File:1934 - Oct 18th Winfred to Clara Letter .jpg

<references/> Oct. 18, 1934

Dear Clara and Ralph:<ref>Living in New Ulm, MN at the time.</ref>

Received your letter this A.M. Thanks a lot, and I’ll answer it before I get started at daily routine. I’m glad you now have a place to your liking. Material surroundings have a big effect on one’s mental condition and I think the few extra dollars one pays for a good place are well worth it.

Gee! I’d certainly like to take you up on that invitation for Christmas. I don’t believe there is a chance, however. But a person can never tell what is possible or not in the future. My practise is growing so nicely and slowly that I’m just about married to it. I’d hate to leave it for a couple of weeks right now for fear of a set back. I’m just at the point now where I can make both ends meet - and can pay 25 cents for my lunches and 40 cents for my dinner. I had to keep my lunches down to 10-15 cents for a long time and some days just a bar of candy. But that is now a sweet memory and I’m not the worse off for it. In two or three months from now I expect to have some real money.

Oh yes, I’ll have to tell you about my rich German client from California. He came to Seattle about one year ago and started a beer-garten. Things did not go so well and he finally quit. He put $1600 worth of furniture in the place, and the owner played smarts and resold the place with furniture and all. So I got the case and got my client’s money back and charged him $350 for my services.

The old boy said that "is cheap enough but I have no ready cash - the money you recover for me I need for other business, but I tell you what I do. I have a Hupmobile - 8 cylinder car only driven 10,000 miles - looks like new, and I give you that."

That was his wife’s car. So I looked at it and really found the old man told the truth. The car cost $2600 <ref>about $47,495.79 in 2017 dollars</ref> new. It is just nicely broken in, so I took it. Honestly, that was too good to be true. I can sell it today to the used car market for $750, but am hanging onto it. Goodness knows, I need a car badly enough and if all this turns out as I expect them to, I’ll be able to afford to drive it.

EP’s case<ref>Winfred won the lawsuit against David Dorsey. It had something to do with land.</ref> is coming along nicely. Trial will be about Nov 20th or there about, and I think I will win it. At any rate, all the lawyers I’ve talked to said they’d like to be on my side of the fence. When we get through with EP’s case, there is another case just like it - same defendants, waiting for us, only that case involves $16,000 instead of $6,000. The county commissioner up there also have a case lined up for us (Mr. Egan<ref>Winfred's law partner</ref> and myself) but I don’t know all the details of it yet - they may have a case and they may not.

And my most encouraging work is being attorney for a gold mining corporation. It is a glacer mine in Idaho right in the center of the gold mining district where according to govt report $320,000,000 <ref> About $5,845,635,820.90 in 2017 dollars.</ref> already have been taken out. They have an ideal set up there and at present are drilling the ground so as to determine how much gold there is in the ground. When they have the ground all drilled out (750 acres) they will be able to tell within 5% how gold there is there.

The R.F.G. has already assured me that they will loan the money to finance the dredge. The ground is going about 1.05 cent per cu. yard and they estimate between 50 and 80 million cubic yards. I took stock for my fees (15,000) shares <ref>Worth about $274,014.18 in 2017 dollars</ref>. The shares today are being sold for $1.00 per share. I’m hanging onto mine - if it makes it matures, I’ll make big, if not I stand to lose only my work. "Und wenn es guht[?] ist, dann profitierst Du auch." <ref>"and if it's 'guht', then you profit too."</ref>

Outside of that I have three divorce cases pending right now and several other little cases. Julia nurses her neighbor’s mother-in-law for four weeks. The old lady broke her him in Portland, and after they were able to move her they brought her up here. Julia went over in the morning and evening and fixes her up until she was able to help herself again.

EP’s Beth turns out to be a very smart little girl. Both she and Irene lost or rather outgrew that dynamic uproar of theirs and put it to work in other channels. Irene is the Tom Boy and rounds up the cows, feeds the pigs, etc., and rides a horse to school. Beth prefers to walk and carry the dinner buckets. She does most of the house work and seems to be doing quite well. Markie, however, is still what the others were, but no doubt he will outgrow that too. He’s as dutch as a boy can be.

<ref>EP is making reference to Mark being "dutch as a boy can be." You can see how the English language has changed. In 2017 it is defined as "A male who with a lot of lesbian friends."

Another definition which is no doubt the intended meaning is " A man who is really supremely nice and innocent."

Ubran Dictionary

"Little Dutch Mill" was an exceedingly successful song from 1934 (popularized by Bing Crosby), which tells of the love that a little Dutch boy and a little Dutch girl have for each other. </ref>

Yes, I’m still living<ref>Living in Seattle. He was two years out of law school and starting his Seattle law practice</ref> with the folks and I suppose I’ll have to for some time. Somebody must be there and there is no one outside of myself. Mother<ref>Klara died two years later in 1936</ref> is about the same - has good days and then days in which she talks together everything she can think of. Dad really has a job on his hands sometimes. She accuses him of everything she can think of until he forgets her mental infirmities and takes it as really a personal matter. "und dann ist die hoelle loss." <ref>"then all hell breaks loose."</ref> I really don’t blame him, and after a round of that Ma really keeps quiet for a couple of weeks again.

The crops in the Big Bend<ref>Watertown is located in an area known as The Big Bend of the Columbia River</ref> were fairly good and the price is fairly good too, maybe they will make a little. Daryl didn’t get along too well at Paul’s - fought with Edgar so went over to Ted’s and that is the only place now. Daryl finally got his bicycle - the best he could buy. Those rabbits did well. Dad lost one month hay so far.

Those gravenstein apples<ref>The 'Gravenstein' plant is a triploid; it requires pollination from other trees, and is a poor pollinator of other apples. The short stems and variable ripening times make harvesting and selling difficult.

The skin of the fruit is a delicately waxy yellow-green with crimson spots and reddish lines, but the apple may also occur in a classically red variation.</ref> after they were picked two days shriveled up badly and looked so wrinkled that I figured they were not worth the express to send them. I went to Waterville two weeks ago on the Willus cases and was going to send you delicious, but the hot weather cooked the culls and the 1st grade were $2.50 per box and I ran out of money. (German: "but have hope - it's coming - some more later").

Love Fred

P.S. Am glad that things are going better for Elsa. I wrote her right after you wrote me her youngest girl was sick (German: "still haven't heard anything from her" ). Also I thought of you on or about your birthday<ref>Sept. 16th, 1888</ref> - accept my belated wishes for many more and better times now.

source: Clara Hinderer collection

<references/>

Rosemarie Hinderer That was some letter. After Klara Schneider died they send Grandpa to Waterville, WA to live with E.P and family. 20 years later they send Julia over to be the boy's housekeeper. She was at Mark's house when I came Nov.1959. She was sober all the time until her son came and bought her a little house around 1965 and she could walk to the drugstore to buy alcohol. We received a call often and John had to go to pick her of the floor, but Marie was right. She was a good soul.