Transcription:
2 Letter of William Trout to John Muir,Apr. 21, 1888, continued gentlemen in your acquaintance. I would like to hear of
you meeting with him. I have written at length and said but little. Mentally I have written you hundreds of times. I think
of much -- too much to write conveniently. Then I postpone -- then when I do write it seems so unsatisfactory. I certainly
cannot rest till I see you in your fine southwestern home in the Golden State. The family is all well. I've the shop or rather
I'm in the new fine drawing office we have which is probably the finest in America. I have been engaged in designing new and
improved sawmill carriages for the heavy work on the Pacific Coast. The drawings are not completed, and out agent has sent
in two orders, one three block carriage will take on and handle a log 7 feet dia. x 40 ft. long. No puny muscular power is
to be applied to that, all the operations of feeding, rolling and setting to be done by the general power of the mill. Possibly
my name may be connected with this in a patent. The orders come from Tacoma, W. T. Well, I shall bring this to a close, hoping
it may find you and yours all well. I will not presume to ask you to write till it entirely suits your convenience. Yours,
etc. W. H. Trout P.S. I understand that your mother, Mrs. Galloway, and one or two sisters live at Portage or the old
home, near it. Now if any of them should come into the city either for business or pleasure we would like to have them call
on us and take dinner like old fashioned country folks as we all are, or stay a day or two and see the city sights. Will you
convey to them the invitation Our house is conveniently reached. We are just moving to 346 Greenbush St -- will be just 4
blocks from Elizabeth St. Station, which is on the south side of the city.