Trin Coll. <1>
Wednesday Jan. 30.
My dear Father,
I shall go to the station here today, and see if my bag has arrived. Are you sure that it was at York that the mistake occurred, and did you mention that the bag had no direction on it, simply a label with Your name and passenger? Reuben <2> told me that he had seen it put into the van at York. A friend of mine who I has just come into some rooms on the other side of the hostel, have admiring my green paper ordered his rooms to be papered with the same, but on sending a bit of this paper to a certain Dr Taylor to be analysed, he got a report from which I make an extract.
“This paper is very strongly arsenical, and is not fitted for use in any room. The poisonous pigment is so loosely laid on that it comes off with very slight friction.”
Upon this he had his room, which had unluckily been papered already, papered with another colour, and as I do not like to know that my paper is highly Arsenical, I am afraid I must do the same. It will cost about a pound I believe. The college put in a the present paper, as being a fixture but of course we I should have to pay for the second. I had had nothing to do with the choosing of the paper. R Write and tell me what you think, or if I do not hear from you, I will put have a new paper put up.
Your affect Son
Charles. T.
Notes:
1. Trinity College, Cambridge.
2. Reuben Bennett (b. 1841), Lacock Abbey footman.