January–April 1954

Continued from scan 100

… As far as items other than books are concerned, I suggest that you extract from Pro's files the complete mimeographed list of furniture and equipment which was supplied him by Mr. Ewing, and also the special 2 page list of same which we are acquiring by purchase. I should be glad if you would study these and let me know what you feel I should bring home or set aside for Gordion, or buy or barter, whichever seems suitable, with your approval. Any further remainder, if transportable, can be sent to America for sale, the untransportable to be disposed of locally, if possible.

Six thousand miles separate us, I know, and it undoubtedly is sometimes wiser to plunge ahead and do something rather than wait for replies to letters. But in matters where the time element isn't so important, let us symphonize, if we can, prior.

With reference to payments, either as holding deposits or anything else, for Dick's passages, I have as yet no strictly pound assets of any kind. I consulted Sir Panyotis yesterday evening just to be sure before turning over to us George's personal account. From Mr. Ewing about writing. He has received no word Possibly Mr. Ewing is waiting to get the approval of the various executors, but nothing has come thru to Sir Panyotis, at any rate; The buyer we had lined up for our first stock changed his mind: We are now going to offer the stock at auction with a fixed minimum price. The price Sir Panyotis felt we should get, £2965-0-0. The stock-holders meeting will be held on the 12th was the dividend will then be announced and paid, bringing in to us and the £250-0-0 so we will then offer the stock at auction without the ca. £250-0-0 giving as our minimum price our first a skin price less, in approximately the amount of the dividend, that is ca. £2700-0 in advance, Sir P. says we should announce the auction about 15 days in advance, and that we should wait to do so until after the stock-holders meeting, understandably enough. So we probably won't hold the auction until about April 1, I should think.

If we have to pay a holding deposit of $800-0. I presume I can, in an emergency, borrow the pounds from the bank here and pay the agency in Nicosia. In the meantime, please poke up Mr. Ewing and see if he can get ahead with authorizing Sir Panyotis to turn over the personal bank account of GHMcF here. I can do nothing about speeding up the here. Likewise, as you see, I can do nothing loose out, if we gave the impression sale of the stocks. We would only lose out, if we were forced to sell.

As to G, Sir Panyotis tells me that it is strictly against the law, involving a heavy penalty, for him to permit the payment for our purchase to be made in America, and the only alternative, as he sees it, is for the payment somehow to be arranged to be made here. So I suspect that Mr. Ewing will have to come to some agreement which would entail our paying over pounds here for it in the long run. Sir P. and perhaps I with him, is planning to see if we could Control offer soon about the matter. It looks now, as if we would leave us count of some kind of exchange with the Estate which would a $3,600. credit in dollars, at any rate.