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rating of [[underline]]fifty thousand[[/underline]] horsepower. The electric power generated is sent to the motors which drive the propellors. They have been testing one of these machines almost continuously for three months, I think, before sending four of them out for one of the new battleships. You don't wonder warships are expensive when you consider that just [[underline]]one[[/underline]] of these big turbo-generators costs probably at least $300,000 -- I don't know the exact figures but $300,000 is conservative, I think. ..... I think some of the chips are beautiful -- I mean the things like the one I showed you. They are all shades of blue and copper and gold, depending upon the amount of heat that was generated as they were torn from the parent casting. A wheelbarrow full of them is really a beautiful sight, if you can imagine such a thing. ......I still appreciate letters although I'm not as blue as I was, so write me now and then-- I'll answer.

[[underline]]To Willie, July 23, 1924:[[/underline]] I did enjoy the letter you wrote me last Sunday from Louisville. It certainly is great to find someone who loves to think seriously at least a small part of the time. I don't philosophize to the exclusion of everything else but I do like to wonder and speculate about this great scheme of things a little and what a satisfaction it is, to discover a friend who can understand how I feel. You have a great ideal to strive for --to do something that will make the world a better place to live in. ...... You know, engineering is [[underline]]applied science[[/underline]], and an engineer is in a profession that gives him a great opportunity to serve in many ways. ...... I can't forget your saying that the Ohio, though muddy, is beautiful, because the Kentucky hills are on the other side. I can understand just what you mean. ...... I had another beautiful train ride through a valley last weekend when I went down into the Catskills to see Mother, who is spending the summer with her cousin down there. It was on the Delaware & Hudson, and although this valley had no river, it was remarkably beautiful with its great, high, wooded hills on each side. The railroad runs rather high up along one side of the valley, and from the train, you can look down on the prettiest little villages on the valley floor. They look like toy ones sometimes, as they shine white in the sunlight. I stood on the back platform some of the way; it wasn't an observation platform though -- I don't believe the D&H boasts of one of those. ...... Last Saturday morning, I almost had heart failure, for my first [[underline]]-near[[/underline]]-catastrophe occurred. I was working on the big Cincinnati milling machine, the largest one in our shop, and was alone, as my advisor had just left for his vacation. I had my job all set up, and strapped securely to the table (see illustration). I had to run the cutter into the casting three-eighths of an inch vertically, and I threw in the automatic feed to do it. The moment I threw the lever, things began to happen, and rapidly. The whole machine began to shake as the cutter gouged into the job and began to "climb all over it" as they say. The cutter, as it turned, pushed the job, table and all, toward the right, until