Letter From Homer to his brother Alf

At the time this letter was written Homer Hine's older brother "Alf" (Alfred) had apparently just left for school on the east coast as the reference to the Hudson (River) suggest that Alf is passing through the New York area.  Alf would have been 15 years old in 1887 so I suspect he was on his way to the fall semester of high school at St. Paul's School in Concord, NH.  The reference to "Uncle Alf" is to Alfred Potter Kirtland, the Hine brothers uncle (brother of their mother Emma) who for some years was the Superintendent of the West Penn Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and could possibly have been working or visiting in New York City at the time this letter was written.