Box 1

Dear Marion, this afternoon will write you a few lines am very sorry that Mr. L is so stubborn now that Papa is willing to give him a chance....

Dear Son...Times are prety [sic] dull here...It seems that so many labors [sic] flock to Bakersfield every winter where work is scarce and they mooch on the streets and hide out in the jungles and sometimes stick some one up if they think he has something on him and sometimes they get pinched and sometimes they get away....

My Dear Son...Well I am feeling about as well as could be expected. I cought [sic] considerable and my chest still hurts a little from so much coughing. I coughed all the way out last eve from town. We have had from 60 to 70 hrs. of constant wind out here and the air has been full of sand and dust day and night....

Dear Son...The winter here has been prety [sic] mild...as for snow I can se it any time I look towards the mountains but never see any in the valey [sic]...The saloon men and some of the merchants are doing a mashing bussiness [sic] it seems but there is nothing stirring in the [Hem] river oil field yet and the Standard have not started in on their spring work yet....

Dear Son...everything seems to be picking up so slowly that it is hard to find anything to work at. The Associate Oil Co. is starting up again but there are a half dozen men about for every job...well the cruel war still goes on in Europe as well as at or near home. I hope neither one will last long and that some way may be found to put a stop to these cruel wars and a reign universal peace may be ushered in all over the world....

Dear Son...There are quite a lot of idle men in and around Bakersfield that have no work and some that don't want work--thugs, toughs and gamblers that are always looking for easy picking. The whole country is full of them....Well Marion I have given your letter considerable thought in regard to making a reduction in rental on those gas wells and it seems to me that before we make any rash promises to Mr. L. we should inquire what is his object....

Dear Son...Thot [sic] I would write on an Oiler report sheet so you could see what it looks like...I am on the evening [tour] from 11.30 noon to 11.30 midnights. The Co. have boiler chippers who chip the scale out of the dead boilers. They do one every fourth day for me then I put it on land take one off have five boilers keep four on all the time...

My Dear Son...Well Marion I am glad you took the position you did in the strike trouble and Peter also as you state in your letter Unions are all right if properly conducted otherwise I think they are not...

Gravesite and brief genealogical information retrieved from websites and provided by the bookseller for Benjamin Franklin Sheffer, Francis Marion Sheffer, and George Mansfield Sheffer.