From Canada
Castor, Alberta - March 31, 1929
Dear Mr Stauss!
I would like to keep my promise today and give the dear Welt-Post a report to take with me. I'm sure some are interested in hearing back from Canada, especially our friends in Norka, Russia, as I was on a visiting trip with my wife to Portland, Oregon to see my cousin Georg there. On December 14 we began our journey and spent the first night with Heinrich Weizel; the next morning we continued our tour to Calgary, where we arrived in the afternoon and stopped at Schneider Weis, where we met Peter Spady and in the evening we visited the church. We stayed in Calgary until December 20th and after obtaining our passports with the help of Pastor Hediger, we began our onward journey. When we got to the border at Kingsgate it turned out that our passports were insufficient; we had to leave the train, looked for a hotel and went to the emigrant station the next day. There we were told that we could continue our journey if someone would put up $500 for us. I immediately wired Portland for the money, which arrived the next day. We now continued our journey unhindered, reached Spokane, where we stayed the night, and continued to Portland the next morning.
Brother-in-law Heinrich Krieger and Johannes Sinner with his two daughters were already waiting for us at the train station and took us to their home by car. We hadn't seen each other for 22 years and so the joy was great, which was only tarnished in memory of the death of my wife's sister, who passed away in June.
It would be going too far to name all the friends and acquaintances we met; everyone always gave us a warm welcome and was happy to see us again after such a long time. Johannes Glanz, Georg Spady and Ludwig Mueller came the evening of our arrival and gave us a warm welcome. Everyone has been good to us, only the weatherman defied and brought us only a few fine days. Where are the roses that are known to have their name in Portland, I asked? They will come in the summer, I was told. Well, we have roses in Canada in summer too; now Portland was as bleak and sad in nature as it was here.
With us everything is still covered in deep snow, the farmers haven't been able to do much in the fields yet. Except for Mother Spady, who is bed-ridden due to her infirmity, we are all healthy. Lorenz Mueller's wife Anna has, as I heard, died. Greetings to all world post readers here and there; I would be happy if I heard more often from the old homeland.
-Georg Holzer (Helzer)
I would like to keep my promise today and give the dear Welt-Post a report to take with me. I'm sure some are interested in hearing back from Canada, especially our friends in Norka, Russia, as I was on a visiting trip with my wife to Portland, Oregon to see my cousin Georg there. On December 14 we began our journey and spent the first night with Heinrich Weizel; the next morning we continued our tour to Calgary, where we arrived in the afternoon and stopped at Schneider Weis, where we met Peter Spady and in the evening we visited the church. We stayed in Calgary until December 20th and after obtaining our passports with the help of Pastor Hediger, we began our onward journey. When we got to the border at Kingsgate it turned out that our passports were insufficient; we had to leave the train, looked for a hotel and went to the emigrant station the next day. There we were told that we could continue our journey if someone would put up $500 for us. I immediately wired Portland for the money, which arrived the next day. We now continued our journey unhindered, reached Spokane, where we stayed the night, and continued to Portland the next morning.
Brother-in-law Heinrich Krieger and Johannes Sinner with his two daughters were already waiting for us at the train station and took us to their home by car. We hadn't seen each other for 22 years and so the joy was great, which was only tarnished in memory of the death of my wife's sister, who passed away in June.
It would be going too far to name all the friends and acquaintances we met; everyone always gave us a warm welcome and was happy to see us again after such a long time. Johannes Glanz, Georg Spady and Ludwig Mueller came the evening of our arrival and gave us a warm welcome. Everyone has been good to us, only the weatherman defied and brought us only a few fine days. Where are the roses that are known to have their name in Portland, I asked? They will come in the summer, I was told. Well, we have roses in Canada in summer too; now Portland was as bleak and sad in nature as it was here.
With us everything is still covered in deep snow, the farmers haven't been able to do much in the fields yet. Except for Mother Spady, who is bed-ridden due to her infirmity, we are all healthy. Lorenz Mueller's wife Anna has, as I heard, died. Greetings to all world post readers here and there; I would be happy if I heard more often from the old homeland.
-Georg Holzer (Helzer)
Sources
Die Welt-Post und der Staats-Anzeiger, May 2, 1929.
This translation is provided courtesy of Michelle Monson.
This translation is provided courtesy of Michelle Monson.
Last updated November 29, 2023