| Summary: | Digitized microfilm of correspondence and papers from the Andrew Dickson White collection. White and his family spent the winter in Florence and other Italian cities most favored by tourists. The correspondence records the social life enjoyed by the international set of the time. White wrote his son about an efficient incandescent gas light in Florence, and Professor Evans wrote on December 6 of a planetarium at the Bavarian observatory. Frederick D. White wrote regularly about the business investments of the family, especially of the cement company in Sandusky managed by White's son-in-law. There are comments on the conduct of the New York Central railroad and on the hazards of bicycling, which had become a craze in the United States. There are a number of letters from White's former associates at St. Petersburg, including a report on March 1 of a Russian build-up of forces in Siberia, This country . . . intends to react with a strong hand should even half an occasion arise. A May 8 letter complained of the meagre funds supplied U. S. military representatives. An officer was detailed to return to the States by way of Stockholm and to perform certain duties there, but was allowed no mileage for the journey. He had earlier paid his own expenses on an official expedition to Alaska. Other letters concern university and family matters. On February 20 White wrote to Oscar S. Straus to urge that great care be taken to protect the life of the President from fanatics.
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