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114

Erie, Pa.
Monday, Sept. 7, '42.

I was down at the [[underline]] Laurence at 8 AM [[/underline]] to pick up Ed Gunn, Jay Walker and Art Feineman, all here for the meeting. It was my first meeting with [[red underline]] "Feine" [[/red underline]] a hook nosed, swarthy little Jew that everyone loves and I took a fancy to him on first sight. I have always admired his clean cut way of doing business and I know I'm going for him personally in a big way - just as everyone else does.

We spent the morning touring the shops after a few opening remarks by Whitey, Ernest, Carl and Walt Harris. I couldn't help thinking how proud I'd be to take [[underline]] Charlie Creasser  [[/underline]] through the plant, just bristling with "know how" on about as high grade a class of products as one could imagine - navy and maritime turbines, gun mounts, motors and generators, howitzers, locomotives, power plants, etc. And the  [[underline]] new GE. "Community Center"  [[/underline]] is a lovely place too - my first visit to it. It looks like a Howard Johnson's on the outside and my old weather prophet friend, Charlie Thompson, is the host. Charlie Creasser has agreed to accompany me to Erie some weekend soon and I'm looking forward to showing him our layout.

There was a Labor Day parade and speeches at noon on the plaza by the power house and Chet Lang ripped off one of his good and energetic speeches followed by a smooth speaker from Washington union headquarters who addressed the crowd a "Brothers and Sisters." The bands and the floats and the flags of the allies and the thousands of workers made a sight to thrill anyone and the tears came into my eyes as usual. We're going to win the war but it's going to be tough.