Short Fiction

if Minnie hasent had enough travveling we can stop up to niagara falls on the way back home from N.Y. city or may be stop off in Det. & make you a little visit or I could leave Minnie in Det. with you and Kate & come home a lone by my self. I thot it took more then a wk. to get a crost the ocean or I wouldent of never made no holler in the 1st place & it wont put me out none to be a way 3 wks. but I was scared I would half to be a way 2 mos. & miss the primeries. It will cost me a bout $240.00 for I & Minnie on the boat & that includs meals and thats in the 2nd cabin which is right behind the 1st cabin so the wind is broke for us and it aint near so cold as if we had to ride in the 1st cabin. Besides the 2nd cabin must be near the center of the boat where it aint such ruff rideing but some people that has did a lot of travveling on the ocean likes ruff rideing and pays a little more money to ride up in the 1st cabin near the head end of the boat. All to gather with the $240.00 for boat fair & meals and R. R. fair & every thing acrost the ocean & from here to N.Y. city & back wont be over $500.00 for the 2 of us and theys X curshons on all the R. R. to N.Y. city and back this time of year so may be it wont be up to my figure $500.00 and the place if Shaffer takes care of it right should ought to clear at lest 2 times that sum dureing the time wile we are a way. Theys a boat leaves N.Y. city Tues. the 21 of the mo. and thats the 1 I guess I & Minnie will take but I will half to see if that dates all ok with her & that she aint got no dutch picknicks to go to a long a bout that time. She is comeing back from milwaukee for the 4th and will be home when I get home tonight and if the 21 of the mo. is all right with her I will buy the boat fair Monday.

Well Ed. enough for this time and hopeing you dont run up against no full hands.

Your Bro.
L. M. Burns.

Chgo. Ill. July 10.19.14.

Dear bro. Ed. You will excus this pensil I got pen & ink but the pen dont work good. Well Ed. I couldent put that over a bout going to England & Ireland and comeing right back again because Minnie wouldent stand for it & says I was welshing & I says what do you mean by welshing I promised to take you any wheres you want to go & you says you want to go to europe so what kick you got come ing because if Ireland & England is not europe where is they. Then she says You dont know if there europe or not but that dont make no diffrunce because if thats where your going to take me I aint going for who cares a bout them places. I says I am irish & thats why I want to go to Ireland & she says yes your people was irish but you couldent never make no body beleive you was irish because your nose turns the wrong way and you cant talk no more irish then I can and if you was to go over there and tell them you was irish they would run you out & besides if all the irish is as tight as you I dont want to see no more of them & I will give you your choise ether you can take me on a real trip to europe or I will go up to milwaukee and stay there. For a wile I felt like telling her to go to milwaukee or some wheres else but you know how it is & a man dont feel like being nasty to a woman even his wife it dont make no diffrunce what a fool she makes out of her self. So finely I give up argueing with her & let her have her own way and Monday I & her went down to gather to the steam boat co. and heres what we got framed up and its all framed up. We are going all over the world and we are going to see all they is to see and then sum & I got the hole trip right here in a book.

The trip what we are going to take is what they call tour no. 2 & they will be 6 or 7 people going a long with us and I dont know what is there name but Minnies got there name and we never seen them but the steam boat co. fixed it up that we all was to go to gather & when a gang gos to gather like that it dont cost no body so much money but it is with a gang I would hate to go a lone or I & Minnie a lone to gather & no body with us. In the 1st place we go from N.Y. city to Bremen & from there to Germany & the fair on the boat will be $70.00 a peace & that includs meals & our party are going to ride in the 2nd cabin & have the wind broke for us. We dont stop at ether England or Ireland so you see its a fast boat we are takeing & we leave N.Y. city on Thurs. the 23 of July & the name of the boat is prince S. N. katrina and we will be 7 days getting to bremen the 1st stop so we should ought to get to bremen the