I have just finished reading the August edition of your excellent site. The article on knickers raised some questions I may be able to answer.

Firstly, as regards Walker Reid directoires I last obtained my pairs from Woods of Morecombe. Like Sarah Fraser I would never be out of my bloomers or directoires (and much to my husbands chagrin he is never out of them either).

Even though the Woods web site does not show these wonderful garments you could always ring and find out if they have them in stock at their store.  Whenever I have rung they have been most helpful. I have also purchased the Vedonis directoire from Woods. This is a fabulous garment in white cotton.  Again you may have to contact them. Their service is first class, and I have even had garments shipped overseas with no fuss. If these are not available at Woods they are available under the 'briefs' classification at Whitfords.

Whilst we are on the subject of where to get these type of garments I have also had occasion over the years to get waterproof directoire type bloomers for my husband to go over his nappies when punishing him, and at times with no nappies at all. To find these was quite difficult but I can now tell you of two reliable suppliers:

The first is Lifestyles Emporium in California, which has a web site. Peggy Lu Fay is the owner of this fantastic shop and, as a former nurse, is aware of the needs of people such as my husband. When I called the girl who answered was very helpful and we discussed nappies and bloomers for some time. At her suggestion I ordered the Kin rubber bloomers and Kin nylon bloomers. These arrived in a couple of days. The bloomers are very generous in size and reach to my husband's knees. When he wears the rubber bloomers (which are quite heavy but have a wide elastic waist) over his normal pants they make that tell tale noise that brings knowing looks from my friends. The same can be said about the nylon pants. Both are capable of keeping the wettest boy dry when put over a double cloth nappy. Of course the rubber bloomers offer the most resistance with spanking so if I am planning this is I put him in the nylon bloomers. These are also a little easier to pull down as they are not as heavy. They also have vinyl bloomers which, like the others, are knee length.

The other location is AC Medical under members.home.net/acms. This company is devoted to those with medical issues but will provide garments of the type mentioned above and I have had many orders filled. They don't want to be known as a fashion shop. Apart from a great range of vinyl, rubber and plastic pants and directoire bloomers, they have a huge range of items including rubber bed sheets.

A quick question before I sign off. I am taking my husband to Scotland in May next year. I wanted to get him into a kilt. What would you or your readers recommend in terms of kilt length? This would vary according to his behaviour at the time of wearing I suppose, but are kilts adjustable for length? He would, as he always, be in directoire length knickers or rubbers. If he is naughty I would only be too happy for his knickers or rubbers to show a little as a humiliating punishment. Maybe even some well-spanked leg. What are your, and the readers', recommendations?
Thanks again for the wonderful site,
Regards,
Thelma

Please note that my assured recommendations are on the Links page. I trust that the sites recommended  by Thelma are good - I had heard that Lifestyles Emporium were very unreliable, but perhaps they have mended their ways. I am sure that Woods and AC Medical would be reliable. I have never heard of a kilt that was adjustable for length, and I would recommend one of the 'football' kilts mentioned on the Links page. 

Dear Susan,

I am a forty-five year old woman who stumbled across your site a few weeks ago and at first I thought most of the things mentioned there were just fantasies of some of your readers. How wrong I was!!  I have been married to a man who was extremely difficult to handle and was nasty to me verbally at times.  As far-fetched as it sounded I decided to try something on him to help him understand how hard I worked around the house, and how much time it took to keep things in order. He was always making little comments like, 'What have you been doing all day, watching TV?' I challenged him to spend two days in my shoes to see what it was like.

I remembered your site and I decided to try something that I knew probably wouldn't work, but was worth a try. I told him I wanted him to wear a dress just to make it seem more realistic. Supprise!, He actually agreed to it and I stopped by a second hand clothing store and got him a pretty pink dress that fitted his small frame perfectly. When he put it on his whole demeanor changed, and I detected a softness that I had never seen before.  I was really enthused, and I decided to push my luck and after several weeks of going very slow I now have him in nylon panties! He sleeps in nighties now, and is a changed man.

I knew he had changed too easily, and he finally confessed to me that he once dressed in his mother's clothes many time when he was young.  He wears panties all the time now, even to work under his clothes. He comes home and dresses in one of the many female outfits that I have bought him. He has a blonde wig and I do his make-up. I have ordered some very expensive and very large breast inserts that should arrive soon.  What amazes me most is the change in his attitude. No woman could wish for a sweeter 'wife'.
All the best,
Tess

You are a very good example for my other female readers, and of course you have discovered that petticoat discipline is most effective and salutory when the 'victim' enjoys it - then you can guarantee that you will have the most caring and attentive 'wife' in the world. Keep going, and try a nice lacy girdle and some full petticoats.
 

Dear Susan,

This morning, after I finished ironing my wife’s clothes, I sat wearing my orange, nylon-lined dress and perused petticoated.com at length.  As I looked at Volume 6 from last year I returned to one of my favorite sites, that of Mary Beth Sanford.  One of the things I like best about her site is that there are so many 'real' pictures of boys dressed like little girls.  While I was viewing them I suddenly realized just how important it is to get as many of these pictures on the web, where they are so easily accessible to everyone, especially mothers, girlfriends, and wives.   So many are unaware of just how effective petticoating is in the upbringing and training of males.  If they could just see how tame, gentle and well-behaved boys are when dressed as little girls, then I am sure that the practice of petticoating would grow tremendously.

Moreover, I think it is very important to begin the petticoating of boys very early in life.  I feel ours would be a much better society were we to do so.  That is why I feel that your work is so very important!  I think it would be wonderful if your site could have a monthly feature that you might call 'The Little Princess of the Month', or something to that effect, and you could feature a set of photos of the winning princess dressed in 'her' frilliest outfits.  That would be so great!  But, whatever, your site will always be the BEST, and I know that someday there will be a feature or features of this sort on your site.  I am sure that, as the superior female that you are, you have probably already thought of this.
Pansy Michele

Well, I think we would have trouble getting a monthly picture, but one mother who is a keen reader of 'Petticoat Discipline Monthly' writes that she has tried a little tights discipline with her son (he has to wear two pairs at once to feel properly controlled and disciplined) and I was sent the following picture, which might do as a 'Little Princess of the Month' for October 2001 at least: 

I just want to say thank you for a wonderful and inspirational site. It is my firm belief that the world would be a far better place if all
young males were raised as adorable little girls in dainty satin dresses and petticoats. I was raised by a mother who would often
dress me in a pink satin flower girl's dress, and then tickle me with satin ribbons, as a very young child. I am truly happy remaining a little girl with some big girl additions from plastic surgery.
I really do adore the site.
Love,
Barbi

Dear Susan,

So glad to hear so soon, and to know what your plans are for the site. I'll look forward to the next instalment - would you like me to add something? Just let me know what your preferred theme should be.

Also, I meant to let you know in my last em that on a recent visit to some elderly relatives in the old home town, I was shown some of their wedding photographs. And would you believe, several showed me in my page boy outfit - unbelievably frilly, with ruffles and what appears to be lace. It is no wonder that my interests in such things was initiated/reinforced.

I have borrowed the photos so as to copy for my own records.
Will await your next em,
Best regards,
Barry

Established readers will know Barry from the excellent 'Petticoating in Australia' series, and I must say that I would love to reproduce one of his page-boy pictures in these pages. So, Barry, you were with me from the beginning - indeed from before the beginning, and do please consider scanning one or two of these precious photos, and writing something really special for the 2001 Christmas Annual. 

I discovered 'Petticoat Discipline Monthly' back in March of this year and I find it enthralling to read.  In fact I have been through all of the back issues now, and what a glorious time I had in doing so!

It's just a shame that my own beloved Susan had never been able to see the articles, she would have adored your magazine, and no doubt gathered a few ideas from it.  I have been a widower for just over five years now, and I miss my 'mummy' lots and lots!

Yes, that's right, my 'mummy'.  We had a nappy regime for many happy years, I know that is something that a lot of men out there would be very envious of, and I do empathise for all that would dearly love to have an understanding lady.

Anyway, please, please keep up the good work and if you believe that I may be able to contribute something, then I am very open to suggestion and encouragement.
With best regards,
Baby Nicky

How you must miss your dear Mummy; you were very lucky to have her. If you could write an account of loving baby discipline for Christmas, it would certainly find a place in the pages of petticoated.com's once-a-year special, 'Dummy Discipline Digest'. 

Last June at Susan request I offered some advice for altering your granddaughters' attitude about proper dress for young ladies. One of my recommendations was to insist that they wear old fashioned bloomers.  Unfortunately, at the time I could not supply you with a source for children's bloomers. About a month ago I found one that carries children's white cotton bloomers sizes x-small for toddlers to x-large for older girls. They also carry ladies' sizes white cotton bloomers, which will fit larger girls.

The web address is www.kidrontc.com and the email address is kidrontc@raex.com When corresponding with them, specifically indicate that you want children's bloomers. If you give them the hip and waist measurements they will indicate the correct size to order.

Several of my grandchildren now wear them, and I can assure you these bloomers ensure both a high degree of modesty and provide proper motivation for the children. I was impressed with the quality of the bloomers, they are a very soft cotton, and the covered elastic in the waist and legs is heavy enough to ensure a firm fit, and a properly disciplined feel.
I hope I have been able to help.
Mary Beth

P.S. I would be interested if you would provide Susan  with an update on how you and your granddaughters are faring.

Please do write and tell us all whether being firmly bloomered has promoted improved bahaviour from your granddaughters, Victoria. You could have no greater expert advising you than Mary Beth, I can assure you of that.

Might make an interesting anchor for your forthcoming edition. 

Hope this helps,
Sally-Jane

The fair is over for another year, but it is an annual event. Here you can see stationery steam machines, steamrollers, and beautiful old traction engines. These sights are definitely worth a good look.

Dear Susan,
 
With regard to your correspondent Jane's 'Treatise on Knickers', I have to agree with her on the subject of school knickers. They
are extremely comfortable to wear, more comfortable indeed than most men's underpants and very hard wearing. Also, should the
wearer be unable to visit the toilet for a prolonged length of time e.g. on a shopping trip or a long car journey, the school knickers
can be comfortably covered with a pair of plastic pants so as to reduce the risk of any little 'accidents' and being quite absorbent,
no other 'protection ' is required.
Robert

To a schoolgirl of the 1950s those maroon or navy blue knickers never seemed comfortable, but later you do come to realise just how comfortable and practical they were. No wonder so many males swear by them! 

Dear Miss MacDonald,

Sorry to hear about your family problems, but they happen in the best of families and always require first priority.  We will be happy to waste as long as it takes even if you include it with your Christmas issue.
 
I wanted to write and tell you and your readers about a different web site. It is a fee page, but one that I enjoyed very much.
www.sissysitter.com is published by Retro Systems and is edited by Susan Flannery.
 
Miss Flannery believes in using the paddle on male bottoms often and as frequently as wife wishes. But I especially liked the article on panty discipline.
 
I think your readers will enjoy this also.
 Much Love,
 Cissy Williams

Cissy, the work you did for the last Christmas Annual was an immense success, so I am hoping that you can help out again this year. The family affairs were not problems, but happy occasions thankfully, and the magazine is now fully back to normal. You have many, many wonderful issues to look forward to. 

Dear Susan,

Hope all is well with you. Not heard from you for a while and now that the publication date for PDM is getting later, I wonder if there were any problems - such as industrial action at the printing works? Perhaps the staff have become restless since the visit of the Blairs?
Perhaps a visit from the 'Iron Lady' is in order... :-)
Best wishes - Saffy

Well, I can't imagine who you might mean by the 'Iron Lady' Saffy, noone around here seems to take much notice of me. The staff have come through marvellously to get this issue ready on time, and it will be a really festive Christmas works outing this year. However, I must request that you, Julie Anne, and Angus hold off on the syncoptated hand-clapping and cries of 'Speech! Speech!' at the merriest part of the night. I am not much good at speeches, and certainly never feel like making them after a few warming glasses of Glenfiddich. 

Just a note for now to let you know that we had a wonderful vacation.  In answer to your questions, the rubber 'Susan' baby panties that we sent you are delicious. John certainly loves his. He wore a pair every day under his bloomers even though he didn't need them, with disposable protective underwear. If you liked them you would just love the lace trimmed rubber bloomers John wears at night. It was a good thing he insisted on wearing them over his disposable diapers as even the 'Depends' overnights weren't absorbent enough a couple of times. The only bottle John took on vacation was my giving him his evening single malt, and neither of us was willing to forego that pleasure.

Now that we are back home, and John can once again wear his baby print cloth diapers and training pants, he is much happier. I mentioned putting the crib away, but he insisted he felt more secure sleeping in it. He continues to take a bedtime bottle in addition to his evening single malt. He needed a nap a few times while on vacation, and the other day he needed a nap here at home so I gave him a warm bottle when I helped him into his crib. So yes I would definitely say he is happy with this revisiting of his fondly remembered youth.

The vacation worked wonders for both Grace and the children. Grace finally realized she was the undisputed head of their family instead of someone who could be swayed at will by her children. It took Donald trying to reemerge for Grace to see what she needed to do. Three full days in diapers, plastic panties and very childish rompers made him realize how much better off Dawn had it. It only took one day in similar outfits to make believers out of the two girls.

I had mentioned looking for regular bloomers for the children to wear to school this year. As luck would have it, Grace met a young couple at a Scottish gathering we attended who put white cotton bloomers on their four active children, three boys and a girl, all under ten. We all joined them for a picnic lunch. They practiced a similar form of petticoating with their children and felt bloomers provided a proper degree modesty whenever the children wore skirts or dresses. The address is Kidron Town and Country Store, 4959 Kidron Road, Kidron Ohio 44636 Web address www.kidrontc.com Click on #2 for bloomers or #6 for the whole store. They stock white cotton bloomers in sizes from childrens x-small for toddlers to children's x-large, and ladies' S to XXXL, a range that will fit just about anyone who wants or needs to wear bloomers either for modesty or punishment.

Grace has gotten several pairs for all three children to wear whenever they are not wearing the combo bloomer I had made for them. This includes with their school uniforms. With the exception of the one slip, Dawn was a perfect young lady the whole vacation. So Donald is out of the nursery and in his own room, which is exactly like his sisters, with the exception that one dresser drawer contains his old baby clothes, just in case he ever needs to be reminded of what can happen.

Sorry no pictures due to an unpleasant past experience we don't own a camera or pose for any pictures by others. I know you are very busy so I won't go into details about our vacation unless you want to hear them.  The great majority were quite pleasant with a few low points, but that is to be expected especially with John wearing kilts all the time.
We will be sending you something for your amusement.
Our very best wishes and affection,
Mary Beth and John

It sounds like the whole family had a good time, and I bet that the train trip was a highlight. Welcome back; it has been another difficult period here, especially moving to another site, but everything is back to normal now. It is always a pleasure to receive a letter from you two.

P.S. I saw this item for sale at eBay-AOL, the world's largest personal trading community, and thought that you might be interested.
I think this pattern is just darling and wanted to share it with you. Hugs Mary Beth.

Dear Susan,

Last week, whilst in the Penzance area of Cornwall, I thought that I would try and Find 'Annette' as featured on your Links page.  With difficulty I found her, only to find that she was strictly mail order only.  I have since written to her and received her catalogue, and I have also spoken to her.

She requests that you amend the address to:-
Annette,
Box 20, New Mill Garage,
New Mill,
Penzance,
TR20 8UX

She also requested, could you clarify that she is mail order only?  Will you be able to get this amended for the October edition of Petticoat Discipline Monthly? We all look forward to reading it.  I expect to place an order with her shortly.  Her garments look very exciting.
Best regards,
Belinda
 

Further to letter 2 in the August issue, 'A Treatise on Knickers' by Jane, where she ask for advice where she can find
directoire knickers by Walker Reid for her sissy husband Ruby.

Well, here it is:

or main page:

These directoire knickers come in different colours and sizes, and are extremely soft and silky, so if sissy Ruby is easily aroused by wearing soft and silky knickers, the wife and mistress of sissy Ruby should watch her sissy carefully so (s)he does not indulge in naughty games.
I hope Ruby will enjoy these fantastic knickers.
Panty
 

Dear Miss Susan,

A recent contributor mentioned in a letter that she was looking for traditional Walker Reid knickers for her sissy. I believe this web address is what she is trying to find.
 

Sincerely,
Richard

My thanks to both Panty and Richard for helping out here. And Panty, you sent me a while ago (I don't forget these things) some absolutely superb letters and illustrations from old publications. I am very grateful, and you have given thousands of readers a great deal of pleasure. If you have any more in stock, the petticoated.com e-mail letter box is always ready. 

I am delighted to see that your website is still up and running.

What an inspiration it is to all those who are fighting the corrupt degeneracy in our nation. In fact, when one looks at it, one is filled with contempt for the socially useless parasite class whose interests and ideals you so blatantly espouse. I will recommend this site to all true proleterians, so that they can visit it themselves and be filled with the revolutionary fire of righteous indignation.

You do a most excellent service to us advocates of real social progress, since, by exposing the 'master class' as the ludicrous, effete perverts that they are, they are demystified in the eyes of the workers.

The proleteriat will start to ask itself, 'Is this human detritus, to whom we are presently held in bond, worthy of our respect, let alone our service?' The answer is naturally a resounding No!

The links between social and class dominance, and violence and sexual perversion are many and well known.  One need only look at the Nazis in fascist Germany, or even our own upper class's love for fox hunting and, as you illustrate so well, vile sadomasochistic practices. I am pleased to be able to assure you that you have serendipitously (and probably unintentionally) hastened the coming of the new social order. May the proleteriat burn with fury.
Towards a better society, towards social equality,
Massey Ferguson

I am afraid that readers are going to think that I have invented this letter, but I can assure them that it is real. This curious person has apparently named himself after a tractor. The rhetoric is remeniscent of the socialist ideologues of fifty years ago, and makes me wonder how old Mr. Ferguson is - or what ancient and fox-eared pamphlets he has found in somebody's attic. I showed it to Miss Gribble, who commented, 'Unbelievable. Even I destalinised in 1958'.

It would take too long to analyse all the ludicrous errors in this letter. The Nazis did not develop from the German aristocracy, or the German merchant class. They were thoroughly proletarian, more so than the Bolshevist leaders of the Soviet Union. In fact Bolshevism and Nazism were just two variants of totalitarian collectivism, and in Germany many people changed from passionately supporting one to passionately supporting the other, often several times. Neither has anything in common with the representative liberalism (in the proper English sense of the word) that I espouse.

I might say that I do not believe that many - if any - of  the letters that we receive here at petticoated.com come from this 'master class' that Mr Ferguson imagines exists. 

Dear Miss MacDonald,

Anne has asked me to respond to Steve's (Stephanie's) letter complaining about his wife/mommy putting him in little boy pajamas or night dresses and making him go to bed early.  Yes, Stephanie, many other husbands are subjected to early bed times, night dresses, little boy pj's and a great deal more.  Some of us even have to take a teddy bear to bed with us, but you won't find us offering up any complaints in the pages of 'Petticoat Discipline Monthly' because we are enjoying the wonderful blessings that go with being looked after by a strict, loving wife/mommy.

I don't wish to be all that critical of Steve, since what he is going through is something that most all men who share fantasies of petticoating, humiliation and maternal discipline experience if they are lucky enough to find the right woman to help bring their fantasies to life.  Fantasies about being nappied, spanked, or made to wear a frilly frock are entirely different from the reality in every way possible, as Steve has no doubt learned by now.  Hopefully, he is also learning as I did long ago, that the reality of actually being under the control and authority of your wife/mommy is a thousand times better than any fantasy could ever be.

Incidently, my bedtime is at 9:00 each night.  A few minutes before bed time Anne leads me up stairs and puts me in thick cloth nappies, plastic pants and a night dress.  Once I am in nappies, I'm no longer allowed bathroom privilages until the following morning.  I have to sleep with teddy in my own room (suitably decorated) on a cot with protective side rails and a thick, crinkly rubber sheet protecting the mattress.

I hope Steve (Stephanie) learns to obey his wife/mommy and take his medicine like a big boy.  He will be the better for it.
Respectfully yours,
Timmy

Anne and Timmy have one of the happiest marriages that one could wish for, and they are proof that petticoat discipline can provide a warm and deeply satisfying bond between husband and wife. I have received from them a very generous and exciting gift: a book about the legendary American thoroughbred Seabiscuit, who took part in a famous match race against the aristocratic Triple Crown winner War Admiral.

The Great Match Race In 1937 War Admiral (Man o' War - Brushup) won the American Triple Crown, and showed himself to be a horse just oozing with class, and with the conformation of an equine god. Seabscuit had a different career: he was a year older than War Admiral, and in 1936, his three year old year, raced 16 times without winning once, although he never stopped trying. It was as a four and five year old, when he was again heavily raced, that Seabiscuit began to show his ability, and he won several races with sheer courage and will power, often when victory had seemed impossible with a few furlongs to go.  Seabiscuit (Hard Tack - Swing On) was well bred, but he was ungainly, and not classically proportioned. He won his races in a different way from War Admiral, and when a match was decided upon, set for May 1938, the interest in the event reached fever pitch as the date drew near. It has been hailed as the greatest horse race in American history, and by some sports writers as the greatest American sporting event of all time.  The lead-up to the great match was, as I have written, tremendous, and when race day dawned, at Pimlico in May 1938, the atmosphere surpassed that of any event in American sporting history, either before or since. It was to be a competition between grit and boundless will-to-win, and extraordinary brilliance and celestial galloping ability: as one turf writer had pointed out, in his easy victories War Admiral did not seem to gallop on the ground at all, but a couple of inches above it.   The match was over 1 mile and 1 1/2 furlongs, with both horses carrying 8 stone 8 lbs (120 lbs in American terms). Seabiscuit was to wear blinkers, and to be ridden by George Woolf; War Admiral raced without blinkers. The crowd was charged with electricity, and probably most were wishing that the great old warrior could win. But there was no doubt what their money thought: the boards showed War Admiral as a hot favourite at 1/4, with Seabiscuit very much the outsider at 2/1 - long odds in a two horse race.  Grantland Rice wrote an especially evocative description for the Baltimore Sun:  'The drama and melodrama of this match race, held before a record crowd keyed to the highest tension I have ever seen in sport, set an all time mark. You must get the picture from the start to absorb the thrill of this perfect autumn day over a perfect track. As the two thoroughbreds paraded to the post there was no emotional outburst. The big crowd was too full of tension, the type of tension that locks the human throat.  'They were off…but it wasn't the fast-flying War Admiral who took the lead. It was Seabiscuit, taking the whip from Woolf, who got the jump. It was Seabiscuit who held a full-length lead as they passed the first furlong. The Admiral's supporters were dazed as Seabiscuit not only held this lead but increased it to two lengths as they passed the first quarter.  'The Biscuit was moving along as smoothly as a southern breeze, and then the first roar of the big crowd swept over Maryland. War Admiral was moving up…stride by stride Man o' War's favourite offspring was closing the gap, and you could hear the roar from thousands of throats, 'Here he comes…here he comes!'   War Admiral closed the two length gap, and for half a mile they ran neck and neck. It was expected that Seabiscuit would wilt, but that was something that he had never done. As Grantland Rice wrote, 'Seabiscuit had come up the hard way, and that happens to be the only way worth while. The Admiral had known only the softer years - the softer type of competition.  'Head and head they came to the mile. It was a question now of the horse that had the heart. Seabiscuit had lost his two length margin. His velvet had been shot away. He was on his own where all races are won - down the stretch. He had arrived at the great kingdom of all sport - the kingdom of the heart.  They passed the mile post and were into the stretch. The packed crowd looked for the dazzling War Admiral to move away - but there was another story. Seabiscuit was still beside him, still hanging on. Seabiscuit hadn't quit. With barely more than the final furlong left, foot by foot, yard by yard, Woolf and Seabiscuit started moving ahead…'  War Admiral was under the whip, but he had nothing left. This time it was different: he was galloping down on the ground, and not gliding through the air. Grantland Rice wrote,  'Yard by yard Seabiscuit moved on ahead. Then it was length by length. Seabiscuit left War Admiral so far behind that it wasn't even a contest…the race, they say, isn't to the swift. But it is always to the swift and game. It so happened that Seabiscuit had these two important qualities in deep abundance. War Admiral could match neither his flying hooves nor his fighting heart. Man o' War's brilliant son hung on with all he had until it came to the big showdown - to the point where the hard-way thoroughbred, the horse from the wrong side of the tracks, began really to run'.  Seabiscuit was a champion, and he was much loved, even though he was unfashionable in thoroughbred terms. A measure of the crowds' great affection for him is that a feature film was made about his career, an accolade given to very few racehorses. With the publication of the excellent book that Anne and Timmy have sent me, it seems that another film about Seabisuit may be produced.

Dear Miss MacDonald,

Regarding steam engines, when I was growing up ( I am nearly 60 years old) my first trip in a steam engine was in 1944, when I, together with my late mother, became an evacuee, going by steam train to Leeds. I was given the chance to go on to the footplate of this big black beast.

As I was still having night time accidents, Mummy took along my rubber sheet for the bed, which came in useful at night.
Have a look at this web site for steam engines:

This link is to the site of the Severn Valley Raliway, where the great beauty and personality of steam is still preserved. Readers will enjoy the lovely sepia photograph on the first page of the site.  I bet Baby Louise was a keen reader of the old 'Meccano Magazine' when she was young - it always carried a lot of articles about steam locomotives.

I know this last month has been hard on you, so I'm sending you a handful of hugs and kisses to help brighten your day.
Whenever you need one, just feel  free to use them, and of course if you need more, just ask.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
 
I hope this helps you dear friend,
Good luck and God bless,
Tammie

We need a promotions and events coordinator at petticoated.com, and I immediately thought of Tammie, who is one of the magazine's most enthusiastic and long-established readers. So you will  find a new member of staff listed on the front page for this month. I have already used some of Tammie's hugs and kisses, and feel much better. I am really looking forward to the Christmas Annual and our works party this year - both should be super.
 

'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends'. ( St. John 15:13) And these men and women
surely have laid their lives on the alter of love. Giving their lives as a sacrifice for freedom, not only for the United States, but for the
whole world.

I pray for those who where left behind, wives, mothers, fathers, friends, sons and daughters. That He would watch over them and
keep them, not only in this time of need, but for the rest of their lives. Again I thank you for all your love you have shown to the
people of New York and the United States of America. May God bless you.
Dennis

Dennis, who lives in New York, is a very special friend of 'Petticoat Discipline Monthly', and I endorse his remarks concerning the great courage that ordinary people can display when under sudden and unexpected attack.

I believe that the American government is considering awarding a special medal of bravery to all the passengers who died in the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. This plane was carrying the everyday assortment of people that one might find aboard a domestic passenger plane, and yet it seems that they were able to overcome the terrorists and cause the plane to crash, sacrificing their lives for their country - the plane was apparently targeted at the very seat of the American government.

We will never know what happened on board those planes - it is almost too horrible to think about - but I fully endorse the awarding of such a medal, although it can only be posthumous. 

Dear Susan,

I have attached a photgraph of the New York waterfront.

This picture haunts me now. I took it last November after the Little Girls' camp on our last full day in New York. It had been a super day, we crossed from New Jersey on the ferry, and walked to the Battery to buy tickets for the boat to Liberty Island and then Ellis Island. It was bright all day, nary a cloud in the sky. Round about evening time we returned to Manhattan, then got the ferry back again to our car in NJ.

As we got off the ferry we both remarked about the remarkable pinky orange colour which flooded the skyscrapers. It was the last frame in the camera. I was unsure there would be enough light; at any rate another ten minutes and we had to put the headlights on. They seem so invulnerable, so in place, commanding but not dominating. The single antenna on just the one is so perfectly chosen; if on neither, then naff. If on both, then inappropriately unwise.

If you go to New York again, will you be able to look upon this scene? Can the towers, however perfectly replaced, restore the majesty of the New York skyline?

I append a piece from an Afghan commentator which is starkly frightening in all its truth. I add it here for your perusal. We shall all lose from the selfish grasping greed of the maniac medievalists and their twisted religious bigotry. The squalor in which they are prepared to live, and the suppression of the simplest human expectations for the miserable slaves that they control, would be demeaning to the lowest insect, and I cannot help feeling strongly that there may have to be some measure of justifiable vengeance before the world can cease looking over its shoulder.
In hope,
Francine.

I am attaching a picture of three firemen raising the American flag amid the ruins. It is very poignant too, and expresses well the heroic stoicism of the men who have laboured so hard to save lives at the site.

A number of people have pointed out that the intelligence-gathering ability of the American secret services has been emasculated by Mr. Clinton and his predecessors, and that this was a major factor in making the attack possible. If Tamim Ansary is right, and if a military strike would not harm the terrorists, then America at least needs to give back to the intelligence agencies the power that they have lost.
 
'I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age". Ron Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today,
allowed that this would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this atrocity, but, "We're at war, we
have to accept collateral damage. What else can we do?" Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether we "have the belly to do what must be done". And I thought about the issues being raised as especially hard, because I am from Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost track of what's going on there. So I want to tell anyone who will listen how it all looks from where I'm standing.

'I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible
for the atrocity in New York. I agree that something must be done about those monsters. But the Taliban and bin Laden are
not Afghanistan. They're not even the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over
Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think bin
Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of Afghanistan", think the Jews in the concentration camps. It's not only
that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would exult if
someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out the rats' nest of international thugs holed up in their country.

'Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt,
incapacitated, suffering.

'A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan - a country with no
economy, and no food. There are millions of widows. And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass graves. The soil
is littered with land mines, the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets. These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan people
have not overthrown the Taliban.

'We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took
care of it already. Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate their hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did all that.

'New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would only be making common cause with the Taliban - by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time.

'So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and trembling. The only way to get bin Laden
is to go in there with ground troops. When people speak of "having the belly to do what needs to be done" they're thinking in
terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed. Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people. Let's pull our heads out of the sand. What's actually on the table is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that folks...

'Because, to get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of
Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. We're flirting with a
world war between Islam and the West. And guess what: that's bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants.
That's why he did this. Read his speeches and statements. It's all right there. He really believes Islam would beat the West. It
might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarise the world into Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the West
wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to lose, that's even better from bin Laden's point of
view. He's probably wrong, in the end the West would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and
millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that? Bin Laden does. Anyone else?
Tamim Ansary