Title:
Letter from J[ohn] Strentzel to John Muir, 1879 [Feb] 2.
Creator:
J[ohn] Strentzel
Publisher:
University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies
of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Contributor:
John Muir
Date:
1879 [Feb] 2
2008
Type:
Text
Format:
Image/jpeg2000
Identifier:
muir03_0987-md-1
Source:
Original letter dimensions: 33 x 21.5 cm.
Language:
eng
Coverage:
Alhambra, [Calif]
Rights:
Copyright status unknown
Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction
of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners.
Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Transcription:
Alhambra, February 2, 1879. Friend Muir: Since you left us, I too have had my share of the blues of the deepest dye, my
mind running upon last wills and testaments, but after a patient trial of the hygienic agency of calorie with liberal doses
of oat brose for sustenance, the overburdened lungs have resumed their normal action, so far as their abnormal state will
permit. How I might have fared if left down in the midst of that smoky conglomeration of dwelling boxes with its facilities
of drug-shops and doctors is quite another thing. So I say a poor place you are in for concocting snaps and cookies from mountain
meal and Sequoia sugar. Nothing short of some square miles of kitchen with unlimited brose gardens can keep up your culinary
genius in perfection, but as your apprenticeship can not yet be broken, next best, your bodily demand shall be confronted
with a box of spicy Newtowns. We are exceedingly glad to hear of your little Helen's (Swett) recovery, as so many precious
flowers have recently cruelly been removed from the reach of loving friends. Our Alhambra hills look yet ashy, nearly every
morning a white mantle covers the mightiness of the Valley, but the efforts of sunshine begin to get recognized and if that
long wished for rain comes down, by the end of the month the heights will be covered with gladness, with confidence of a new
round of life, so I hope you will not fail to come over and study nature under the aspect of resurrection from the glacial
cover unto the budding spirit of Life. All are well and remember you kindly. Truly yours, J. Strentzel.