German East Africa
September 3rd 1917.

Dear Mary:

You may be surprised at me addressing a letter to you but it is hardly fair for you to write me each week and me to write only a general family letter. Although I have no news to tell you or anything in that line (as I wrote Mother yesterday) I will fill up a page somehow or other.

No doubt by now you are going to Normal although the letters received yesterday spoke of getting ready for exams. There is no need of my saying I hope you have passed as I could not hope any different.

You seem to have a lot about “Kay” as you call her in your letters. Although I remember of her at Crescent I cannot remember her features at all. At any rate give her my love and tell her to send me a snap to brighten my memory. The one I rec’d yesterday of you and A. Mercer was good and as per usual all the boys had something to say about how you and I resembled each other etc.

How is Fat and Obbie anyway. I suppose Fat is nearly big enough to give me a beating up when I come home especially if he has a new suit, he will be some boy now, eh?

I got the papers all right with all the carnival news in them. I think you folks at home do some celebrating even in war time. Well we do here as well when fifteen or twenty Canadians get together in fact the English fellows always leave right away when a bunch of us get going.

I see you are worrying about my health and I know right well Mother is also but why you do is more than I can understand. Did you ever have La Grippe Sis? Well this fever down here called Malaria is just exactly like it. First a person gets the shivers and cant get warm. You then get into bed with about “steen” blankets over you and have a good big sweat after which stay in bed long enough not to get another cold on top of it. Sometimes we have to stay in bed a week but usually one or two days clear it up. Of course as you no doubt know we have to take quinine every day now to kill the germs of this fever. These germs originate from a certain mosquito bite but after it is once in your system it comes on in different ways. For instance working all day in the sun or taking a cold bath is likely to bring it on me now. The boys who have been here as long as we have, have very thin blood and cannot stand any cold weather at all. Imagine a nice night same as we get in summer at home and we have to use three heavy blankets over us. Of course we dont use white sheets except when we are in hospital.

Well Mary I guess you will be tired of all this dope so I had better ring off for awhile. Thank Roberta for her nice long letter, I was going to write her today but wont have time now. Give my love to all relatives and friends any that dont want love Give them my regards or best wishes. Well Bye Bye Sis for this [arrow sketched here pointing to previous word] (my pen went dry here) time with lots of love

Your loving brother
Harold.