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27

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled; Here the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world."

The thought that [[underlined]] here [[/underlined]] the embattled farmers stood, was the wonderful one-- or rather; a thrilling one. ...... Isn't it queer how one thought leads to another? The last paragraph linked a great, modern turbo-generator with the American Revolution. ...... I realized at this last election that I didn't know enough about the issues although Mr. Caldecott, our Unitarian minister here, declared that the issues were so confused that no one could possibly pick them out. Nevertheless, I think the election taught me I should keep up with the times a little better.

[[underlined]] To Mother, November 12, 1924:[[/underlined]] On the way home this evening, I heard the distant "20th Century" as it roared through the town-- I was almost home. When I stopped to think that when we'd leave Del's house to go to the dance at about 8:45, that train would be in Syracuse. I realized that I'm not far away from home. ...... My work is very interesting. We are on a big panel and I already understand its operation. The wireman I work with is named "Dud" Robinson, and is a "good skate," as the cost clerk told me. The wiremen are quite a bunch -- very carefree, and almost "kiddish" in their "carryin' on." They make their money quite easily and hence have a lot of spare time, in which spare time, they monkey around quite a bit. I almost died laughing yesterday when one fellow hit Dud with a little nut, and while Dud was looking all around to see who threw it, another one threw a whole handful of little nuts at him from behind a locker. Sometimes they are just like a lot of children. ......I'm anxious to hear how the election came out. I hope Doris got it.

[[underlined]]To Willie, November 17, 1924:[[/underlined]] My friend, Del, and I were talking the other day about what we are getting out of our work here and wondering if we were gaining a great deal. During the conversation, he said, "Well, I feel that if I work along here, do the best I can, and am [[underlined]] learning about people [[/underlined]], how to get along with them, how to understand them, my time will have been profitably spent." And I would make it a little broader and say, "learning about life and [[underlined]] how to live.[[/underlined]]" For after all, we're here to live. One thing Dr. Applebee, our minister at Syracuse, says which always impresses me, "So many of us are so busy making a living, we forget how to live."

[[underlined]] To Willie, November 25, 1924:[[/underlined]] Last night on the way from work, we had a discussion regarding the specific heats of gasses in connection with the experiments now being made with hydrogen to cool the large generators. As a result of the talk, I think that I am interested enough to review some of my chemistry and thermodynamics on gasses.