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Worms & C°
Branch houses in Egypt: Suez, Alexandria & Cairo

Port Said (Egypt)
28th December 1915
Messieurs Worms & Cie - Paris

Private
Dear Sirs,
We have now the pleasure to acknowledge receipt of your two private letters, one dated 14th, re Staff, and the other dated 17th December. Staff.- We are very grateful to you for all your advices on this subject, and we are sure the staff also will have reason to be very grateful when they are made aware on 1st January, as usual, of your striking generosity towards them, which we think will quite exceed their expectations. As regards those of the employes who have been with the colours, our first thought had been that as you were giving them half pay and they not rendering any actual service to the Firm - at least directly - it would not occur to you to reserve any tonus for them. Still you evidently are of opinion that these should not be overlooked especially such as have dependants, and we will gladly act accordingly. We have not had time or opportunity to go into figures in detail yet, since M. Roussel has been laid up in bed for the past week with a rather bad attack of lumbago. However, we are glad to say he has been improving rapidly the last two days and the Doctor says he may safely return to work tomorrow. We would conclude this paragraph by saying that we are delighted that circumstances have permitted of our snowing something of a record and are very pleased at your congratulations for which we thank you heartily.
Suez canal C°. Frankly, the new arrangement is a blow to us. We had hoped for better terms, yet when we come to consider it we realise that it was merely the wish being father to the thought. Ichabod henceforth as far as exchange is concerned. it is merely now a matter of humdrum but not negligible loss. Immediately we have got our mail away, we will compare notes with the Suez Canal Company here, to make sure everything is understood between us as regards the new modus operandi, which we thank you for explaining to us so carefully.
MM. A. Holt & C°. We take note of the special treatment you are offering MM. Holt's, and now await your promised telegram on the subject, to reach us about the end of the year.
We are very glad to see that MM. Holt's are agreeable, circumstances precluding the possibility of a fixed contract price for coal, to continue taking their supplies of bunkers from us after the end of the year under the existing "modus vivendi".
We are, dear Sirs,
Yours faithfully,

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