(continued)
I don't know much about the style here. Men usually wear a long coat and the women's skirt shows almost the knee. The American women act just as funny as the Germans in this point. Is the skirt a little bit too short, they gossip about it. I heard a good joke about it not long ago at a little party. Someone's skirt was a little short and the others said she cut it twice and still it is too short. They don't mind the material and color so much, that does not count too much.
In wintertime the farmers mostly wear a coat made out of a blanket. All colors, red, blue, green, it does not matter. The wintercloth has to be just as warm as the one in Germany. You might laugh about thinking about the Breitengrad of the Sahara; however, one norther here will teach you a lesson. Summer wear could be lighter than the one in Germany.
Tablecloths, bedsheets, napkins( I have not seen any so far), you might as well bring along. They do not have any featherbeds around here. The covers are filled with cotton and stuffed.
Two kinds of shirts we have here. Wool ones for wintertime and cotton shirt for summertime. The latter are styled the English way. Inlaid Vorheust and french cuffs. Better ones are made of pure linen. I bought some in Houston for one and one half dollars each. Workshirts are made of heavy material, mostly striped in blue or red. It is said linen shirts are not too good for your health here. When soaked by perspiration, they cool too much.
I had to buy some clothes too, here; to be in style. A pair of pants, a long coat and a black felt hat. I paid $4 for the trousers, $6 1/2 for the long coat, and $3 for the hat. They don't wear any caps around here. Shoes and boots are high in price. I advise you to wear the same as over there. In summertime, they wear big hats like the one they wear in Helgoland. Of course every woman has to have a riding dress. Made out of silk and I think you ought to buy some silk, too, and have it tailored here a la New Orleans style. I want to show off with you too.
Don't forget to bring along all the blankets, get the big ones so you can wrap yourself in it. The blankets here are of lighter material and higher in price. At least have two for each person. Talking about rifles, take only the good one, but watch out they don't need a too heavy load. Turkeys, geese, and ducks are shot to pieces otherwise. You pay 10 cts./lb. for lead here. The American shotgun is longer, lighter in weight, and of a smaller caliber. The price is between $15 and $20. Our knife and dagger leave at home. The Bowie knife is better and more practical.
The Prussian Thaler (money) which has been in exchange for 75 cents at the time of our arrival dropped down to 69 cents and it is said it will be 65 cents pretty soon. So the best thing to do, exchange your money in French 5 Franc pieces. You get 95 cents for it over here.
The best time to sail is the summer - in August. You don't have to fear the Acquinoctial storms in the German Sea and the English Channel, and you'll be here in time when the Gulf of Mexico is not rough at all. It is also the best time to start here grain and maise is cheap then and you can stock it for the winter.
The time of year is also most suitable. Roads are in fair condition while in the raining season and afterwards up to fall, the roads are hardly passable. The main roads are worse than our little farm roads abroad. You don't find any bridges here. Big rivers have a ferry. The small ones are mostly fried up in summer. However, after a heavy rain they often carry so much water that you hardly can cross them. Some less important roads like Houston-Liberty are no roads at all - it is just the saying "take the road to Liberty." You travel through brush and prairie by some directions until you hit the place, that's all. Last summer I went to a farm six miles from Houston. I arrived there the next morning beaten up by mosquitos.
Coming back to your sailing, I advise you to take cabin class for the ladies. The men can sail underdeck. Small rooms with a bed six feet wide occupied by four men (and women among them) two feet away from the ceiling gives you an idea of the trip. Insects of all kinds you will find, too, especially in the last weeks of your crossing.
However, before you take an immigrant boat look out for others. They are just as cheap and often less expensive and have better quarters. Don't take a "Verein Ship" and do not join them. You will get land without their aid. Take a good captain if you can, get an American or any other nation. He will treat you as an American right away. The passage will cost money, around 35 Thaler in gold underdeck, 40-45 Thaler in gold 2nd class and between 60-80 Thaler in gold for cabin class. Take plenty bottles of soda water along. The drinking water on the boat is terrible. In the last three weeks you can smell it fifteen feet away from you. Don't forget apples, lemons, vinegar, ham and smoked sausage, Madeira, and Malaga wine, sugar, tea as well as tin plates and mattress. You can buy everything cheap in Bremen. Lately, a mail boat is running once a month between New Orleans and Bremen. However, I do not know about the charge. The meals in cabin class are fair. In 2nd class and under deck are terrible. But this depends mostly on the captain in charge. Provide yourself sufficiently with cigars in Bremen.
In Galveston rent a room like we did. We paid $7 a month for an unfurnished, to the rental people. Our own mattresses spread out on the floor. We did our own cooking outside. You can buy everything on the market, meat, greens, butter, eggs, etc. Beisner in Hotel Washington might know where I am, otherwise write to Cordoba in Houston. The trip from Galveston to Houston will cost you $3, but you can ride the credit car, too, if you want to.
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When you marry, your family tree can become a forest.
