Mary Leslie Newton recounts her birthday gifts, including a cloak and a subscription to Harper's; she notes but rejects her aunt's suggestion that, at 17, she is old enough to begin putting her hair up. She recounts some humorous mishaps, including her grandmother spilling ink and her own clumsiness…
Writing in a daily journal style, Mary Leslie Newton recounts the weather, prayer-meeting, Epworth League, and her family's recent spate of illnesses, including issues with her own teeth.