Viewing page 58 of 266

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

69

Today they began moving our whole Branch about 3 PM and from then on no work could be done. I gave Miss Sandler my first WPB letters today - she seems to be practically out of anything to do since Carroll Hanly was removed. Carroll got back from his vacation today looking, I thought, somewhat the worse for wear; I suspect he had been drinking a lot. [[right bracket]]

Ed Harley, Joe Rowbottom, Marshall Raymond, Vic Rennix and I took advantage of the moving to leave on time tonight and have a [[underline]]moderate bender [[/underline]] to blow off steam. We put away a few scotches at the Mayflower and then went to the New Orleans for dinner, hoping for a better time than last week there. Without Fraebel, Ed's Baldwin friend (who ran all the companies we worked for), we were more attractive and even had the [[underline]]dark eyed Italian crooner [[/underline]] at our table for a while - in fact Marshall and I had a dance with her and she was a lovely dancer. [[underline]]Joe was in fine fettle, kidding [[/underline]] everyone but particularly Ed [[underline]] Harley [[/underline]] whom he calls [[underline]] Harvey, Hawley, Farley [[/underline]] - in fact anything that occurs to him. Joe told his now famed "[[underline]] Mississippi" story[[/underline]] which brought down the house. [[underline]] The colored baritone [[/underline]] with the magnificent voice sang "Ol' Man River", "Ave Maria", Brahms "Lullaby", negro spirituals, and the crowd would have [[underline]]stayed all night [[/underline]] if he hadn't stopped. We sat and drank brandy and it was [[underline]] all very good [[/underline]] in spite of a world around us that is most certainly [[underline]]in the most horrible mess it was ever in before.[[/underline]] I used to wonder how I'd get along in Washington without [[underline]]Frank Headley[[/underline]] but I find myself very much at home with this new gang - a great crowd of boys and after all, an experience I'm lucky to have.