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13

dine Jake by ourselves and do the best we could. The wisdom of this decision was questionable the way the affair turned out but at least it was memorable.

This is as good a spot as any to insert a photo I have of Henry Guy and me which was taken not too long after this. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of Jake to include in here too.  There are many references to Henry Guy in my diary from 1930 to 1945 starting with a sort of introduction on p.20 of the 1930 section so I shan’t expound on him now except to say that he was a well known character in GE’s apparatus business for about 40 years and quite a guy. The picture follows:

[[image: black and white photograph of 2 men in suits standing side-by-side [[captioned:  Henry Guy  and  Forie Craton ]]

Our plan of operation for Jake’s farewell was for the three of us to meet at Henry’s apartment on West Sixth for a few drinks and then go out to dinner. The Erie Club may have been the dining spot originally selected but we wound up by going to Sedler’s on West Fourth for reasons that will become apparent. It was a miserable, cold, snowy night. Henry and I had my car and drove from the office to his apartment in it about 5:30.  Jake arrived around 6 p.m. and had to park a block away and struggle over to Henry’s through the storm. It was a night encouraging drinking as to the occasion and weather both. And thus it turned out. Jake wasn’t noted as a heavy drinker but on this occasion he chose to let his hair down and I mean way down. Whatever prompted Jake to do this I can’t imagine but he began to brag immediately that he could outdrink Henry 2 for 1. This was about like me stating that I could outpunch Mohammed Ali. However, Jake undertook to prove this and being the guest of honor, we didn’t feel that it would be polite to deny him the opportunity by withholding the means. I don’t recall for sure what Jake was drinking but I think, and this is almost incredible, that is was martinis and, of course, these were Henry’s specialty. Since we’d had a half hour’s start on Jake, the effects of the competition didn’t begin to appear immediately; that is, Jake had a 30-minute time handicap but it didn’t

Transcription Notes:
1. Fix transcription error, '5:3-' to '5:30'