Edward J. Thomas - World War II
Below letter is copied from Eddie's letter word for word.
Aleutians
March 19, 1944
Dear Mom & Harry:
Sunday--another day off. I could have crawled out of bed early, but
there is about as much reason to do that here as there is in carrying a cube
of ice to the North Pole; so I stayed in bed until about 11:30 AM and read.
February's issue of the American Fur Breeder and your parcel post
package was handed to me while I was in bed. To have mail delivered to
my bed is one luxury I never enjoyed in the Army back in the States. It's
even unusual here except for the hut in which the Post Office boys live
and I happen to be in that hut. Another luxury that has been added to my
living conditions here is roomier quarters. Some bunks were removed from
the hut and the remainder changed to single beds. As a result I now
have a bed all to myself and also have more floor space around it.
In glancing through the American Fur Breeder. I noted the following
interesting bits of information:
What I didn't know before was that the platinum fox is not a true
breeder like the platinum mink. It is quite strange that for some reason
platinum fox when mated together produce litters of only two or one instead
of four. Probably the mysterious reason for this is the same as for the
unprolificacy of our female mink platinums. Another strange thing I learned
was that in some cases the mating of two platinum fox produces a pure white
which almost always is born dead or does not live beyond four weeks. We may come
up against such baffling occurrences when crossing some of our future mink
mutations.
I noticed a photograph of Marian Martin posing with a silver sable
coat. Nothing was said about the value of it. It would be interesting
to know at least the estimated value. I'd be able to get same idea as
to what prices could be obtained for silver sable pelts.
Another interesting item was the fact that convulsions and hair loss in
mink can be caused by ear mites in dirty ear stumps.
In Utah the Fur Association has resolved to sell breeding stock at pelt
value to ex-service men who want to make another start in the fur business.
The resolution doesn't seem to mean very much with pelt prices so high.
If a soldier wanted to rebuild his fur bus1ness he would have to pay about
$35 for mink. This was the normal price for breeders during pre-war times
and probably as much as the ex-soldier did pay for most of his mink to get his
first start.
I read in one of the Alaskan magazines which is published at Ketchikan, Als.,
that the Aleutians were very good grounds for fox trappers. I have heard
that there are droves of fox on this island, but I never did see any wild
ones until a week or so ago when one ventured quite close to my hut.
Evidently it was a very bold red fox because it dared to go quite deep
into Army occupied territory. At the appearance of soldiers, it retreated
over mounds of dirt, stopped once or twice to cast furtive and curious
glances behind and then disappeared. I did see some red fox on this island
before this, but they were small captured pups which were being raised in
a small kennel just a little ways from where I live. By now they should be
well grown up and too big for the place they were living in. I haven't
found out what disposition was made of them. I guess they were just turned
loose. Probably the one I saw recently was one of those pups.
Before writing this letter I tried to answer Izzy & Mac and Gertie & Gene,
but since I saw there wauld be no time for the present I decided to write
just one to you. Just as soon as matters get a little more settled, I won't
forget to write to them.
Thanks for all those precious articles you sent me.
With love Eddie
P.S. I'm enclosing another copy of the "Last Outpost". It tells about the
first boxing matches held here. I attended the fights to see what the big
new gym looked like and what type of boxers participated. I don't believe
I need to tell anything more about it as it is fully covered in the enclosed
newspaper.
