William Porter Letter to William Clark Breckenridge - December 14, 1917
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DR. WILLIAM PORTER WHILE-A-WAY LODGE OCEAN SPRINGS, [Mississippi] [December 14, 1917]. Dear Friend Breckenridge. Two months have gone rapidly since your last letter came. Hope by this time the green pills have had a good affect. Let me know. Not much news. Our little city is alive [ms illegible: 3 wds] work and new [ms illegible: 4 wds] of an S.S. man. We have a few fools who have more money than sense and a few renegades from the larges cities who should get into the hemp business. Our local physician - a fine fellow called [ms illegible: 1 wd] of [ms illegible: 1 wd] out the other day. To one he said "I have reported you to the Dept. of Justice an agent will see you in 24 hours. You are a bank. So am I. If I treated you as you deserve -personally- you would say I was jealous". To the [ms illegible: 1 wd] - a big planter - he said - "I will take on your case myself. One word more from you about our country of our president and I will trash you - good. There can be no evasion. Whisper and I shall know it" The South is very loyal. Shame to say the few sleepers here are [ms illegible: 1 wd] men but they are so few that they do not count. As chairman of our Red Cross Chapter I feel some responsibility and am in [ms illegible: 2 wds] "the power that be". Living very near the big Biloxi [ms illegible: 1 wd] long than the "Eads Bridge" and the L & N R.R. being an important artery I keep my rifle loaded and sleep on a [ms illegible: 1 wd] of our veranda nearest the guard house. From my "side view" I am as likely to see any suspicious
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[ms illegible: 1 wd] approaching. It would be a great thing to stop traffic if only for a week. Most of the trains are double headers and are run in sections. - I am a bit anxious about the coming week in Europe. I do not fear the result but if the Germans should gain on the French front the war would be prolonged. The news tonight is good. Russia has a hard time ahead [ms illegible: 1 wd] the little Japs might come in. Wonder if you were at the Papyrus meeting! Do you know any thing about it? - Write me a good letter and tell me all the news. We get little. We are passing through a cold spell for us. Ice two nights ago. No damage to our garden or trees yet - but it stops all growing for a while. We are both well. Still like the South. We get much pleasure out of our "auto". Have made some addition to it and it is an almost perfect machine now. Wife gave a little dinner to day and almost every thing was from our own growing. Chicken - oysters from out in front, pea-nut puree - potatoes, beans, tomatoes, fruit, cream eggs artichokes - even the catsup was homemade. Wish you could have shared it - Wife joins in best wishes and says "the latch story is out" - Your friend [William] Porter
Details
| Title | William Porter Letter to William Clark Breckenridge - December 14, 1917 |
| Creator | Porter, William |
| Source | Porter, William. William Porter Letter to William Clark Breckenridge. 14 December 1917. Breckenridge, William Clark, Papers, 1808-1936. A2030. The Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | In this letter, dated December 14, 1917, William Porter wrote William Clark Breckenridge concerning loyal Germans in the south, speculations about the next week of the war, Russia's involvement, and the entrance of the Japanese. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--Russia; World War, 1914-1918--France; World War, 1914-1918--Germany; World War, 1914-1918--Japan |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | A2030 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | December 14, 0917 |
| Language | English |