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Erie, Pa.,
Monday, June 3, '40
Whitey gave me a dressing down this morning for not holding Ernest and St. Laurence in line on this ordinance business - thought I should have gone to Washington with them today - said if I couldn't handle them could I suggest anyone who could - by god, he would himself if necessary. Henry Guy criticised Whitey for criticizing me - said he thought he shouldn't blame me for things Emmet and St. L. are doing. I was inclined to agree with Henry - it is unreasonable for Whitey to expect me to hold the Manager of the Works in line - that, I feel, is Whitey's own job and I suggested that tomorrow when they return, a meeting be held and the cards laid frankly on the table, which Whitey agreed to. The nigger in this whole woodpile is that, although the ordnance work is assigned to a separate account set up particularly for it, Whitey wants to get credit for at least part of its profits bonuswise and feels unless we put up a show of working hard on the stuff, he can't make a plausible story. When he thought the account was going to show a loss, he didn't care - now it promises to show a profit he feels different.

I set a price on Tarzan Jr today which Henry finally agreed was okay (but with some misgivings, I feel) and later Whitey criticized it for being too high - might get us in dutch with Capt. Saybolt at Washington for squeezing Col. Case too hard. I told Whitey it was a local affair at Watertown and we deserved the price considering all we had done but I would take it up with Roy as a final check. I have a hard time figuring Whitey sometimes - he's liable to shoot high or shoot low.