Letter of December 2nd 1916 from Thomas Percival Elder to his sister in law Flossie Winnifred Elder of Ottawa Ontario. Transcription: Dear Flossie, I wrote you or Bert - it is the same thing I trust - while I was in the hospital in Rouen. I have quite recovered thank you and have enjoyed any rest immensely. Influenza is better a rest than a shot in the neck anyway. I leave here tomorrow night for the front but not the same part of the front thank heaven. We were more comfortable and better fed up there while not in the trenches than we are here. Flossie if you want to get the finest sensation in the world, just get real dirty and lousy and stay that way for a couple of weeks or more ^ and sleep in your clothes every night and then get a ice hot bath in a real bath tub and get into a real white, man's night shirt and get between clean sheets on a mattress and spring bed. To get the real good out of it stay in bed for several days and have your meals brought to you. I have never in my young life ran across anything so fine. It is far better than a shot in the neck any old time. Did I tell you we had a real character from Ottawa in the person of an ex hack driver by the name of Shorty Cummings. He used to be a friend of Mrs Champagne or something like that. If you don't know her personally you may have heard of her as I understand she is one of Ottawa's noted people. One of the boys told him he was tough and shorty said, 'Yes I am so ---- tough that every time I spit it bounces!' On being asked what was the funniest thing that ever happened to me was when I got 18 months and didn't expect it. Another time his wife had him sent to gaol for a month for snuffing coke to cure him. It worked. He kept us laughing one night for an hour till I was almost sick. There is however another side to his character. One night he heard his brother-in-law was coming out of the trenches and though he had been working all day and sick with the cold and grippe he walked 3 miles along a very muddy and slimy road after 8 P.M., waited a couple of hours in the cold and then came back about 2a.m. He said he was going to pack his brother-in-law's rifle and equipment as he might be tired coming out but he didn't come. You eventually get some surprises in human nature out here. Shorty is tough, generous to a fault and does not know what fear is. He was out once pushing Fritzes on no mans land In full view of the enemy and they were sniping at him with whiz bangs. He came in when he finished and after being told what a fool he was said that he would only snuff out once. Wait till I get back and you will hear some yarns that will stop your growth. I must quit now. Wishing you both a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I am Yours lovingly, Percy.