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Erie, Pa., 
Monday, Nov. 28, 1938.
As far as I know I'm leaving for Boston tomorrow night. My instructions are rather vague, Maurice leaving for Schenectady this afternoon without any further instructions. I am to make the B & M report and launch the small diesels in the New England territory. That's all I know.
 
The Cummins engine maintenance data, not having arrived up to last Friday, I wrote a letter then to Ainlay jacking him up on it. Got it today with copy of a letter dated Nov. 21st to me transmitting it which I never received. Naturally I thought of Jake and wondered. However, when I gave him a copy of the dope, he accepted and read it carefully as if it was new to him. So I presume it was just a slip of the mail but a funny coincidence particularly after Rudy told me last week he had caught Jake intercepting his mail when he was Section head.
 
Mellon of Boston Office here today and for two weeks. He is to have charge of all the transportation service work over there, doing that exclusively. Neil Donovan will be confined to Commercial work 100% much to his relief. Mellon tells me Neil has given up drinking - got into so much trouble from it he had to. Came into the office recently with two shiners and a mashed nose after a fight while drunk. So he's sworn off. Mellon says he once saw a man try to choke Neil at a dance for kissing his wife out on the dance floor. I never realized Neil was so affected by liquor. I've drunk with him and never seen any indications of loss of control. This man Mellon impressed me as being a good man and think he'll be an asset to us. Has had lots of experience in various sorts of field engineering work, marine, central station, industrial, railroad, etc. 

He told of some trouble the Bath Iron Works got into making a water box which they copied from the Fall River Ship who in turn copied it from our Lynn Works, where they pumped salt water thru it continuously and could handle a heavy load. Bath is 100 miles up stream where the salt is about nil and the box would carry only a few amps. When they salted it, they had trouble holding the load steady & they finally had to parallel it with Central Maine Power.

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