Sullivan letter diary, 27 October 1915-9 October 1917 / Eugene Sullivan - Page 264
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[Page 264]
Saturday, 1st June 1917.
My dear Parents/.
News of the kind permitted by the Censor is very scarce at present, and I scarcely know what to write about.
We have been moving about a good deal lately and time flies by when one is constantly packing and unpacking. We are not in the trenches at present but still in the same locality as when you guessed my whereabouts. You surprised me by the news, which I suppose you obtained from letters of some of our battalion which were published in the local paper. In my last letter I acknowledged receipt of "The Lady Next Door" but when I opened the book which came by the same post as your letter, it turned out to be "Life" Magazine. My disappointment was not very great, however, as I prefer "Life" to any other magazine and found plenty in it to interest me.
Yesterday I met a boy named Jacobs, who said he was from Lismore and came from on the hill at the back of our place. I can't recall him, although he seemed to think mother would know him. I daresay he was some tradesman who has displayed his wares at the back door - probably a one time milkman. Occasionally I meet others from the home town who consider fellowcitizenship is sufficient ground on which to claim instant friendship. One of these is in our battalion. After smiling at him affably and exchanging views on different home topics, I took the trouble to enquire from another party from Lismore district, who my newfound fellowcitizen might be, and what his occupation was. "Oh!" he said, in evident surprise, "don't you know him?" "He was the Council's rat-catcher, Bill? Bloom".