Ruth Chuning Baker (Hotel Baker) to Edna Spennetta 6/30/1930

Dear Folks,

Well, here it is Edna’s birthday and I never thought a work about it until I started to write this letter.

Mama’s letter came day before yesterday, the first in two weeks. And today the card came telling of Mrs. Spennetta’s death. I have felt so badly about it all day, but I am really glad she is gone since there was no hope of her getting better. I know Edna and Jess will miss her terribly, more so, since they have had the care of her so much during the last year.

We are having another windy spell and now it is around to the east and feels kind of like rain. Is clouding up. I surely hope it does rain and settle this dust.

We had quite a severe electric storm Sunday night, but no rain fell. They said there was a regular cloud burst over in the Camp Crook Country tho, and the river came up so high that some of the lower part of Mammuth is flooded.

I went to two card parties this last week. Got the head prize at one and the all out at the other. The head prize was a linen vanity set and I gave it to Dorothy for her “hope chest”. I won four pretty wash clothes once and I gave them to her to (sic). I never have any use for those things here, and it begins to look as if I would never keep house again, so she might as well have them. Miriam hasn’t started a hope chest yet.

Ruby Hopper, a girl who used to live here but has moved to Miles, is down here visiting the girls now. Ruby and Miriam went to Ekalaka with Ruby’s brother this morning and they just got back. Miriam missed her music lesson. I haven’t had time to talk to them so don’t know what caused them to be gone so long.

We have been having two rooms with connecting bath, but have had so many wanting rooms with baths so yesterday we moved out. It was surely some job. We worked until 3 in the afternoon and after that I washed. Something went wrong with the washing machine so I had to do it on the board. It is surely hard on me. I just left the clothes in the rinse water and hung them out this morning.

I have been trying to let some of my dresses down. Let the white crepe de chine* and the peach one (both I had last summer) down and faced them. Now I am going to send them to the cleaners and get the pleats put back in. I thought Virginia could get along this summer on what clothes she has, but she has grown so terribly she can only wear very few of her dresses. I am going to make some of the girls' over for her.

The crossword puzzle fad* is surely fascinating isn’t it? I always work one bit one on Sunday. Never seem to find time to do them any other time.

Lakes left last week for Washington. They talked some of going to Cal. so maybe you will see them. The took Mrs. Lake’s niece with them. I worked on her clothes all the day that they left trying to get them ready so they could take her and they gave me a free ticket to the show. But Everett had to pay his way in. Of course, I didn’t expect them to do that tho. I just did it because I just wanted to help them.

I went out in the country with Virginia and a woman who rooms here last week just after the rain and we go stuck. Surely had an awful time getting out. Had to throw the chains in behind the wheels and back over them, then dig the chains out and do the same thing over again, until we finally got out. We were so plastered with mud you couldn’t tell what color we were.

It is too bad Jack is feeling so badly. But don’t you folks weaken & and send him any money to get home on. He is surely old enough now that you shouldn’t have to worry about him any more. Maybe if he has a hard time getting back he won’t be so anxious to pull out again, and will settle down to something there. I never saw so many unemployed men drifting around and they just swarm here trying to bum a meal. We can’t feed the, the more you feed the more come.

Lynn and Mary sent Dorothy the prettiest shorties and (bagies?) for her graduation. Dorothy was lucky, she got some pretty suits of underwear. But she can’t ever get enough of those. I am trying to get her to put them away until fall and wear her old ones out this summer, so if she does get to go away to school this fall she will have the nice underwear and we won’t have that expense. But you know how kids are. They like to wear the best they have. Dorothy has worn her white kid shoes to drive in until she has nearly ruined them. I talk until I get tired talking and they get peeved, so I have about given up.

No, I have had the family letter for some time. Someone must be holding it up.

I was going to take Virginia up to Miles this afternoon, but she has developed such a sore throat I know they couldn’t remove her tonsils now if they did need it, so will wait a few days. This throat seems to be kind of an epidemic going around. Eva had it when she…..
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