16/5/16
My dear Father
My last letter probably crossed with yours to me, but I write again now in any case. Please note the change in designation of this hospital; we are no longer on the Indian establishment in which the Meerut Hospital originally came out. I have been very well treated in the matter of letters by all at home, and it has been a great help to have such full accounts of all that has happened.
I hope you settle to your daily routine and find it helpful. The garden will be coming on well now, growth out here is very profuse just now, and the orchard where our tents are pitched is full of May. The apple blossom here has been very lovely and appears to be setting well.
I think your question about the photo of Mother was answered in my last letter; I should like to see it now, and then will send it to Mary to keep.
I am very pleased that Mother left each one of us by name a token amongst her treasures. I remember the ring she has left me and shall value it very greatly. I have asked Mary to keep it at present. Her wish that Mary should have the opera glasses has pleased Mary very much. I was so glad her visit was arranged and I know she was too. Later no doubt she will come with Baby for a longer stay. She tells me Baby is getting on so well in recognizing objects and their names, and every week I expect she advances.
We have been very busy here lately; I expect it will be so all the summer. Colonel Leishman, who controls all the pathological work of the RAMC was around a few days ago, and I told him I’d like a change of work if it could be done, it is very monotonous here as a rule. But I didn’t get much encouragement (in that sense) from him, and so I suppose I’ll be on the typhoid work indefinitely: I’d like to have charge of a mobile laboratory. However I think the fact is this job is more important and perhaps more difficult to fill, and this is essentially not a time to indulge personal claims.
I have just concluded a short paper on a point arising out of my work, and forwarded it for publication, and now I must begin to tackle the analysis of my work since last October. There’s about enough material collected to get ten MD degrees on!
With the return here of some of the Gallipoli and Egypt forces we are getting a few cases of semi-tropical diseases about – interesting to me, as of course I’ve seen very little of that kind of thing.
I see that a Compulsion Bill is now being promoted in NZ. Self-government, for the Anglo-Saxon anyway, works well, I wonder if it would after all for the Irish – it might be better than the sort of government they’ve had of late years. I do hope things there will now be competently and wisely handled.
Please thank Ethel for her nice letter and say I’ll write quite soon. I was so pleased to hear that you found Mr Allsebrook so kind and thoughtful. I hope he has satisfactory news of Harold.
Soon you will be getting letters from Cyril I hope giving some account of his experiences from April 9th till he got to India.
I must finish now, having other letters to write before going to bed.
With much love.
Your affectionate son
Arthur F Sladden
