69 Autograph Letters Signed and 2 Typed Letters Signed (all 'Frank') by the civil engineer William Frank Stanton, written from Valparaiso, Chile, to his father W. L. Stanton in England, while working for the mining company S. Pearson & Son Ltd.

The 71 letters total 160pp. (18pp., 4to; 128pp., 8vo; 14pp., 12mo), and are in excellent condition, on lightly aged paper, with most accompanied by stamped envelopes, which are addressed to 'W. L. Stanton Esq | Armscote | Stratford on Avon'. The first couple of letters are on letterheads of the Hotel Tivoli, 'Ancon, Canal Zone', with the others from 1912 headed 'Casilla [i.e. postbox] 1004, Valparaiso'; and those from 1913 onwards headed 'Las Salinas [Valparaiso]'. W. F. Stanton was educated at Marlborough and University College London, graduating from the latter in 1908 with a degree in engineering. Having worked in Mexico, he came to Chile in 1912, and remained there until his retirement, when he and his wife settled in Oporto, Portugal. The letters are full of detail, and written in an intelligent and cheerful tone (WLS is addressed throughout as 'My dear Dad'). WFS discusses his work and everyday activities ('I have an English breakfast before I start and take a bread & cheese sort of lunch.'), recreations (tennis, riding, shooting), the locale, Latin American affairs, engagement to Violet Cumming (with wedding stationery 'direct from Harrods'), the news of the Great War and its effects on Chile, and the weather (5 June 1914: 'The Andes are closed! The papers talk about their being cleared again by tomorrow but its not certain. It began to rain here last Saturday -and to snow there.'); he also comments on the news from England ('I don't think that little orchard was much of an investment at £130 and I think you are just as well out of it.'). The quotations which follow will give an indication of the contents and style of the correspondence. In the second letter from Ancon (23 September 1912), WFS reports that he is about to begin his journey to Valparaiso, to take up employment with the mining company S. Pearson & Son Ltd (for details of the work see the quotations below from letters of 4 March 1913 and 22 June 1914). With the next letter (22 October 1912) he has just arrived at Valparaiso, and is 'in charge at present of the fitting up of our new office and of the buildings in our new yard at Salinas which keeps me employed though by no means overworked'. He describes his early impressions, and how he is 'getting settled down' among the expatriate community. 'I'm still at the Royal Hotel [...] I have decided to go as a boarder to some people called Edmundson, recommended by the Prices there is one other fellow of the name of Thorneycroft living there who seems quite a decent fellow.' His introductions have seen him 'fairly launched in the best Valparaiso society. Last night I dined with Williamson the head of Williamson Balfour & Co. on Saturday I dined with the Prices. Mrs Price is a charming little person and he is a very good sort. [...] On Saturday I played tennis at the club in the morning and lunched with the Iglehart's. He is the head of W. R. Grace & Co. on the coast. I went to the "Cancha" in the afternoon to watch the final for the polo cup which he presents every year and also some races which were going on at the same time. The Cancha is the Race course and sports ground which is situated in Vina del Mar. It is really quite pretty. The Igleharts house is at Chorrillos just beyond Vina up the valley, it stands up from the road and has a lovely garden, though the house itself is not architecturally beautiful - none of the houses in Valparaiso's neighbourhood are, they are mostly decorated with very ornate stucco.' On 17 December 1912 he notes that 'a tremendous amount of gambling goes on here on the stock exchange. When I first arrived there was a tremendous boom on. Last week the slump came very suddenly and several Brokers were "busted". The racket will recover of course after a bit'. On 18 February 1913 he reports that the 'Our papers here are full of the Mexican Revolution - it now takes precidence [sic] of the Balkan War. they seem to have been making a mess of poor old Mexico City if all they say is true. Felix Diaz is about the strongest man there is in the country at present and perhaps if he gets hold he may be able to hold things down.' In the next letter a week later he reports that he has 'just received news of Felix Diaz victory in Mexico and the shooting of Madero - Rough on the latter but I think Diaz is on the right track [...] They are not to be judged by 20th. century European standards'. In the same letter he gives his impressions of Limache, and describes 'a pretty big expedition' to 'the summit of the Cordillera'. On 4 March 1913 he describes going shooting with 'two of the Cumming boys' (his future in-laws). On 4 March 1913 he reports that the presence of his employer 'Mr Pearson' [probably Weetman Dickinson Pearson (1856-1927), later 1st Viscount Cowdray], who is 'satisfied with things to date. He has been out here twice but has not yet been up in the quarry - where he will probably have a shock to see the amount of dirt we are having to remove to get at the rock. Salinas is just 1 ½ miles beyond Vina along the coast North opposite side of the bay to Valpo. and the quarry is 200 yds from the sea shore'. A year later, on 31 March 1914, he announces that 'Edward Pearson was out here on Monday and told me he was going to give me a bonus of £75 which is encouraging - with the exception of Walsh himself and Hicks the Marine superintendent Ive had a harder time than anyone getting things going and was feeling a little disappointed owing to the poor results obtainable owing to the Quarry not turning out as good as was expected.' On 16 June 1914 he is pleased to report 'no difficulties about my election' to the Institute of Civil Engineers. On 22 June 1914: 'Saturday had been fixed for the visit of the State geologist Prof. Maier from Santiago and in the afternoon of the new Lord Lieutenant of the Department of Valparaiso. Both turned up. I had just come in and changed, had my breakfast and settled down in the office to do some work when the Geologist arrived and I had to go out with him and spend an hour and a half climbing round the quarry face'; this is followed by 'a discussion on the question of the stone and its suitability or the reverse for making concrete. The Geologist was very non-committal and the opposite factions nearly came to blows. Finally we filled them up with champagne and sent them home.' A letter of 3 August 1914 begins: 'Tonight we are still in ignorance as to whether England is at war or not; but from the accounts it seems inevitable and therefore probably the sooner the better. It really looks as if Germany meant committing suicide.' As a result of the 'many conflicting telegrams [...] the value of the Chile paper dollar has fallen and there are practically no transactions in exchange - all credit is stopped and prices have begun to go up'. In his next letter (11 August 1914) he states that 'The war has had the result of stopping all the Chilean nitrate exports and a lot of men have been thrown out of work on the nitrate fields.' (Subsequent letters describe how badly hit Chile is by 'the almost complete paralyzation [sic] of the export trade in Nitrate of Soda from which she derived half her income'.) On 31 August 1914 he explains that 'The mail has been delayed owing to reports of a German cruiser somewhere off the coast. She turned out to be an armed merchantman and had to come in here and disarm owing to finishing all her coal. The news we get is very scrappy and incomplete but we fear the English troops have had a reverse and lost ground'. On 2 November 1914 he announces his engagement to Violet Cumming: 'I very much hope you will approve. I have often spoken of the Cummings in my letters. Her Father came out here when he was about twenty to make his fortune. This he has done I believe once or twice, but money was spent as easily as muck out here in those days and they're in about the same bout as we are nowadays.' On 9 December 1914: 'We have just heard the splendid news that our ships have sunk the Scharnhorst Greisenau & Nurenberg the three ships which came into Valparaiso and which sank the Goodhope & Monmouth. All our boats have been stuck in port here for the past three or four weeks and now are on the move once more.' And on Christmas Day 1914: 'We have had the cruiser Newcastle and the battle cruiser Australia in here during the week. There must be a devil of a lot of them around and I expect they will soon put paid to the account of the Dresden.' On 10 May 1915 he states that he has '200 to 300 £ to be invested when a suitable opportunity arises. I should think it would be good to buy when it becomes evident what things are not going to be permanently affected by the war.' The last letter (2 June 1915) ends on a good note: 'I have got the rise that Mr. Walsh promised me and they have made it retrospective to March so that is satisfactory. I now get £500 a year.' Also included are two telegrams and an undated (Christmas 1912?) Autograph Letter Signed from WFS to WLS, on letterhead of the Veracruz Terminal Company, Limited, with four Autograph Letters Signed from WFS's sister 'Mollie' to their father WLS (all circa 1914) and three receipts.