(Probably King Williams Town)
(Wednesday) 7 August 1912
My Own Sweetest Dolly
Now its your turn for a letter. I have been doing nothing else but write all morning & the greater part of this afternoon. I always write my business letters first because its not a particularly pleasant job & I know if I wrote my easy letters first I should get sick of writing & possibly miss the mail. By easy letters I mean yours & my mothers letters. It is quite easy to write to both of you because its more like conversing with you. To begin at the beginning. I left Port Elizabeth by the 9 o’clock train on Saturday night. Being a novice & not knowing the ropes I was done down to the extent of £2-9-0 for excess luggage. That was rather a sickener because I had only 25/- left to carry me through till Tuesday morning & if any emergency arose I was fairly in the cart. I had not engaged a seat either but managed to get one with four other fellows in the compartment. We had a lot of fun with one chap who was full of spirits (in both senses) – he kept us in roars of laughter for two hours. When he & his companion left we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable for the night. The seats turn right over & form a nice comfortable bunk & a bunk can also be let down from the side of the carriage. I took my collar jacket & waistcoat off & put my dressing gown on & wrapped myself up in a rug &overcoat & slept more or less all night. So did the other two chaps. We arrived at Cookhouse a big junction early in the morning – about 5.30 I think – & at 7 o’clock I got up & put my boots on & paraded the platmore(?platform?) in my dressing gown much to the amusement of some ladies. I knew we hadn’t long to stay there & I wanted some exercise. Later on I got dressed & had some breakfast in the dining room on the station. Then I had some more exercise & at 8.30 we commenced our journey again. About 10.30 these other two chaps left me & I had the carriage to myself. It was bitterly cold & I was glad of my rug & coat. At one o’clock we pulled up at Beaufort & were whisked off in waggonettes for lunch. I was put at a small table with a girl. Naturally we started conversing & it turned out she came from Gorton so we were pals straight away. I asked her if she minded travelling with me & she was delighted because she was travelling alone & felt very lonely. We resumed the journey at 1.30 & we travelled two hours & then she left me at Alice. I shall see her in Pretoria when I get there. She is just passable that is all but you don’t consider anything when you are lonely. Eventually I arrived here at 7-0 o’clock & after a wash & tea I felt fit, but went to bed at 9-0 o’clock & slept till 10.30 Monday morning.
I engaged a sample room & spent all bank holiday in unpacking my things & preparing for business. At lunch I made pals with a chap from East London & he asked me to go to the football match so after another couple of hours at work I went & saw the cup final. After dinner I saw him off home & went for a long walk. Tuesday morning I went to see my customers & had a rotten reception. One man was rather nasty but I persisted & eventually got him to promise to come & see my samples. Another man was rude & insulting & wouldn’t come at any price. The next man choked me off too, so to cool my temper & prevent any unseemly exhibition of temper I chucked work & went for a walk over the hills & sat down & smoked & said things under my breath. After lunch I resumed & still things were bad & I only got one man in the afternoon. At night I went for a long walk with another man I have made pals with. He comes from Brum & knows our firm quite well as we do a nice hardware business with his firm. This morning as I said I spent in writing letters & attending to my correspondence generally. I finish business tonight & tomorrow I wanted to have a day off but I can’t manage the whole day, as a man has just been in & wants to see me tomorrow morning. I may get one order from this benighted place & that is doubtful. Still it doesn’t matter very much as it is not a place for soft goods, They do more hardware business here & it is a fine produce centre. I like this town far better than either Capetown or P.E. altho’ it is very quiet & nothing doing at all in the evening. The sky is perfect & the air is delightful & really you could stop here midst the sylvan surroundings for weeks. Unfortunately I can’t as business must be attended to & you want me to come home so what can a poor chap do. I may have some news for you eight weeks hence. I say I may have. Now, now, don’t ask what it is. Wait & see. If it is what I expect I’ll tell you if it isn’t I shan’t. I shall not get a letter from you till next Thursday or Friday – a week tomorrow, when I get down to East London. I proceed to Queenstown on Friday morning & hope to leave there Tuesday or Wednesday.
I got 9000 yards out of a man this morning & that is the only bally order I have booked in this town. It took all my powers of persuasion to induce him to buy & when he did give me the order I heaved a sigh of relief. When I came to reckon up my orders on Monday night I found I had booked 149,000 yards at P.E. & 36,000 at Capetown to the approximate value of £1900. All the other commercials are envying me as I have done more than any of them. Why, I don’t know & I can’t fathom it. One poor chap only did £50 in P.E. & he has done altogether £185 after visiting six places. He is not an exception by any means. Under the circs I feel more than pleased & I may get swelled headed – perhaps(?). Instead of having a day off today as I thought I have had to work & pack all my things up. I have finished now & a man is waiting for me to go for a walk. It is broiling hot & I am afraid we shall not go very far as I am awfully lazy & in nothing like the condition I was at home. I mean as regards training. I shall have to make a practice of walking so many miles a day. I couldn’t play a game of hockey without feeling absolutely knocked up & that is no condition to be in. However what’s the use of bothering. I shall join a cricket club at Capetown on my return & play for a week or so every night. Now I must really close.
With lots of love my darling
Yours for all time
Harry