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38 congestion, [[red underline]] shortage of locomotives [[/red underline]], insufficient and [[red underline]] unskilled [[/red underline]] labor, shortage of [[red underline]] coal [[/red underline]] etc. [[red underline]] Wilson [[/red underline]] has put all railroads under government control. Could not obtain any other accomodation than on night train of B & O Railroad. When I arrived at station about [[red underline]] 11:30 ^[[PM]] found train would not be made up for several [[/red underline]] hours. Jan 4. Then about [[red underline]] 2 A.M got in. Cars not heated and everything frozen. Green porters, [[/red underline]] incompetent and insufficient to cope with service. [[red underline]] Bitterly cold. Slept half [[/red underline]] dressed, and covered under [[red underline]] my heavy fur coat. [[/red underline]] Next morning at [[red underline]] 9 A.M. [[/red underline]] instead of being in Washington had [[red underline]] barely reached Philadelphia [[/red underline]] Arrived in Washington [[end page]] [[start page]] 39 [[hash mark in top left margin]] about [[red underline]] 4 P.M. [[/red underline]] ^[[exclamation point in red]] Fortunately room at Cosmos Club. Van [[red underline]] Lunhof [[/red underline]] who has arrived from Porto Rico came to see me wants some job or another Spent evening with the two [[red underline]] Hooker brothers [[/red underline]] (Harry & Willard) who with [[Tournere?]] came to consult me about their project of making enormous quantities of [[red underline]] picric acid [[/red underline]] for our army [[hash mark in left margin]] Advised them [[red underline]] to stick to their part of the process and warned them that they have no experience [[/red underline]] in making and handling large quantities of picric acid but to [[red underline]] devote their attention exclusively to the field where they are entirely competent [[/red underline]] by experience and thus hasten [[red underline]] deliveries by doing what they knew best [[/red underline]] and leave to others more skilled in picric acid to attend