Melbourne
5 January 1888
My dear Chris
I was much pleased at the satisfactory account of yourself and Alex, which your letter of 5 December conveyed to me.
I trust you will both pull through the summer heat with health and comfort, and that you will soon acquire cash enough to be in a position to leave for a more wholesome climate.
You don’t say if anything has been done about the mine you wanted floated in London, if you can get the smaller properties disposed of so readily on the spot, as you seem to do and hold the management in your own hands, you need not trouble about larger ventures until you can come home yourself
When you get rails laid from the coast to get machinery and supplies up readily Croydon will become of importance. I hear nothing of it from people here they are all so engrossed with the traffic in City properties, they can think of nothing so distant as Croydon. I spent the new year and to yesterday at Gisborne with W R Thompson and have met a London merchant who had just retired from a tour through all the Colonies. He had visited every town in Queensland except Normanton and told me that Croydon was topic of conversation, generally and great were the expectations from it.
I hope these will be realized and that soon, for I should not like you to remain there very long, life is not worth living in such a place it would be as well after a time to take Alex back with you and develop him and find some bent for his genius, either in mining or building, as well as assisting you. If there is anything in the shape of provisions that you would like sent out to you let him know by the time I get home. It would be useless sending from here, they would cost tool much and take such a long time.
I have paid a years subscription for you to the Age and Argus, which will keep you informed what is going on here.
Write to the people at home now and then and make Alec do the same. Miss Reisky says she has not heard from him for months.
We have a prospect of doing a little better in freight this year, but the chances are we get very few passengers. I have no intention of coming in the ship again. Archie will have put in his time for Master and he will enter either the P. & O. or the Orient Coy without you can advise him to come to Croydon and seek his fortune, there is not much of one to be had at sea now. I don’t know what I shall do, but it must be something, with all my responsibilities I cannot be idle and I have not enough to keep up the house, even that we are in now without some addition.
I shall get Jessie and Jean off my hands next summer. Jessie is then of age and Jean is to be married. This will be a relief, they have been a great trouble and nuisance and caused dissentions amongst us, and they were not very thankful for what has been done.
May, after her year in Germany will be able to take a place as teacher, she is anxious to do this. Mary will never do any good, she has no brains and will be a baby all her life. You might send Edie and May a small present in the shape of a new pound, they would think a good deal of it. I will write again soon.
Your loving Father
Jas A Elmslie
I mean to write Alex after tomorrow’s mail goes.