Correspondence from R.W.M. to Deborah Hogg

November 11 1932

I am in receipt of yours of the 8th inst. for which I thank you. It is extremely kind of you to take so much trouble for a total stranger. In the first instance my age is 46, and as I explained to Mr. Crowley, I have never felt really well and fit for the last 26 years. Sometimes of course I feel better than others, for instance when I am on holiday, but my main trouble appears to be lack of the necessary energy to carry out the very ordinary routine of my everyday work. I might say that my own opinion of my case is that my work requires a great amount of close application, with the resulting wear of nervous energy. If one took say the amount of energy required for a chartered accountant, we should have to multiply that amount by about 60 to get some idea of the wear on a civil engineer, and unfortunately in my twenties I made the mistake of changing my vocation, and by the time I had acquired the necessary knowledge to practice, I was too old for my system to stand anything like the above strain.

At the present I must be content to shelter on this little backwater in a very humble and inferior position, because if I undertook to do work of any magnitude, such as my qualifications justify, I am afraid I would be a hopeless wreck in less than a month. I write this, because I have tried many times with the same result, and on the last occasion, I lost practically all the capital I possessed and was very very glad to slip quietly out of it all to this little shelter.

My finances at the moment are very low in consequence, but I am hoping that in the New Year I shall be in a much better position, as I (in conjunction with two other gentlemen) have a rather good building scheme, from which I have great expectations. Our plans are already before "the council" for approval. With the funds from the above I had hoped to be able to get myself really well, when I could take my proper place in the scheme of things, and when all things might be possible.

I hope I have not bored you too much with the foregoing.

Regarding my coming to London, as far as I can see at the moment, there is no thing to prevent me from coming on Saturday the 19th inst. or the 26th. I should leave Manchester by the 12.20 train arriving at St. Pancras about 4.17 p.m.

Again thanking you, I remain yours faithfully.

[380] [14. 'Additional Cases', 2. with notes and corrections by G.J. Yorke]