CHAPTER 6
Post War Kansas City
May 22, 1919 – August 20, 1919
Kansas City, Missouri
May 22, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I didn’t get away from Joplin until 6:30 last night ???. There was no train on the M.K.T. and our train was delayed at Carthage nearly 2 hours, and it was almost 3 o’clock before we got in here. And I came up here to the Y. (M.C.A.) and got a room, and just think, I never woke up till 10:30. Isn’t that awful, dear? I am really ashamed of myself, but these days of leisure won’t last. I am going to try to come and see you if I can must up courage enough to go shopping this afternoon, for I want to try to get out of the uniform tomorrow.
My own dearest Hazel, this is a short letter, for really, I have nothing to write about. ??? to spend the night ??? and try to get ??? ???you are ??? let me thought you ??? spend ??? parents for the ??? reception that you gave me. I can never forget you.
I am always
Your loving Carl.
C/O Gen Del K.C. Mo.
Will write you again tomorrow.
Kansas City, Missouri
May 23, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I promised to write you again today and I must keep my promise, but this is going to be a very short and poor letter. I have been shopping this morning and I am going again this afternoon. I am spending money right and left, and I think I will be a civilian tomorrow. I found most of my clothing ruined by moths, all but one suit, and it takes a litle fortune to buy clothes these days. But I think if my pocket book holds out, I will live through it. I am going to close this now and I will write you again soon.
All my love to you dear.
Always your Carl
3616 Main Street
Kansas City, Missouri
May 25, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I received your letter of the 23 yesterday, and I was so very glad to have it. It is 10 o’clock now, but I am going to write you a few lines before I go to bed. I went to church this morning and I have spent the day with the Pastor’s family, and I have had a fine time.
I am going to blossom out in brand new civilian clothing in the morning and I expect to be at work Tuesday morning. I am going down to the Rock Flower Co. and help through Decoration Day rush, but I don’t think I will stay there. I am going to try to find outdoor work. Mr. Rock has been very good to me. He told whether I intended to work for him or not, to come down and get on the payroll until I could find something to suit me, and there is really nothing to do after Decoration Day.
I am enclosing a copy of each of the pictures. They are not so very good, but I think some of them of you are just fine.
I haven’t a thing to write about tonight, and I will close this, but I will write you again soon.
I send you all my love, my dearest Hazel.
Always your own,
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
May 27, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
It is after 10 o’clock and I have just come home from work, and I found your letter of the 25th, and I was so very glad to have it.
I went to work this morning with the Rock Flower Co. and I have put in a long day, and I am just a litle tired, for this is a very busy week for the florists, and I have promised to help them over Decoration Day. I don’t think I will stay with them so very long. It just seems to be impossible for me to work inside since I have been in the Army, and I am going to try and find work that will keep me outside.
Yes, I am back in civilian clothing again, and I have had some time trying to tie a necktie and adjust my suspenders, and I felt very strange at first, but I am getting used to them now. And really, they are much more comfortable than the uniform.
Yes, I expect you will be pretty busy this week. It is so much warmer now, and the cherries must be ripe. I wish I could be down there and help you.
I am going to be so very busy the rest of this week. I will be working till midnight almost every night shipping out flowers. The flower business is better this year than it has ever been before, and I don’t think there will be flowers enough to supply the demand.
But I must close and go to bed now. Good night, sweetheart.
Always your own,
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 1, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I found your letter of the 28th waiting for me last night when I came home from work, and of course, I was so very glad to have it. It was a day late on account of Decoration Day, and I wanted to write you last night, but I was so awful tired. It has been a very busy week at the flower store. We worked till after 10 o’clock every night and Friday we didn’t get away from the store till midnight and started in again 4 o’clock Saturday a.m., and we were all pretty worn out. But the big rush is over now, although we will be pretty busy for another week or 10 days. There are always many parties and weddings the first 10 days in June.
I am going to stay with Mr. Rock another week and possible two, but not any longer. I just can’t stand to work inside any more, and I am going to work outside just as soon as I can be spared in the flower store. I see some of the boys from my Company around town every day and they are all having the same trouble that I am. They can’t stand inside work anymore, and a good many are planning on going to the harvest fields the middle of the month. And Sweetheart, if I don’t find something to do between now and then, I am tempted to go myself. There is going to be some high wages paid in the wheat fields this summer. Tell me, dearest, will you care if I go out for about 6 weeks?
There are thousands of men walking the streets now looking for work, and unless peace is signed before long, I think there will be many more. Business is not going to open up until they are sure that we are going to have peace. In about 10 days, there won’t be a thing to do in the floral business here, and I can’t see myself go idle in the city when they are crying for men in the wheat fields and paying from $5.00 to $7.00 a day.
And you have had a letter from another boy in France, and he wants to come to see you. Well, dear, you want me to tell you what to do about it. You say you don’t want to see him. I believe if I were you I would write and tell him that you are engaged to another man, and that he can not come to see you. If he is a gentleman, he will not come and you won’t hear from him again.
I sent you a box of flowers last Saturday, and I hope they reached you in good condition. The flowers are not as good this year on account of so much cold and wet weather, particular the roses. There hasn’t been any first class roses on the market this year.
But I must tell you how I have spent the day. I got up 9 o’clock and had breakfast, and came back up to my room again with the intention of writing you a letter. I read your letter over again, and I got so awful lonesome for you dearest, and I wanted to be with you, but that was impossible and I decided then that I wanted to do the next best thing (be alone today), so I went out to Swope Park and I just roamed around out there all day. I came back for supper, and I am glad I did for it started to rain awful hard as soon as I reached the house, and it is still raining. It is 10 o’clock now and I am going to bed. I am sending you under separate cover the June number of the Journal. I have ordered it for you for another year beginning with July, and I am enclosing a watch for Donald.
I send you all my love, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 3, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter of May 31 was here when I came home this evening. I knew I would have a letter from you today. I was looking for it yesterday. It had been sent to Neosho first by mistake, and it was a day late.
I was so very glad for your letter and glad to know that the flowers reached you in good condition, but gladdest of all to know that they made you so happy. I wanted to send you some roses. I know you like them the best, but the roses are so poor this year on account of the wet weather, and they won’t stand to ship very well at this time of the year.
We are not so busy at the store this week. I don’t get down till about 8 in the morning, and the last two days I have left there shortly after 5. The florist business comes in spells and I am looking for a spell the latter half of this week.
And you wonder how I like the new life. Dearest Hazel, I am trying to be satisfied but I am not. The store seems so small and cramped, and I just can’t stand it, and I won’t stand it very much longer. I am going to get out where I will have more room, and I know now that I will never live in a large city. You said in one of your letters that you wished I could find work near Seneca. Well, Sweetheart, I am going to be down in your part of the country before the summer is over. I love the country down there as I love you, and I know I will be happy down there with you.
I feel pretty good while I am working, but when evening comes and I come out to my room, I get so dredfully lonesome for you, and I wish I was down there. And you are going to send me a box of cherries. That is awful nice of you dear. And yes, I will be looking for them, and I am preparing for a real feast. I am very fond of them when they are good and ripe.
I will close now. It is after 9 and past my bedtime.
I send you all my love, my own dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 6, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter of the 4th came today and I was so glad to have it. I received the box of cherries two days ago. They came through in fine condition, and I was so glad for them. They were so delicious and fine, and the fact that you picked them all made them taste so much better.
I came home from work early this evening. We did not have much to do, and I left at 4 o’clock and I went out in the outskirts of the city and had supper with some friends of mine, and I have just come back. It is almost 11 o’clock, but I must write you a few lines before I go to bed, for I want you to have a letter Sunday morning.
We expect to have a rather busy day tomorrow and also Sunday, but I don’t work Sundays. I haven’t had any Sundays for nearly 3 years and I am going to try to have a litle time off now. I think I deserve it, don’t you dear?
And Donald was so tickled with the watch. Well, I am awful glad of it. I wish I could have seen him when he unwrapped it. He is a mighty fine boy and I like him very much, and he has the sweetest and dearest sister in the world, and I am thinking and dreaming of her all the time. But I am wondering who the person is who paid me such compliments, but I am not going to ask you to tell me if you don’t want to.
Sweetheart, this is such a poor letter, but I will try to do better next time. I want to thank you for the cherries. They were so fine, and I enjoyed them so much.
With all my love to you dear.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 9, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your dear letter came today, and it was such a fine letter, and I am going to write you again tonight. We have had real summer here the last 3 days. It was very hot yesterday. We had an electric storm this morning between 8 and 9. It got almost dark. We had to turn on the lights in the store. It cleared off again before noon, and it is real warm again. And I want to get outside more than ever now.
I think this will be my last week in the store. Mr. Rock is in New York. If he gets home this week then I expect to leave him. I haven’t decided what to do yet, but it is very likely that I will go to the harvest fields for 6 weeks or 2 months, and Sweetheart, I think when I leave Kansas City again, I will leave it for good. I don’t feel home here any more, and the hills are calling me. I learned to love them so in the short time I was there, and I know I will be happier down there with you than any other place.
Dearest Hazel, are you glad to have me tell you that next time I come down there, I am coming down there to stay?
I went out to Independence yesterday and spent the day with a florist friend of mine. In the evening, we came in to K.C. in a motor car and went to a show, and I had a very pleasant day, but all day long my thoughts were with you, dear.
I am going to Lawrence tomorrow morning and decorate a church and a home for a wedding, and I expect to be back here again by evening. I am going to close this now dear. It is 9 o’clock and I want to read the peace treaty before I go to bed.
Good night dearest.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 11, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I had such a pleasant surprise when I came in this evening and found your long letter, for really, I did not think I would have a letter from you until tomorrow.
It is after 10 o’clock now but I am going to write you before I go to bed, for I could never disappoint you dear. I went to the Warwick Theatre tonight. It is only 2 blocks from here, and they had a fine program. They showed Mary Pickford in Daddy Long Legs, and I wish you could have seen it. It is a splendid picture and if you ever have an opportunity to see it, you must go.
I knew you would like Mr. Wright’s book “Their Yesterday”. I think it is one of the grandest books we have and I was just going to send it to you. I didn’t know you had it, but if you have only read it through once, you must read it again before long and you will find that you missed many fine things the first time. I think I must have read it through 6 or 7 times, but I never get tired of it.
I am very glad to be able to tell you that I am beginning to feel much better than I did and I am gathering just a lot of strength, and I am taking just the very best of care of myself. But I am more convinced than ever now that I can never live in a large city again. It seems so awful crowded and stuffy, and I think I will go to the harvest fields next week, and I know it will do me a lot of good.
But I must close now. It is way past my bed time. Good night, my dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 13, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I was so very glad when I came in this evening and found your letter, and you said it was not a good letter. Why, how can you say that dear? It was just the best letter ever, and I am going to write you a short letter this evening before I go out. I am invited out for supper. The young people from my church are giving a supper and I understand that I am to be the guest of honor. Really, I don’t care to go but I am the only one from the church who got to France, and they think I am a real hero.
I sent you a box of flowers today. I hope they will be nice when they get there. They are very choice. The red roses and the Mrs. Russell and the yellow are the Ophelia and Sunburst, and they are the very finest on the market. But roses doesn’t last long in this hot weather.
I have fixed a lily pond in Mr. Rock’s window and it is attracting a great deal of attention. There are about 250 lilies in bloom now.
Sweetheart, I know you will excuse this short letter this time, won’t you? I send you all my love.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 17, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I had 2 fine letters from you yesterday. One was dated June 14th and the other was dated April 8th, and it had been all over France. But I was glad to have it even if it was over 2 months old.
Well, Sweetheart, it seems that our plans are changed sometimes by some higher power, and my plans have been changed. I was crossing the street down town last Sunday and I slipped and hit my knee on the street car rail and injured my knee cap to the extent that I won’t be able to go to the harvest fields. Now don’t be scared dear. It is not a bit dangerous. Just a litle painful. I stayed in bed yesterday but I am getting around today. Dr. Gist is taking care of me and he said I had better not try to go out and do any heavy labor for about 60 days, and so I have had to change my plans entirely. And I bought me a new Ford car this morning. I think it will be delivered to me tomorrow, and I am going to run a jitney, at least until my knee gets well enough so I can do something else. The street car service is very poor up here, and there are several hundred cars running here every day, and they are doing fine. In fact, I have a friend running a car and he paid for it in 60 days doing jitney work.
I am going to send you “Their Yesterdays” in a day or two. I loaned it out to one of my neighbors a few days ago. And I am also going to send you “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London. I think it is a splendid book.
But Sweetheart, it is so hot here. I am about to smother. I am going to close this now and go over to Hyde Park. It is only a block from here and I can get around that far.
All my love is yours, dearest.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 19, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your dear letter of June 16 came yesterday, and I was so glad to have it. And I had really intended to answer you last night, and the only excuse I can give you for not writing is that I have a new motor car.
My knee is getting along pretty good. Of course, I can’t walk very good, but I can operate an automobile and I have been out in it all day. And I am sorry to tell you that I have had my first accident. I ran into a lamp post this evening and wrecked my car, and it is in the shop now, and it will cost me about $40.00 to have it repaired again.
Now Sweetheart, I expect you to think I am getting very reckless and very bad up here, but I am not. I drove nearly every make of car in France but a Ford, and I thought I knew how to drive one of them, but I discovered that I didn’t. I wrecked it driving in to the garage, but I knew I will not make the same mistake twice.
I am might glad to know that the flowers reached you in good condition, but I don’t see how they could be in good condition after they had been on the road for 48 hours. I am awful sorry to know they were delayed so much. I mailed them to you Friday noon so you would be sure to get them Saturday.
It is so dreadful hot up here these days. People are dying from heat every day. I wonder if it is so hot down where you are.
I will get my car out of the shop in the morning and I am going to be much more careful in the future. I am going to run it around town a day or two before I carry any passengers.
I am going to close this now and go to bed. Good night dearest.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 21, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your dear letter came yesterday and I was so very glad to have it. Dearest Hazel, you have always written me the nicest letters and they have always brought so much sunshine into my life. But somehow, your last letter tells me that you are just a litle troubled and worried about me, and particular about my new work. And I am going to try and see if I can explain to you why I am going to stay in Kansas City this time.
Dr. Gist told me that I must not walk very much for some time, and of course, that makes it impossible for me to go to the harvest fields. And sweetheart, I must do something to make a living, and I like to do a litle better than that. Remember, I have spent almost 3 years in military service, and the pay of a soldier is not so that he put much away for the future. Then I had the injury, and I thought the thing over, and I thought of you dearest. I have asked you to be my wife, and you have promised me you would.
Hazel, I intend to make a home for you in the near future, and I intend to make you as comfortable and as happy as I can. And I felt that I could not afford to be idle from 30 to 60 days at this time of the year, and I decided it was the best thing I could do. I hope, darling, that you will look at this the way I do. I felt it was the only thing I could do, and I want to tell you that I was thinking of you more than of myself when I made the decision.
And you are afraid that I will get used to city life again and will forget about you and your hills. Never, dear. I have promised you that I will come, and I am not going to disappoint you. I don’t like city life any more and I never will. I still love your hills as dearly as I love you, and I can never forget you nor them. And I am going to tell you again that I will be down there to stay before the summer is over.
Please, Hazel, don’t never think that your letters are beginning to losing (?) to me. They are dearer to me than anything else (except yourself). I know my letters have been very poor lately, and I know I didn’t answer your questions. I will tell you, I was pretty disappointed and pretty blue over my accident, and for a few days it was pretty painful, but I was most disappointed because my plans were all upset, and now I am going to answer your question. You asked me if you were better off down in your hills than if you had been out in the world, and yes, I am sure you are. It has been my experience that traveling around in this world breeds discontent. I am sure I should be much more content had I not seen as much of the world as I have. And you felt that you would not be able to walk hand in hand with me because I have been around and seen so much. Why dear, you have a much better education than I have and you have such perfect understanding of things, and you are so broadminded and cultured, and I wish I could make you understand how happyt I am that I ever came to know you and love you. And I am just so awful proud of you dear. And you wonder how I ever came to love you. Well, I can’t explain that to you dear, only there was something so big and so fine about you, and I just had to love you.
But my letter is getting rather long and I must be closing or you will get tired of reading it. I am glad to tell you that my knee is getting better every day. I can’t walk very much yet, but I can drive a car. I am going to start in driving in the morning.
I am going to send you a book in a day or two. Would you like to have the Kodak again, dear? If you want it, let me know and I will send it to you.
You will not forget that I love you as always, and that I am coming down in your hills to live with you.
I send you all my love.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 24, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter came yesterday and you said it was a poor letter. Well, I didn’t think so. I was just the gladdest ever for it. And you excused yourself to your company just to write me a letter. Hazel, you are the finest and dearest girl in all the world. And still you wonder how I ever came to love you. Why, how could I help myself?
My knee is getting along fine and I am slowly starting in at my new occupation. Of course, I can’t tell much about it yet, but I really think it is going to be profitable, at least I hope so, or I will be broke. A new Ford costs $600.00 now and that is a good deal of money to invest for a poor man.
Yes, I will promise you dear, for your sake, I will be very careful. And whatever you do Hazel, please do not worry about me.
We are having a very hot spell here. The temperature has been over 90 every day for over a week, and there is no sign of relief. But I am standing the heat much better than I thought I would after I have been in colder climate for a year.
There is a string of men traveling through here every day on their way to Kansas to harvest. Most of them are men back from France, and I am just a litle disappointed that I can’t go with them. Ever since I came back I have had a longing to get away from the city. Don’t ever worry Hazel that I will fall in love with the city and stay here, for I know I could never get used to city life again. It seems crowded and stuffy.
I haven’t a thing to write about this time and I will close this. Oh yes. You had another soldier visitor. It was a shame he didn’t know you had a sweetheart, but then, you couldn’t help it, and I am the happiest man in the world dear, to know that there is no room in your heart for any one else.
I send you all my love, dear.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 2, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter of Sunday came yesterday, and as always, I was so glad to have it. I think you will like the books I sent you. I have read them through several times and I think they are fine.
And I have your vases finished. At the present time, they are on display in the window of Rock Flower Store, and the people are just going wild about them. Mr. Rock told me he could have sold them several times for a hundred dollars. I am going to mail them to you in a day or two.
We have had some nice cool weather of late, but it is pretty hot again today, but it is splendid weather for the harvest and I hope it will stay for a while, even if it is pretty warm.
No, I don’t drive all day. I get up at 5 and drive till 10. Then I come home and go over the care and take a rest, and start out about 4 o’clock and run till 9 or 10 in the evening.
You are surely having your share of company this summer, and I expect you are pretty busy. You must be careful, dearest, not to work to hard. I should think you would need a rest and a change pretty soon. But I wouldn’t like to see you go way out to Idaho. Somehow, I just can’t stand to think of you being that far away from me.
Yes, Sweetheart, if you want to you may send me a litle divinity, if it is not to much trouble. I think there is no one can make candy like yours.
All my love and best wishes.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
June 29, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your good letter of the 27th came yesterday, and I wanted to answer you last night, but I was so awful tired. I drove all day yesterday, and it is a strain on a person to drive the crowded streets here. There is more traffic in Kansas City now than I have ever seen before. There are so many tourists traveling through these days, and you have to be so careful in running a car down town. The traffic is so heavy that you can only go one way in the congested district.
Dearest, you asked me if I am contented with my work. No. I am not. I haven’t been contented at all since I came back from France. None of the Boys are, and it is going to be some time before we will feel home again. But I am so tired at night that I just roll in to bed and I am asleep.
Sweetheart, I am so busy today and I must close this now. You will excuse this short, poor letter, won’t you? And I will do much better next time.
All my love to you, dear.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 5, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I know you think that I am beginning to neglect you. Your letter of the 2nd came a day before yesterday and I should have answered you sooner, but really dear, I am working pretty hard and I am so tired at night that I just undress and go to sleep. My knee is getting along just fine. I am going up and have it dressed this afternoon.
And you have finished one of the books already. You are some reader, aren’t you? I knew you would like “The Victory of Allan Rutledge”. I think it is fine, and do you know dear, I just love Jack London’s books too.
I drove nearly all day yesterday, and I had a good day. We had a big rain early in the evening, and I came home. I don’t like to run on the pavement when it rains. It is so very dangerous, and there are so many accidents.
I am going to mail your vases to you Monday, and you can look for them Tuesday. They are just beautiful now. I never get tired looking at them.
I have had a letter from Stark Bros Nursery at Louisiana, Mo., asking me to go to work for them next month, but I haven’t decided what to do. They want me to come down and see them, and if I do go down there, I will drive through and of course, I will stop and see you on the way.
I am going to work now and I must close this. I send you all my love, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 8, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter of the 4th came yesterday, and it was a fine letter, and it made me so glad. I expressed the vases to you yesterday, and they should reach you today, and I am wondering if you will like them. I hope you will. I think they are very pretty.
Yes, we had amusements of all kinds up here on the 4th, but it was a good safe and sane day. Yes, John Barleycorn has departed from Kansas City and I think it is the best thing that ever happened to our country. I am sure this country will be much better off without him.
It is awful hot again. I think yesterday was the hottest day we have had. It was 98 and it promises to be as hot again today. I haven’t done much driving the last few days. The pavement and the streets are so hot and I came very near getting overheated, and I am taking things a litle easy. It seems I can’t stand the heat as well as I used to.
I had another letter from you today dated April 10. IT had been all over France, and it told me that you had received the handbag and cap, and it was a mighty fine letter.
Yes, sweetheart, I get so awful lonesome for you at times, and many times I wish I was back with you. I don’t go out among my friends much. Somehow, everything is so different since I am back from France, and I am getting awful sick of city life, and some day, I am going to get disgusted with it and run away down to you and stay there. I stll love you and your hills.
All my love is yours, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 11, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I meant to answer your dear letter yesterday, but it was so awful hot and I had some work to do on my car and I just couldn’t write.
Yes, my knee is getting along just fine now. I am going to take the bandage off now in a day or two.
Sweetheart, I have some news for you this time. You know I told you I had an offer from Stark Brothers to come down and go to work for them. I wrote them that I didn’t want to come to Louisiana and that I intend to move down to Neosho, and I got a letter from them this morning and they offered me Newton, Barry, and McDonald Counties, and they are anxious to have me go to work as soon as I can. Well, I am considering it and I think I will write them today and accept it. Stark Brothers are very fine people to deal with, and I consider them the best nurserymen in America.
Now dear, I am going to ask you. Do you want me to come down there? If you do, I will close up my affairs up here and come down some time in August. I love your country and your hills as dearly as I love you, and I think I will be more contented down there than any other place. I am not a bit contented here any more, and I don’t feel home at all. I am lost in the city and I just hate city life. But I am going to wait for your answer, and whatever you say, I am going to do.
With all my love and best wishes.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 14, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I received your letter of the 10th last Saturday and I was so very glad to have it. I had just mailed you a letter an hour before and I didn’t have anything to write about. I was mighty glad to know that you were so well pleased with the vases. I am just a bit foolish about them myself. I think anyone who has heard them whistle in the air as I have can appreciate them more than anyone else.
It is still so awful hot up here. I have never felt the heat as I do this year. It has been around 96 and 98 now for almost a week. I haven’t done any thing but try to keep cool for several days.
Yes, dear, I think I can say that life has taken on a different meaning to me since I am back. I find so much indeed that is hollow and meaningless, and I am disgusted with city life. It is empty and artificial. I don’t know how I stood it before, but I can’t stand it now, and I won’t forget that I am welcome down there when I get disgusted up here. And I am coming next month. I have promised you that I would come for my birthday, but if I come down to stay, you won’t mind if I am a week or so late, will you dear?
I just can’t think of a thing to write about and it is so dreadful hot. I am going to ask you to excuse this short poor letter. I will try and do better next time. I send you all my love.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 16, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter came to me yesterday and I was so very glad to have it. And you want me to write and tell you that I am coming down to your country to stay. Well, sweetheart, you can look for me down there between the 10th and 20th of August. I will straighten up my affairs up here and bid Kansas City good bye forever. And I can’t begin to tell you, dear, how glad I am to do that. Since I have come to know and love you, you have meant much more to me than anyone else in the world. And I hate to look back and think what and where I might have been now had it not been for you. I don’t know, either, if it will be a financial gain for me, but after all, what does financial success amount to anyway. And it seems that in a large city, you can not be a success and be honest, and I would a thousand times rather die a poor man and have the respect and admiration of my fellow man than gain wealth through dishonesty.
Yes, it was a beautiful moon last Sunday night. I watched the same moon from Swope Park. I had an invitation out for supper but I didn’t go. I took supper down town and later on, I drove to Swope Park. I couldn’t be with you so I chose to be alone, and I tramped through the woods and flower beds out there until the moon came up and you were with me all evening.
We had a nice rain here a day before yesterday, and yesterday was a nice cool day. But the sun is coming out strong again today and I think it is going to be hot again.
I am going to close this now. I am going out to work on my car and I will see you next month.
Until then, I am as always
Your loving Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 21, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I received your letter last Saturday, and I was so glad to have it. And it is a shame that I haven’t answered you sooner, but really dear, I have been so very busy. I had a litle trouble with my car and I worked on it nearly all day Saturday. And I drove all day yesterday up till 11 o’clock last night, and I was good and tired when I came in and I went right to bed.
The heat spell has finally broken and we are having ideal weather here now. The nights are just so nice and cool. It is just like Colorado weather.
No, sweetheart, I can’t say I am unhappy. I am the happiest man in the world because I know that you love me, but I was not well during the hot weather, and I suffered a good deal. But I am feeling just fine now, and it won’t be so very long now until I am coming down to see you and be with you always. Won’t that be fine? I can’t hardly realize it when I look back a year and think what I was doing then. There were many times that I didn’t think that I would ever see you. What awful days they were, and I often wonder now how we ever lived through them. But back of those days lurks a rich store of memories and experiences that I can never forget.
But I am going to close this now and go out on my run.
All my love and best wishes to you, dearest.
Always our own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 23, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter came to me the day before yesterday, but I had just mailed you a letter that day so I waited a few days to answer. I was afraid you might get tired of my letters if they came too often.
You wrote me a splendid letter dear, and I have read it through many times. And you are so happy to know I am coming down to your country to live. And I wonder if you are as happy as I am. I am counting the days now, and longing for the day to come when I can get away from here. You don’t know, darling, how I long to see you and be with you, and won’t we be happy to be near and see each other often?
I am going to drive through by way of Pittsburg and Joplin, and I may stop and see Albert. I think I can make the trip in a day if I have good roads all the way. I thought at first I would sell my car, but I have decided to keep it and use it in my work if the roads are good down there. But I am not going to work right away. I am going to spend a whole week with you, or as long as you will let me hang around.
Sweetheart, I just can’t think of anything to write this time. This is such a poor letter, but I will try and do better next time.
I send you all my love.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 26, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your dear letter came the day before yesterday, and as always, I was so glad to have it. And I know I should have written you sooner. I fear that I am going to run out of good excuses soon, but really dear, I am pretty busy now and I know you won’t mind if my letters are a day or two late now that I amback in the U.S. and you know I am safe and sound.
No dearest, I didn’t tell you that I wasn’t well, for I knew you would worry. And I didn’t want you to know, and when I come down there you may punish me for not telling you if you wish.
Yes, I am sure you are right, sweetheart. If we haven’t benefited by the experiences of the War, then we have lived in vain. I know it has changed my view of life entirely.
We are having another hot spell again. Yesterday it was 96 and I expect it will reach 100 today, and there is a hot wind blowing, and I am afraid it is going to ruin the corn crop. I do hope we will get a good rain before long. We need it so bad.
This is Saturday and it is a busy day for me, but I wanted to get this mailed on the afternoon train and I wanted you to have a letter from me Sunday morning. I do hope this will get to you Sunday.
I am going to close this now. I think I will have a letter from you this afternoon, and then I will write again.
I send you all my love, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
July 28, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your dear letter came to me this morning and just to show you how good I can be, I am going to answer you at once. And you are suffereing so from the heat. Well, we are in the same fix up here. It is dreadfully hot, but the nights have been fairly cool up till last night. It was so uncomfortable up till early this morning. People who owned cars drove around the town and country nearly all night trying to keep cool.
Yes. Snow, Ice and polar regions are nice things to think about these days, but it doesn’t cool me off any.
No, you must never worry dearest. I will never forget to write you. How could I? You have always been and will always be the dearest girl in all the world to me, and there is no one like you.
I am so glad that your parents are glad to have me come again. I want more than anything else always to have the good will of your Father and Mother. I think you have the finest parents that anyone could have, and I will always remember their kindness towards me during my first visit to you.
Yes, Sweetheart, I will promise you that when I come again, I won’t go away again very soon. In fact, I don’t intend ever to leave you again. I want to be with you always, dearest, and you only.
But I must close this now and go to work. I send you all my love, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
August 1, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter came to me yesterday, and as always, I was so glad to have it, but I was so sorry to know that you didn’t get my letter Sunday. I was sure it would reach you and I wanted you to have it that day.
We have lived through the two hottest days this summer. Yesterday, it went above the 100 mark, but the relief came last night and we had a fine rain and a nice cool breeze with it. And it is still raining and I hope it will keep up a day or two, for we need it bad. I saw in the morning paper that the rain was general through the middle west, and I am glad of it. It will assure us of a good corn crop.
I didn’t go to work yesterday or the day before. I am just a litle afraid of the sun when it goes above 100.
I went down the River last night on the steamer Majestic with a number of friends, and I had a pretty good time, but I couldn’t enjoy myself as the other people did because you were not with me. I really don’t enjoy going out much where I see other people enjoy themselves in company with those they love. Then I get so dreadful lonesome for you, but it won’t be long now, dearest, until we can see one another real often. I think I will be down there now in 3 weeks, and perhaps sooner.
I enjoyed the clipping you sent me very much. It is a splendid article and every word of it is true. If we would always follow the advise given, this would be a much better world.
But I must close this now. I send you all my love, my dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
August 4, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter of August 1st came last Saturday, but I didn’t get it till this morning. I had an accident with my car Saturday morning. I broke the run axle and wheel, and had to take it to the shop, and I won’t get it till this evening. And so I went to the country Saturday noon and just got back this morning, and the trip did me a great deal ????
Do you know I am getting pretty nervous, and it is high time that I get away from the city. Sometimes when I come in from a days work, I am just a nervous wreck. I never have been quite myself since I am back from France, but I think I will get better when I get down in the country.
And you ask me when I will get away from Kansas City. Well, it will be some time between the 20th and the 30th of August. I think perhaps I will be down there around the 25th.
Yes, we had a few cool days after the rain, but it is so awful hot now. I think yesterday was the hottest day we have had yet.
Sweetheart, I haven’t a thing to write about this time. You will excuse this short, poor letter, and I will try and do better next time.
You have all my love, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
August 8, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I received your letter yesterday, and I was so glad to have it. I was surprised to hear from you at Afton, but I was glad to know that you had gone away for a few days. If you don’t need the rest, then the change will do you good. We all need a change ever so often.
We have had some awful hot weather here. It has been around the hundred mark for several days, but the last two days we have had a fairly cool wind from the north, and it is very comfortable here now.
Yes, dearest, I wonder myself if I will be contented to live in your country, but I am sure I will. I have always wanted to come back there ever since I left. I will, perhaps, miss my friends here for some litle time until I get acquainted down there, although I don’t go out much. I haven’t since I came back. Somehow, life in the city has lost all its charm to me, and I just want to get away from it all. After all, I think you people who live in the country are much more happy and contented than us poor people who are cramped here in the city and struggling for existence.
I sat in my car down town last evening as the people were coming out of the stores and shopes to go to their homes, and everyone seemed to have a worried look in their face. They reminded me of a huge swarm of bees, or a hill of ants. They hustle to their work and hustle back to their homes again, and the most of them seems to be too busy earning a living to enjoy life. They are just fighting and struggling for the all mighty dollar, and they lose sight to the things that are really worth while. And I wondered if, after all, it was worth the struggle.
Yes, sweetheart, I am sure you will be able to take the place of my friends. You will take a place in my life that no one else can hold.
I hope this will find you back home again, and that you have had a nice visit.
With all my love and best wishes, I am always
Your own Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
August 11, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter came to me Saturday, and I was glad to have it and to know that you were back home again. But I was so sorry to hear that you had been sick, and I hope it is nothing serious and that you are entirely well by this time.
Sweetheart, I am very sorry to have you tell me that you have been worried about me of late. You mustn’t do that, dear. It is true, I haven’t been so well for some time, but it isn’t anything so very serious. Just a litle nervous trouble and I will soon be well again. And you ask me to come down just as soon as I can possible get away, and I am going to promise you that I will. And you may look for me the latter part of next week. That isn’t long, is it dear?
I have decided to come down on the train. I am going to put my car away for a while and come back and get it later on. I don’t want to see it until my nerves get a litle steadier.
You asked me in one of your letters about my knee. Well, it is perfectly well now, and when I come down there, I will show you that I can tramp over your hills as good as ever.
I am going to close this now. With all my love to you, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
August 13, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter came to me yesterday and it is such a fine letter, and I have enjoyed it so much. And you are having hot weather down there too. Well, it is almost unbearable up here, but surely it can’t last much longer now.
I am taking things easy these days and getting my things together. I have a man running my car for me. He has been in France and lost a leg over there, and he needed the work and I needed the rest.
I am planning on leaving here the 23rd of August in the morning, and I should be in Seneca in the evening. I just can’t decide whether I should bring the car or not, but I will decide between now and then. It is possible that I will leave it here until I see if I can use it to advantage down there, and then come back after it, for unless I can use it in my work, I am not going to keep it. And I don’t want to come down there and (show off) with a car and then have to dispose of it later on.
Yes, dear, I can plainly understand that you couldn’t enjoy your visit in Afton when your Uncle’s house is just a stopping place. And it is a sad fact that the home is losing its charm to the American people. And I don’t know what this country is coming to unless the people wake up. Whenever we allow other places to become more attractive than our home, then we are missing the greatest thing in life. Sweetheart, I wonder if you know how I have longed and hungered for the comfort and love of a real home the last two years? And I can’t tell you how anxious I am to come down to live where I can see you and be with you real often.
I am going to close this now. I am going to surprise myself and go to the Newman Theatre tonight.
I send you all my love, dearest Hazel.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
August 17, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
Your letter came to me yesterday, and as always, I was so glad to have it. And this is Sunday and I am not working today, and I will write you a few lines.
I expect to be with you next Sunday. I am having some work done on my teeth, and if the dentist gets trought with me, I expect to leave here 9:15 Friday morning. That will bring me in to Joplin in time to catch the taxi in the afternoon. I am sending my trunk through to Neosho.
Yes, we are having some fine weather here now after the rain. It is rather warm during the day, but the mornings and evenings are just fine.
I went to church this morning. First time in a long time. I haven’t attended very much since I came back from France.
Sweetheart, I just can’t think of a thing to write about this time, and I am going to ask you to excuse this short, poor letter. I send you all my love and best wishes.
Always your own
Carl
Kansas City, Missouri
August 20, 1919
My dearest Hazel,
I received your letter yesterday, and I had intended to answer it at once, but somehow I didn’t get to it. And this is the last letter you will get from me from Kansas City. I am leaving here 9 a.m. Friday over the Frisco, and will get in to Joplin at 2:15 p.m., and you can look for me on the taxi from Joplin in the evening.
I haven’t a thing to write about dearest, but I will talk an arm off you when I come down there. I am going out to mail this now so you will get it tomorrow.
With all my love.
Always your own
Carl