TRANSCRIPTION:
Sunday
July 6th 1913
Dear Edith
I have been anxiously waiting for a letter from you as you owe me one, but they were telling me at home that you wanted to know why I didn’t write. By all accounts you seem to be having a great time, & I suppose you are not troubling about slab dubbing {sic] yet. I am up at the Station now or have been for the last two months I like it very much the only thing is you never see a girl from one weeks end to another. At present we are putting up a telephone line to Matai Tera (that is another of our stations) & by jove it is hard work. We generally walk to work & I can tell you we generally feel a bit tired when we were trudging home in the dark with wet feet. It is far different to walking on the pavements in a London Street. Last night Jack Harry & I knocked off work when it was dark, & we had to ride through that bush of Hearn’s near the house. The track is bad enough to ride on in the day time but when you are in the dark you don’t know where you are going We had to keep striking matches to find the track. I can tell you my heart was in my mouth nearly all the time We are going over to Matai Tera tomorrow to finish the line so we will be having great feeds of air for the next week or so. Mrs Pepper went out to Taihape yesterday to see young Gordon She is stopping out for a week & I can tell you we sure missed the comforts after having a woman in the house. She is a real decent woman Gordon is doing famously he can walk a little now, but he cant use his left arm yet. He has been under about 12 operations so he has had a very bad time of it. Dad is here tonight. He came from the Turakina end this afternoon. Harry has a bad throat just at present, I think the telephone line is telling on him. We all go out to play football in Taihape nearly every Saturday & we are doing A1. We have only been beaten once so far out of four games so we are right after the cup. Reg seems to be playing great football in Wanganui . He has been picked for the Reps on several occasions. By the way he is a Bank Manager now He joined the National Bank of N.Z. & started the first of the month. He likes it alright according to dad. I was down in Wanganui to see the battleship but I did not go out as it was so rough. Reg & Harry went out on one of the lighters & got a great tossing about, nearly everybody was sick Well Edith I hope London fogs suit you alright , & that it wont be very many months or years before you paint some famous picture which will be a credit to the Collier family. Well I am afraid I must close now & I hope that our next letters will not run into months as this one has
I remain
Your affect brother
Frank