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San Francisco, March 29th, 1899
Mrs. Jane L. Stanford
San Francisco, Cal.
Dear Madam:

I hope you will pardon me
venturesomeness in addressing you in regard to private
afairs, but as the matter is of great importance
to me I write, after having failed to see you
personally.

To come briefly to the point, I
was last spring appointed Assistant in Mathematics
by Dr. Jordan. I came to the position hampered
by some debts incurred in my college course just
ended. A friend in the East who had helped me
promised further assistance when needed. Relying on
this I ventured to lift some of my old obligations
by new ones in Palo Alto, expecting to meet them
at the proper time by the assistance of the friend
before mentioned.

When the time came, however, it developed