Letter from Sibyl Hosking to Fred: 4/4/1927
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A letter from Sibyl Hosking, in Chissamba, Angola, to her fellow missionary Fred Stokey, in Dondi, Angola.
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Chissamba, April 4/27.
Dear Dr. Stokey:-
As a carrier is going to you for books to-morrow, would you please send me some Vin. Ipecac if you have any. Send as much as you can spare, up to perhaps a couple of quarts. I do wish you had some capsules because I hate to think of taking Quinine just as a beverage.
To-day I was reading the piece that "Gentlemen prefer War." I didn't realize that you were that way inclined although I remember one or two battles of a larger or smaller degree, and then Laura would say "Let me loose."
How are your plans for A.M. coming on? Are you going to be able to get some of the committees appointed and other business which you spoke of, done up beforehand. This year will some of the important discussions, problems, topics or whatnot of the week be distributed around for the various stations to see before we go to the meeting? You realize of course that this is quite a new experience for me. I have not yet had the pleasure of attending A.M. Did Mr. McDowell consent to preaching the sermon? I hope so.
Is the enclosed egg-beater the kind you prefer?
Note #1. Those were the days when I had a good time.
Last Sat. evening when we asked Sr. Figuieredo down to play a game I made fudge after supper. He claims that "olongupa" and chocolates are his weakness. I might say the latter is mine, but not the peanuts. What is yours Avocado Pears or Mango?
While looking at the Reader Digest, Feb number I enjoyed reading The Winter Outdoors M.D. and thought of you up on the beach by Lake Erie camping alone. Now others especially New Englanders are beginning to realize the joy of Winter sports. I imagine it will seem pretty cold at home now, after no winters for five years, don't you?
I have some other letters to write before I go to sleep. Last night I wrote only about 3/4 of a page to Mary that will never do. I had the heart to write more but my eyes were too sleepy. She writes very interesting letters to me. Did any of Elizabeth's snaps turn out good at all? By the way, do you always know whom I'm writing about when I use the firstname. Miss M. never does. Very often Esther (never"Bobby" to Miss M.) or Mary slips out when I'm talking and she always asks who is Esther or etc. It was a good think the wheel on your side car didn't act funny and the rod bend the afternoon we had the ducking wasn't it? Perhaps you would have preferred standing still while it was pouring so hard.
What did you think of Mr. Child's sermon? He thinks along your lines, doesn't he? Don't tell me, you were not there. I like to hear your criticisms. You realize you are quite a critic, don't you? I think you ought to write something for June "Chimes". Here's a suggestion: write up something interesting about Chissamba Hospital and send it up to me, to criticize. You know we are very badly in need of doctors for this work and I don't want you to think even of dropping out. Bye bye. Sibyl. Excuse crowding.
Dear Dr. Stokey:-
As a carrier is going to you for books to-morrow, would you please send me some Vin. Ipecac if you have any. Send as much as you can spare, up to perhaps a couple of quarts. I do wish you had some capsules because I hate to think of taking Quinine just as a beverage.
To-day I was reading the piece that "Gentlemen prefer War." I didn't realize that you were that way inclined although I remember one or two battles of a larger or smaller degree, and then Laura would say "Let me loose."
How are your plans for A.M. coming on? Are you going to be able to get some of the committees appointed and other business which you spoke of, done up beforehand. This year will some of the important discussions, problems, topics or whatnot of the week be distributed around for the various stations to see before we go to the meeting? You realize of course that this is quite a new experience for me. I have not yet had the pleasure of attending A.M. Did Mr. McDowell consent to preaching the sermon? I hope so.
Is the enclosed egg-beater the kind you prefer?
Note #1. Those were the days when I had a good time.
Last Sat. evening when we asked Sr. Figuieredo down to play a game I made fudge after supper. He claims that "olongupa" and chocolates are his weakness. I might say the latter is mine, but not the peanuts. What is yours Avocado Pears or Mango?
While looking at the Reader Digest, Feb number I enjoyed reading The Winter Outdoors M.D. and thought of you up on the beach by Lake Erie camping alone. Now others especially New Englanders are beginning to realize the joy of Winter sports. I imagine it will seem pretty cold at home now, after no winters for five years, don't you?
I have some other letters to write before I go to sleep. Last night I wrote only about 3/4 of a page to Mary that will never do. I had the heart to write more but my eyes were too sleepy. She writes very interesting letters to me. Did any of Elizabeth's snaps turn out good at all? By the way, do you always know whom I'm writing about when I use the firstname. Miss M. never does. Very often Esther (never"Bobby" to Miss M.) or Mary slips out when I'm talking and she always asks who is Esther or etc. It was a good think the wheel on your side car didn't act funny and the rod bend the afternoon we had the ducking wasn't it? Perhaps you would have preferred standing still while it was pouring so hard.
What did you think of Mr. Child's sermon? He thinks along your lines, doesn't he? Don't tell me, you were not there. I like to hear your criticisms. You realize you are quite a critic, don't you? I think you ought to write something for June "Chimes". Here's a suggestion: write up something interesting about Chissamba Hospital and send it up to me, to criticize. You know we are very badly in need of doctors for this work and I don't want you to think even of dropping out. Bye bye. Sibyl. Excuse crowding.
1927-04-04: tour stops---images---audio---transcript---~NOTES~---links---site navigation
1.
As a carrier is going to you for books to-morrow, would you please send me some Vin. Ipecac if you have any.
Google AI tells me:
Vin. Ipecac is an abbreviation for Vinum Ipecacuanhae, or wine of ipecac, an old pharmaceutical preparation made from the dried root of the ipecac plant (Carapichea ipecacuanha) steeped in wine.
Wikipedia says:
Syrup of ipecac (/ˈɪpɪkæk/ ⓘ IP-ih-kak), or simply ipecac, is a drug that was once widely used as an expectorant (in low doses) and a rapid-acting emetic (in higher doses). It is obtained from the dried rhizome and roots of the ipecacuanha plant (Carapichea ipecacuanha), from which it derives its name. It is no longer regularly used in medicine.
In particular, the rapidly induced forceful vomiting produced by ipecac was considered for many years to be an important front-line treatment for orally ingested poisons. However, subsequent studies (including a comprehensive 2005 meta-study) revealed the stomach purging produced by ipecac to be far less effective at lowering total body poison concentrations than the adsorption effect of oral activated charcoal (which is effective through the entire gastrointestinal tract and is often coupled with whole bowel irrigation). Ipecac also presents a small risk of overdose (being a mild poison itself) and a major risk of esophagitis and aspiration pneumonia if used to purge corrosive poisons. Having long been replaced (even in the emetic role) by more effective medications, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) now advises that "Ipecac syrup is no longer recommended for routine management of outpatient ingestions of medications or other chemicals."
So: Ipecac was used to induce vomiting in patients who had consumed poison, although it is now no longer used for that, and here's Sibyl using it often enough so that she put in a special request to Fred for it. Interesting. Maybe it wasn't that she used it so very often, but she did use it occasionally so that it was needed part of a well-stocked hospital pharmacy, and she happened to be running low.
2.
To-day I was reading the piece that "Gentlemen prefer War." I didn't realize that you were that way inclined although I remember one or two battles of a larger or smaller degree, and then Laura would say "Let me loose."
I'm having trouble with this. Is the "you" a general "you men" thing? And who is Laura? Definitely not Laura Stokey, and I can't remember any other Laura whom both Sibyl and Fred would have known, especially in this context, so who?
3.
How are your plans for A.M. coming on?
A.M. is the Annual Meeting.
4.
Did Mr. McDowell consent to preaching the sermon?
There's a Non-family page for the McDowells.
5.
Is the enclosed egg-beater the kind you prefer?
No, I don't understand this.
6.
Note #1. Those were the days when I had a good time.
This is at the bottom of the page, and looks as though it should be linked to something asterisked. The bit about Laura sounds like the most likely candidate, but I can't find an asterisk, and I don't understand the bit about Laura.
7.
Last Sat. evening when we asked Sr. Figuieredo down to play a game I made fudge after supper. He claims that "olongupa" and chocolates are his weakness. I might say the latter is mine, but not the peanuts.
I've seen Sr. Figuieredo mentioned elsewhere but I can't remember anything about him. It sounds as though "olungupa" should be Portuguese for peanut, but I didn't find that.
8.
While looking at the Reader Digest, Feb number I enjoyed reading The Winter Outdoors M.D. and thought of you up on the beach by Lake Erie camping alone.
I don't recall seeing anything about a wintertime campring trip of Fred's on Lake Erie.
9.
I have some other letters to write before I go to sleep. Last night I wrote only about 3/4 of a page to Mary that will never do. I had the heart to write more but my eyes were too sleepy. She writes very interesting letters to me. Did any of Elizabeth's snaps turn out good at all? By the way, do you always know whom I'm writing about when I use the firstname. Miss M. never does. Very often Esther (never"Bobby" to Miss M.) or Mary slips out when I'm talking and she always asks who is Esther or etc. It was a good think the wheel on your side car didn't act funny and the rod bend the afternoon we had the ducking wasn't it? Perhaps you would have preferred standing still while it was pouring so hard.
What did you think of Mr. Child's sermon?
I don't understand the bit about the side car.
People mentioned here, all fellow missionaries listed in the non-family page for mission folks:
Mary must be Mary Hurlbut, in Dondi.
Elizabeth must be Elizabeth Read, in Chissamba.
Miss M. must be Miss Melville. There were two Miss Melvilles, but apparently just one whom Sibyl dealt with, and there are other indications that Sibyl didn't like Miss Melville. I think this is Helen Melville.
Esther/Bobby: Mrs. McAllester, in Sachikela. This is useful confirmation that Bobby was indeed Mrs. McAllester.
Mr. Child: I never can remember whether it's Child or Childs. Stationed in Bailundo.
10.
I think you ought to write something for June "Chimes".
Chimes was a missionary magazine. I think I've seen a copy somewhere or other.
11.
Here's a suggestion: write up something interesting about Chissamba Hospital and send it up to me, to criticize. You know we are very badly in need of doctors for this work and I don't want you to think even of dropping out.
I'm sure Sibyl would love to draw general attention to the fact that there is no doctor in Chissamba, just herself the nurse.
As a carrier is going to you for books to-morrow, would you please send me some Vin. Ipecac if you have any.
Google AI tells me:
Vin. Ipecac is an abbreviation for Vinum Ipecacuanhae, or wine of ipecac, an old pharmaceutical preparation made from the dried root of the ipecac plant (Carapichea ipecacuanha) steeped in wine.
Wikipedia says:
Syrup of ipecac (/ˈɪpɪkæk/ ⓘ IP-ih-kak), or simply ipecac, is a drug that was once widely used as an expectorant (in low doses) and a rapid-acting emetic (in higher doses). It is obtained from the dried rhizome and roots of the ipecacuanha plant (Carapichea ipecacuanha), from which it derives its name. It is no longer regularly used in medicine.
In particular, the rapidly induced forceful vomiting produced by ipecac was considered for many years to be an important front-line treatment for orally ingested poisons. However, subsequent studies (including a comprehensive 2005 meta-study) revealed the stomach purging produced by ipecac to be far less effective at lowering total body poison concentrations than the adsorption effect of oral activated charcoal (which is effective through the entire gastrointestinal tract and is often coupled with whole bowel irrigation). Ipecac also presents a small risk of overdose (being a mild poison itself) and a major risk of esophagitis and aspiration pneumonia if used to purge corrosive poisons. Having long been replaced (even in the emetic role) by more effective medications, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) now advises that "Ipecac syrup is no longer recommended for routine management of outpatient ingestions of medications or other chemicals."
So: Ipecac was used to induce vomiting in patients who had consumed poison, although it is now no longer used for that, and here's Sibyl using it often enough so that she put in a special request to Fred for it. Interesting. Maybe it wasn't that she used it so very often, but she did use it occasionally so that it was needed part of a well-stocked hospital pharmacy, and she happened to be running low.
2.
To-day I was reading the piece that "Gentlemen prefer War." I didn't realize that you were that way inclined although I remember one or two battles of a larger or smaller degree, and then Laura would say "Let me loose."
I'm having trouble with this. Is the "you" a general "you men" thing? And who is Laura? Definitely not Laura Stokey, and I can't remember any other Laura whom both Sibyl and Fred would have known, especially in this context, so who?
3.
How are your plans for A.M. coming on?
A.M. is the Annual Meeting.
4.
Did Mr. McDowell consent to preaching the sermon?
There's a Non-family page for the McDowells.
5.
Is the enclosed egg-beater the kind you prefer?
No, I don't understand this.
6.
Note #1. Those were the days when I had a good time.
This is at the bottom of the page, and looks as though it should be linked to something asterisked. The bit about Laura sounds like the most likely candidate, but I can't find an asterisk, and I don't understand the bit about Laura.
7.
Last Sat. evening when we asked Sr. Figuieredo down to play a game I made fudge after supper. He claims that "olongupa" and chocolates are his weakness. I might say the latter is mine, but not the peanuts.
I've seen Sr. Figuieredo mentioned elsewhere but I can't remember anything about him. It sounds as though "olungupa" should be Portuguese for peanut, but I didn't find that.
8.
While looking at the Reader Digest, Feb number I enjoyed reading The Winter Outdoors M.D. and thought of you up on the beach by Lake Erie camping alone.
I don't recall seeing anything about a wintertime campring trip of Fred's on Lake Erie.
9.
I have some other letters to write before I go to sleep. Last night I wrote only about 3/4 of a page to Mary that will never do. I had the heart to write more but my eyes were too sleepy. She writes very interesting letters to me. Did any of Elizabeth's snaps turn out good at all? By the way, do you always know whom I'm writing about when I use the firstname. Miss M. never does. Very often Esther (never"Bobby" to Miss M.) or Mary slips out when I'm talking and she always asks who is Esther or etc. It was a good think the wheel on your side car didn't act funny and the rod bend the afternoon we had the ducking wasn't it? Perhaps you would have preferred standing still while it was pouring so hard.
What did you think of Mr. Child's sermon?
I don't understand the bit about the side car.
People mentioned here, all fellow missionaries listed in the non-family page for mission folks:
Mary must be Mary Hurlbut, in Dondi.
Elizabeth must be Elizabeth Read, in Chissamba.
Miss M. must be Miss Melville. There were two Miss Melvilles, but apparently just one whom Sibyl dealt with, and there are other indications that Sibyl didn't like Miss Melville. I think this is Helen Melville.
Esther/Bobby: Mrs. McAllester, in Sachikela. This is useful confirmation that Bobby was indeed Mrs. McAllester.
Mr. Child: I never can remember whether it's Child or Childs. Stationed in Bailundo.
10.
I think you ought to write something for June "Chimes".
Chimes was a missionary magazine. I think I've seen a copy somewhere or other.
11.
Here's a suggestion: write up something interesting about Chissamba Hospital and send it up to me, to criticize. You know we are very badly in need of doctors for this work and I don't want you to think even of dropping out.
I'm sure Sibyl would love to draw general attention to the fact that there is no doctor in Chissamba, just herself the nurse.
1927-04-04: tour stops---images---audio---transcript---notes---~LINKS~---site navigation
DOCUMENT LISTS FOR PEOPLE:
- FRED: DOCUMENTS ----- Incoming
- SIBYL: DOCUMENTS ----- Outgoing
- NON-FAMILY: MISSION FOLKS ----- Mary Hurlbut, Elizabeth Read, Miss Melville, Mrs. McAllester, Mr. Child
- NON-FAMILY: THE McDOWELLS ----- Rev. McDowell
OTHER DOCUMENT LISTS:
OTHER RELATED DOCUMENTS/PAGES:
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