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with Jay Walker, I didn't adopt Harold's suggestion. Our suite filled before dinner with railroaders and other GE men - Lassen, NY Office publicity man, Wiley, Buffalo Office publicity man, Hathaway, Buffalo Office salesman and glad hander, Geo. Campbell, new Buffalo Office manager, Jay Walker, Charlie Nicolls of So. Buffalo Rwy, Gordon Hentz, NYC asst. MM of NYC here; Rohlman, Supt. of Wabash, Yost of Lackawanna, etc. etc.

Tom and I were extracted from this convivial session by Rohlman and Hentz to go to dinner in the main dining room. And down there to my amazement was Walter Hedley! He acted as though he were still a GE man, had dinner with us, talked & joked how he could do it, I can't understand! He looked badly though dissipated and worried and furtive. And when I shook hands with him, his handshake never very firm was limp and cold. His, "girl" was at the meeting, a member of the chorus, and she looked similarly worried and worn and dissipated, I thought. I can easily see why she would.

Hentz was chairman of the meeting, held in the main ballroom, and I agreed to answer with Tom, any questions after the program and I worried considerably about it because of going into this so cold, particularly on Alco stuff which I have had nothing to do with lately. So when the time for questions came and a very forbidding looking little man arose and said this, my heart arose into my throat. "Yes! I have some questions - a hundred of them! We have heard all about [[underlined]] construction [[/underlined]] tonight. But there's another side. I'm interested in [[underlined]] maintaining [[/underlined]] these locomotives. I have a hundred questions." (My god! I thought. Here comes something bad on my weakest department!)