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49 clean-acting, well-bred guy as ever. We got to bed at 2:45 a.m. after a big evening and reunion. The next evening, Jay Walker, Tex Weinberg of the NYC, and I first played some highly satisfying ping pong followed by a fine dinner at the Chateau Richelieu, with Chianti and the whole Italian spread. It was a favourite eating spot for us. Later, we went to the Science Museum at Rockefeller Center, then returned to the hotel to hit the sack early for a change. I recall a session at the C-B planned in Grove City, where the engines were being built. We drove down from Erie and C-B had us fixed up with day-rooms at the hotel. Wherever C-B was involved, Charlie Reagle came from New York and always seem to add a note of warmth and pleasure to the proceedings. I remember almost nothing specific about our dealings with Ingersoll-Rand on this job but I think they were all carried out in Erie. Some of these meetings on engine matters were attended jointly by both C-B and I-R, who seemed to get along well together and I don't remember any hang-ups on engine coordination. The design work went on through the spring and the manufacture through the summer and fall, the first units being shipped in September and October. When we had meetings in Erie, it was my responsibility to see that all our visitors were properly entertained after the day's work was done. On pp.26-32 of my 1935 write-up, I cover Erie's various eating and drinking places of that time--at least the ones I had access to. Mostly we went to the City Club for our drinking and then adjourned to the non-alcoholic Den for dinner. These sessions weren't entirely a waste of time as far as the job was concerned because we'd usually hash over the accomplishments of the day, continue discussions where there'd been disagreement, sometimes arrive at agreements where none had seemed possible earlier. Inevitably, we had a few items involving disagreement on shop matters involving Disco, the New Haven people, particularly Kelly and Mock, and our engineers. Where these ended in a deadlock, I was usually the guy who had to reach a decision. Of course, I was in the middle. If I favoured the New Haven, I had to go to the mat with the shop or the engineers and sometimes make decisions on where the extra expense would be absorbed. This could be a very involved affair, sometimes with the New York Office in the act if it was an outright concession to the New Haven. There was an old story on this: "Yes," said the district man, "we lost three times in concession." If I sided with our people, I would often have a knock down-drag out argument with the New Haven during which I'd try my best to convince them we were right to refuse their request and if they persisted, we'd have to charge them for the change. Often these matters could be ironed out better in the convivial atmosphere of the City Club than over a conference table at the plant. All of us grew very fond of both the City Club and the Den, preferring this combination to the Erie Club, where
