fine peopl liveing in this town & as soon is we get acquainted we can for get all a bout the peopl we knowed in Chi & not never think a bout them.

I guess the last time I wrote to you we wasent no wheres near setteled but wear pretty well setteled now & things a round the house is beginning to look OK & you can open most of the windows if you start them with a crow bar & then give a quick jerk.

Kindest to Mary.

Fred A. Gross .

Allison Ill. , July 24.

Dear Charley . I supose you been geting a hole lot of rain to because I see in the paper where its been raining all over the u s & if it rains any more I will half to buy 1 of these here divvers sutes to go down in the basemunt with it & fix the heater that we heat the hot water with. A bout the 2nd day it beggin to rain the water beggin runing in the basemunt & now its pretty near as deep like it was in the brandywine crick where I & you lerned to swim do you remember Charley. I called up the plummer & he come up & seen it & says the drane pipes would carry it off & I had to give him $.50 cents for telling me that & it wasent true at that because they aint carryed none of it off as far is I can see & if a plummer gets $.50 a peace for evry time he lise to you I wonder what does he charge when he tells a man the truth only I guess that dont never hapen. Well any way you could dive off the top step of the stares in to the basemunt & not bump your head on the floor & Grace says I should ought to dig some angel worms out in the yard & set on the basemunt stares & fish but I guess all the fish in the house is liveing up stares. I mean wear the fish for building a house. Suckers see Charley.

An other good thing all the wood that was left over from building the house is down in the basemunt & Grace has been useing it up pretty fast