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11 Mar 60 Julius Fyzabad Mother ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Fyzabad

11 – 3 – 60 –

My dear Mother

Your letter of 29 Jan arrived a few days ago & this being my first non working day, I must answer it.

You tell me how your good stewardship & my Father’s liberality have increased my 5 Union Bank Shares to Eleven. Believe me, I really appreciate the kindness of both. You urge me to send home money to be added to the fund which is accumulating. This has come at an unfortunate time & I am afraid you must have been taken by surprize when you heard (as you doubtless did some time ago) that instead of adding to my English Bank stock, I had been commencing to draw upon it, in the shape of Drafts on Cox to the amount of £50 & again, as my late letters will have told you, of my intention of drawing more.

I have had very little time, for the past few months, to turn my attention away from Rifle Drill, but I find, from the effects of House building, garden making, etc. not only is my purse empty, but my accounts prove me to be considerably to the bad.

I had hoped to have heard that my Father had been to Cox’s on the subject of my letter to him, but you do not mention a word about it. I wrote to M^r Powell before I drew any checks in order to have everything cut & dry. As my Father must know, a dishonoured check is a most serious matter & which involves an amount of discredit which it is quite worth while taking trouble to guard against unpleasant truth.

I must draw on my Father for more money. I am vexed to be obliged to do it & hope it may not put him to inconvenience. I think I shall have to get at least another £50 to put me straight. I expected to have heard from my Father last mail on the subject of money. I wish I had, as I require this at once & I do like always being on the safe side in my money dealings.

Rumour, with what foundation I do not know, revives a report that we are to get our Lucknow Prize money, & that soon. In which case I may be able to put my shares all straight again, which I shall be glad to do. John has been saving money, while I have been spending mine. Let me be a Captain in India & it is possible I might do likewise. At present our expenses are equal & incomes widely different.

I hope to finish the heavy part of my yearly Musketry Instruction this week. It is getting a deal too hot to be out in the middle of the day & I have from 8 to 11 hours of it day after day. Thank goodness it will soon be over. My Sergt. Instructor is completely knocked up & is now in hospital with dysentery, so I have the pleasure of doing all the work, & I am very thankful that I am able to.

My house is very comfortable indeed. The Regt. will probably stay here two years more, so that although building has put me to much inconvenience in the money line for the time, I should have made a great mistake not to have done it.

You do not seem to be able to make up your mind where you will live at all. That is the beauty of a soldier’s life. There is always some one to decide for you. That answers well except when they send you to a place like Fyzabad where there is no place to live at all. Houses are springing up fast. Our Mess House is building. A very handsome Place it will be. It is to cost us about 10,000 Rupees, or £1,000. But after my experience, I should think that if the estimate was doubled, it would be nearer the mark.

So Robert & Willie have both turned Riflemen. Tell the latter I will feel for him when he arrives at the ‘kneeling position’ (a very steady one for firing, but uncommonly painful to a beginner).

I am sorry to hear that Alfred does not take well to his books. I often regret my many misspent hours at school. Think how much wiser one might have been.

I hope you are all well.

Give my love to Helen & all, from

Yr affect son

JDLaurie

I hope I shall hear from my Father shortly.