Elleda Wilson: 'Dear Augusta'

Elleda Wilson, The Daily Astorian, Ore.
·1 min read
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Nov. 17—Another RMS Titanic item is up for auction on Saturday at Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd. Auctioneers & Valuers in England: A postcard dated April 9, 1912, sent by Danish second-class passenger Jacob Milling to his wife, Augusta, from Southampton, England, before boarding the ill-fated ship.

"Dear Augusta!" the postcard says. "This is the last thing you will hear from me from this side of the Atlantic. I may send a wireless if it is not too expensive. I am staying at Banen's Hotel, it's not cheap but comfortable. From my window, I can see the ship in the dock. How are the old folks? Send them and the children my greetings. Many greetings to all of you. From Jacob."

He did send a telegram from aboard the ship, but it didn't reach Augusta until a few hours after he died in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. If you recall, John Jacob Astor's great-grandson, John Jacob Astor IV, also perished in the disaster.

The postcard is expected to fetch between $4,671 and $8,176. As the auction house says, it's "a superb piece on numerous levels." (Photos: Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd.)