Item 02: Arthur Henson Smith letters, 8 January 1917-19 August 1919 - Page 127
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[Page 127]
if you were acquainted with your London you would understand that I meant propelling a flat-bottomed boat on the Thames at Maidenhead with the aid of a long pole which usually places beginners in a most invidious position by adhering resolutely to the mud at the bottom of the river. The flat-bottomed boat usually contains a cheery little fairy, supported by numerous pillows, in the bow, and just when the "punter" feels he is looking his best this ungenerous long pole refuses to disengage it's business end from the mud with sufficient dispatch thereby producing a wonderfully combined gymnastic, contortionist & calisthenics effect not wholly graceful but none the less brilliant and clever, which time the cargo up in the bow loses much of her former admiration for the unfortunate punter. If she be not well brought up she will giggle and so add to the discomfort & misery of the already bad tempered