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I met no one and I dug in doggedly at the room, shunned the telephone, and stuck it out.

Boston, Mass.,
Thursday, April 4, 1940.

Roy and I marched into Bacall's office again today, having been advised by him to come out and review the Picatinny specs which had just arrived. Bacall marched us into the office of Newcomb, a crotchety looking old boy who had been given the job of concocting the Watertown spec and didn't know a hell of a lot about a locomotive and questioned us as if we were a couple of shysters, I thought. He showed us the Picatinny Spec. Immediately I spotted that this must be a NEW locomotive. "Certainly," said Newcomb. "We can't buy a second hand locomotive. This was second hand when it came here." (Roy has tried to contend otherwise but I agree with Newcomb - it was) Newcomb was very much worried on how to write a spec so he would get a locomotive with enough power. I tried to explain it to him. But we never did convince him that if he geared an engine down, he wouldn't get more horsepower! So we took consolation in the thought we had at least discovered the secret of perpetual motion today - otherwise, we left Newcomb, rather disgusted. After pulling the Arsenal out of the hole at considerable inconvenience to us, we were getting about as much thanks as a Nazi saboteur would get if caught in the place. We decided to hold our tempers and our tongues until the Colonel gets back tomorrow and again adjourned to Harvard Square for lunch.

After lunch we tried to see J.W. Smith to get the