya Konka, when he got his feet badly frost-bitten. They have set themselves up with important looking Chinese visiting-cards, which are apparantly the first necessity of successful travel in China. I spent most of Sunday taking them about, and helping them to settle up with their porters, which was the chief thing they came up for. Rex Fawcus had come up that very day, so we all dined to-gether that evening. He is now Commissioner of the Jalpaiguri Division, which includes Darjeeling, so he is up here on Duty.
I suppose you have all seen “the Tale of Two Cities”? I did not go when it was in Calcutta, but went on Sunday evening, and enjoyed it simply enormously. I think it is beautifully done, and Ronald Colman is excellent. I only hope that the same producer will bring more of Dickens to life for us.
I am still worried about Herbert. The discharge kept on from his antrem till Sunday, getting gradually less and less. The doctor said that he could then make arrangements to X-ray it and wash it out. Herbert went down to the hospital yesterday morning. The X-ray showed that not only the antrem was affected, but the two sinuses (The cavities in the bones above the eyes. Also Herberts poor nose has been knocked about far worse than mine had been. The Septum, as the dividing bony structure inside the nose is called, has been folded right up, so that there are three thicknesses of cartiledge where there should be only one. He will have to have the same operation that I did. Thank goodness it is not a lengthy or dangerous business. He thinks he already feels better since the washing out, but I become more and more doubtful whether he will be fit to go on this trip. It is not that there is any hurry about the operation. In fact they will not operate till it has, as they phrase it, “settled down”, but he is completely out of training, and gets tired after quite a short walk. One difficulty about leaving the decision much longer is that our luggage goes off on Tuesday, and on Friday I went to send word to Gangtok about how many extra porters we shall want there. It will be difficult for me to hand over all the rather intricate arrangements to someone else too.
Bengal and Orissa have both been hit by cyclones during the last few days. A warning telegram arrived here on Sunday that it would probably hit Darjeeling at 1 o’clock in the morning, but it failed to arrive. Later we got rain, and all yesterday it poured without ceasing. To-day it is lovely again, and I hope that was the finish of the monsoon.
Exciting news came a few days ago by telegram, and that is that Paul Bauer and party, the German mountaineers who passed through Calcutta a few weeks ago, have climbed the lovely mountain, Siniolchu, the Matterhorn of the Himalayas, which though it has the comparatively moderate altitude of 22,600 ft, has always been considered unclimable. It is a regular spire of snow and ice. I am much looking forward to hearing details. We shall probably meet the climbers coming down from Lachen as we go up (if indeed we do go!)
I had a visit a few days ago from the old porter, Kipa Lama, who was one of the men to go highest on Everest 1933, and whose brain became temporarily deranged by the altitude, so that he thought he was dead, and it was with the greatest difficulty he was persuaded to descend. He had to be kicked on the seat at frequent intervals. Finally when he recovered, he thought that Dr Raymond Green had brought him back to life and insisted upon worshipping him, which Dr Green found both embarrassing and inconvenient!
Ron’s man, Nima Dorji, who came back from Tibet via Lhasa, has been to see me two or three times, and I have had some amusing talks with him. He gives good reports of Ron’s health and affairs generally.
I have become entangled in a few more social engagements in the coming week, but the programme is not very fierce.
Than about finishes my weeks news, I think.
Best love to you all
LJT
From LJT to Annette
The Club
Darjeeling
Oct. 14th 1936
My darling Annette
Seldom have I felt less in a letter writing mood. I’m afraid when there’s a mountain trek on, it absorbs me tremendously – I much resent having to go out to parties or turn my mind to other matters. Is’nt it a mercy that Dad has recovered sufficiently to come? Apart from our own disappointment, it would have been difficult to hand over all the arrangements to some one else.
I shall be very interested to hear what you thought of Antony Adverse as a film – Dr Jenkins and I were wondering the other day what scenes from the huge canvas of his life, they would choose. To anyone who had recently read the book – gaps would not matter, but it will need a great deal of skill to make a lucid whole which one who did not know the book could follow. Dr Jenkins and I were also thinking (all part of the same evening’s conversation) that we would like more Dickens films if they could be as well done as “David Copperfield” and “The Tale of Two Cities”. How do you think some of the Waverley novels would film? It is so many years since I read any of them but it would be fun to see some of those famous stores unrolled on the screen – “Unrolled” – of course, is quite wrong there – a word left over from another age even now. “Flashed across” is what one should say, I suppose.
Do get a school tie for Uncle Len for Xmas – I know he was keen to have one a few years back and has probably worn it out by now.
I began reading Philip Guedella’s “Iron Duke” last week, and am interested in it, but have had no time for it for days – I have either been out or busy every evening.
It seems funny to think that in 2 ½ weeks we shall be living in our new home. I do hope Dad will like it – Its a pity he “dislikes” so easily – I wonder whether its all due to not having very robust health.
Best love, my darling
from
Mum
From HPV to Annette
Darjeeling
Oct 14th 1936
My dear Annette
A sudden change for the better on Monday,- in my feelings; not in the weather, alas! I decided to have a shot at the Sikkim trip: taking a pony. So far I have twice managed three miles: and the second time did not start dragging the legs till the very end. Your mother talks as if the problem were whether I can manage the 17,500 foot pass which is our objective: my wonder is whether I can manage the four days’ journey up to it. There is a big difference between three miles and twelve or fifteen: and even with a pony there are prospects of weariness when flabby after influenza. However I have had two days of vigour and got through a lot of work. Rather drab today in consequence.
It is an old tale that nothing goes right with my work: but there is no helping it. Things will straighten out if I gain strength on this trip: if I don’t, heaven knows what will happen. Not that it matters in a way.
I feel that if only we had some dry weather (it isn’t wet but damp) there might be good prospects of recovery. As it is I feel shrivelled-like. What I detest is always working against time: but this seems unavoidable.
Enough. There is still hope (though not much) that some day, I shall write a cheerful letter.
Much love
Dad
Family letter from LJT
The Club
Darjeeling
Oct 14th 1936
My Dears,
Herbert has picked up his strength again quite quickly in the last three or four days, since the discharge from the antrum stopped, so on Monday morning he made up his mind that he would come on the trek. I am most awfully glad. I am sure if he has the strength to get over the first two or three marches, it will do him no end of good. I have written off to Gyaltsen Kazi in Gangtok to get a good riding pony for him, as I dont think he is in sufficiently good training to do all the marches on foot for the first two or three days.
I have been pretty busy, as I had to hang up a lot of the arrangements till I knew whether he and I were going or not. Unfortunately I had accepted a lunch party at the Maharaj Kumar of Burdwan’s for Monday, and his house is about half an hours walk from Darjeeling, and as so often happens with these sort of parties, it went on for ages. We arrived at 1.15 and did not get away till past three o’clock, which meant that the afternoon was practically gone before I was back here. The Indian potentates are so fond of giving a full course dinner in the middle of the day, which is so trying.
Our porters have gone off this morning, and meet us on Saturday in Gangtok. They are a fine sturdy lot, mostly Everest men, including the old porter Kipa Lama who thought he was dead when he was on Everest, and about whom I told you last week.
Some of our party went out for a good long tramp on Sunday. We had lunch at a Forest bungalow, and got back in time for tea, and then went to see the film of “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which I thought, on the whole was dreadful. We had a jolly little dinner-party after it, with Herbert in great form, keeping everyone in fits of laughter, and ragging Rex Fawcus’ head off.
I have been quite gay this week, for I went to a dance on Saturday night, which I enjoyed very much, and I dined out and went to another dance on Monday. This was a charity show with raffles and side shows. There was one raffle with a whole ham for the first prize, and a half ham for the second prize. I said that one of our trekking party must win the ham so that we could have it on the trek, and marvellous to relate I did win the half ham.
The weather has been a bit dull and unsettled since the cyclone, but it seems to be settling down now, and I hope we shall have a good spell for our trek. We are going North and the further North one goes, the less rain there is likely to be.
I am finding it difficult to concentrate on letters this morning. I have been attending to the arrangements for the trip so intensively the last two days, that even now the porters have gone, I find my mind keeps on hopping off and conning over what has been done, to see that here are no mistakes. I have’nt really much to tell you about, and so I think I shall stop writing. (Sorry! This typewriter is sticking every now and again.) It is entirely problematical whether you will get any letters from me till I get back to Calcutta at the beginning of November. There is a post office from which letters go twice a week, four marches beyond Gangtok, but with a party of seven to look after, I dont suppose I shall have much time to write.
Best love to you all
LJT
From LJT to Annette and Rosemary
Chungthang Bungalow
Sikkim
Oct 20th 1936
My dear daughters
Since time is short I am going to write a joint letter to you – We are having a splendid trek and Dad has recovered marvellously – We have a riding mule with us for him; but he has used it very little – and is in very good spirits.
We left Gangtok in fine weather, but just as we were having our lunch, a few drops of rain began to fall. Luckily we were under some very thick trees and were able to finish our lunch in reasonable comfort – but as we finished the rain came on harder and in a few minutes a heavy thunder storm was raging – Luckily we were all equipped with mackintoshes and umbrellas and walked on quite happily to our bungalow – The only drawback was that a party of three men who were intending to camp in tents – had to come into the bungalow too – and as we were already 7 and the bungalow is designed for 4 it was a bit of a squash, even before Paul Bauer and Dr Wein arrived – I had some very interesting talk with Bauer and Wein, who have just climbed a mountain, which has always been thought unclimable. The trio of men who are supposed to be camping, have made the most inadequate arrangements – and after two days out, have given up all their grand plans of going over the Donkhya La, and are simply going a few stages up the valley and coming back again –
The weather is good – and we are a cheerful party – We have two more nights in bungalows and then into tents – where it will be extremely cold –
We are all sitting round a table, pretending to write letters – but really talking - so writing is very difficult. I have met many old friends on the road – All the Lachen people are bringing their potatoes and apples down to sell in Gangtok. The buxom girl “Puki” who came out with Barbara Griffin, Marian Atkins and myself, met me and insisted on putting about six large potatoes in my haversack as a present.
Sorry! I find it almost impossible to write!
Best love, my dears.
from
Mum
From LJT to Annette
My darling Annette
It has been fun getting your letters at different places – One batch reached me at Changthang – the most remote post office in Sikkim – Another was at Gangtok and the third arrived at The Towers about an hour after we did. I always enjoy your letters – You have a knack of giving a real impression of things – I seem to be well up in news of you, as I saw Mrs. Gurner yesterday, and though her news of you is some months in arrears so to speak its interesting getting a personal impression.
“Antony Adverse” is coming here next week, and I must try to go to see it. I read the book so recently that it is still clearly in my mind.
Actually I am writing this in the afternoon at the United Service Club. Every thing got in the way of writing letters this morning – A Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, who have just been appointed to the Gun and Shell Factory, arrived before breakfast and are staying a few days at the Towers until their furniture arrives – I had to give them tea and show them their rooms. Idris got up after breakfast, but is feeling rather weak, so I would not let him go to the telephone and had to take a good many messages for him – Finally I came in to lunch with Richard Gardiner, who goes off to Dehra Dun to-night, to take up his new career in the Survey of India. It seemed best to come on here and finish my mail – and later I hope to go to visit Hilda Marr (Old St.M.) and see her new baby son. Dad has promised to leave office at 5.30 and go straight back to Cossipore for a late tea.
I am going to come in to Calcutta as little as I can during the next week or two – There are masses of things to do in the house at Cossipore and I shall enjoy plunging into house-wifely matters for a change. A very busy season in the garden is just upon us too. We shall be planting out all the cold weather annuals which will need a fair amount of supervising, as even the best of malis have little idea of how to arrange the things – and as we are indulging in two big “mixed borders” such as I had up the drive at Jalpaiguri, I shall have to plan those out, and watch them being planted with an eagle eye.
Not having to deal with a guide Company and Division gives me an astonishing sense of freedom. There was always such difficulty in getting enough Guiders for the Division and I always seemed to be doing someone else’s work as well as my own.
I have got the two evening frocks that Auntie sent out to me and the hats and stockings and like them all very much. The Brown and yellow evening frock is a darling and makes me look so slim! I still have to get the lace garden-party frock that Mrs. Richardson is bringing out and am looking forward to seeing it very much indeed.
I was much amused by young Mr Wooler (what an absurd name!) who was out on the trip with us, begging me to see that you learn to dress and pay attention to your personal appearance before you go to Oxford, so that you avoid joining the “black cotton stocking brigade” – I cant believe that they still exist – but he vows that they do!
Must write to Rosemary now –
Best love, darling
from
Mum
Thank you for the photos – two of which I think are very good and have taken to be framed – The third – profile though like, is not flattering –