Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Gemma Willard (Mrs. Daniel B.) Nye, South Weymouth, Mass., January 23, 1928
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Gemma Willard (Mrs. Daniel B.) Nye, South Weymouth, Mass., January 23, 1928
Subject
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Gemma Willard (Mrs. Daniel B.) Nye, South Weymouth, Mass., January 23, 1928
Transcription
My dear Mrs. Nye:
Thank you for your note, and don’t apologize, please, for your delay.
I am glad that you decided that you could conscientiously accept that check. It is little enough, and I know from past experiences that our good Chinese friends are more than desirous of reimbursing us for all financial and, so far as practicable, other outlays we make in behalf of their children. It was some time before I could bring myself to charge anything when these appealing youngsters were in my own home, as they were for years, but their presence invariably involved expense, and to an extent which my limited means would not honestly justify. I simply had to come to the point of trying to figure out what that expense actually amounted to and charging it to their accounts, making clear to the parents concerned the why and wherefore of it all and receiving from them in turn the heartiest approval and endorsement. Where the youngsters dropped in on me for a day or two here and there, as they often did, I still preferred to allow them, this privilege gratis, something that I should have liked to do immensely at all times, had I been a man of means. Where they stayed for definite times, the charges were imposed on a basis, as nearly as I could figure it, which involved only the additional expense incurred by their presence. I could well understand that, if you were reimbursed for all of the actual expenses you have incurred in behalf of the Tsais, the $100.00 which you received from me recently would not begin to cover everything.
Very sincerely yours,
Thank you for your note, and don’t apologize, please, for your delay.
I am glad that you decided that you could conscientiously accept that check. It is little enough, and I know from past experiences that our good Chinese friends are more than desirous of reimbursing us for all financial and, so far as practicable, other outlays we make in behalf of their children. It was some time before I could bring myself to charge anything when these appealing youngsters were in my own home, as they were for years, but their presence invariably involved expense, and to an extent which my limited means would not honestly justify. I simply had to come to the point of trying to figure out what that expense actually amounted to and charging it to their accounts, making clear to the parents concerned the why and wherefore of it all and receiving from them in turn the heartiest approval and endorsement. Where the youngsters dropped in on me for a day or two here and there, as they often did, I still preferred to allow them, this privilege gratis, something that I should have liked to do immensely at all times, had I been a man of means. Where they stayed for definite times, the charges were imposed on a basis, as nearly as I could figure it, which involved only the additional expense incurred by their presence. I could well understand that, if you were reimbursed for all of the actual expenses you have incurred in behalf of the Tsais, the $100.00 which you received from me recently would not begin to cover everything.
Very sincerely yours,
Creator
Alfred E. Stearns
Publisher
Phillips Academy
Date
January 23, 1928
Rights
All Rights Reserved By Phillips Academy
Language
English
Type
Correspondence