Letter. Knut to Anders ROE (27 Oct 1887). Images courtesy of Verla Williams.
Amherst, Wis. Oct. 27th, 1887
Dear Brother:
I came home from Mich. last week when I first heard the sad news of Julian's premature death. I also received your letter last night which was sent after me by Ed Lysne. I can very well imagine your feelings over the loss of your best boy and I wish I could say a few words of good cheer, but words of condolence avail nothing when death has taken its victim. All I can do is to sympathize with you. What makes it sadder to think of is that he should have been doctored to death which seems to be the case. I have a couple of works on medicine, but none of them presents[?] quinine in typhoid fever and one of them (Dr. Dannet[?] some medical counselor) absolutely forbids its administration in typhus fever on account of its tendency to drive the blood to the head overwhelming the brain and increasing the delirium, and as typhus & typhoid are very nearly the same both having the same tendency to the head, I should think quinine was just as dangerous in one as in the other, especially in such large doses as you say the Dr. gave Julian. If you want to send one of the doses I will show it to Dr. Guernsey and hear his opinion about it.
The times were very dull up in the mining regions this fall and I guess it will be all winter. If it booms again in the spring I shal[l] probably go up there again. This winter I intend to go into the woods but I think I shal[l] stay to home a month or so before I go. It is very quiet down here quite a contrast to Wakefield and [?] where it was so much noise and excitement that I was very often sick of it. I see by your letter that the drought damages your crops out there too. I had an idea from a newspaper article written by A. [?] that the crops out there were very good this fall.
We have about 6 inches of snow here but we are all hoping that it will go off[?] and that we will have a Indian summe before the regular winter sets in. If it doesnt it will be kind of hard on some of the farmers here who have not got all their potatoes dug yet. Ole has all of his out of the ground but half of them are left in piles on the field yet, but as they are well covered I don't think it will hurt them. He thinks he will have about 700 bu. Potatoes was the salvation of this country this year pretty good crop and [?]. Remember me to your family.
K. Roe
