January 15, 1941

This letter has not been proof-read

Jan 15, 1941

Iowa City, Iowa

Dear Mother:

Well, I hope the U.S. postal service treated my last letter better than it did the card I send you the Monday after I came down here. I thought it was kind of funny that you wanted to know why I hadn’t written when I had (although it was very much, I will admit). That is the second card that has gone astray between here and Gowrie out of about 5 or 6 sent. That is not a very good average. I guess hereafter I will use a 3¢ stamp and an envelope even if I don’t have much to say or ask about.

The last letter home was written in more or less of a hurry, as you may have noticed. At any rate, I will try to make this letter a better one. I have written one letter to Vivian and she has already answered. However, it was written while I was in a capricious mood and was more or less a chunk of nonsense. She said they she had written home as soon as she got to Dubuque and I see by the letters you enclosed with your letter that Clarice had to. I guess that should make me ashamed of myself. I haven’t decided yet if it does or not. I will let you know when I do.

We got to Iowa City here about nine o’clock and I unpacked most of my stuff that night, some being left until the morning and some still even later. It took me a couple of days to get into “ye old routine” again but as I had to do quite a bit of studying, it came about easily enough. Now, however I am somewhat caught up again so that I will write a more presentable letter (See! See! What pride makes a man do.) When I walked into my room Sunday night, two weeks ago, the first think I noticed was that my poor flower was dead, completely and irrevocably deceased. I was sort of disgusted since the water was way down and I mistakenly assumed that the maid, whom I had asked to keep it watered, had forgotten all about it. hen she came in Monday morning, however, she informed me that on the day after Christmas something had gone wrong with the heating system, the temperature had gone up to a good deal in excess of 100°F I guess, and it was even so warm they couldn’t stand to be in the building. She said that in some rooms, newspapers lying around had turned up and gotten brown around the edges. How the place kept from getting on fire is more than she can guess, at least that is what she said.

At any rate, my poor flower withered in the fiery heat and is no more. My cactuses are getting along pretty well tho. The one I got from Vivian is sprouting new growth at the top. I always thought that cactuses grew slowly, but given half a chance, this one would be no sluggard. It needs sunshine tho I think, and the poor thing isn’t going to get any too much, I think. Maybe I should try to get the room across the hall. Maybe I’ll look into the matter when I pay my room rent. Incidentally it can be paid in about 3 equal installments, at least that is what some other fellows are doing. Should I do that? You might inform me in the next letter you send. While I am thinking about hot things, like I guess this room was on Dec 26, I should say that there was a little conflagration down the hall aways last Tuesday. Somebody had thrown a cigaret in a waste basket, I guess.

Last Sunday was a bee-utiful day down here. The air was balmy and there was only the lightest of breezes. I noticed that the smoke coming from the chimneys of the U. heating plant drifted away very, very slowly in the air. The air smelled almost like spring. I almost wish that the next semester was past like this one almost is. By the way, I am having schedule trouble again and in great big lumps. That’s the way it looks to me anyway. I worked out two different schedules for myself which extended from now till I finish (if I finish) this chemical engineering course. One of them, which depends on doing one of my drawing periods at some odd moment rather than at the scheduled time, + a little leniency on the part of the faculty in allowing me to apply my European History onsome freshman subjects regularly on the engineering curricula, would turn me out (with summer school included) a year from this coming June. But it would involve taking about 20 hours straight thru, and a lot of that lab courses, which would be like trying to swallow an elephant. The schedule probably wouldn’t be approved anyway.

The other schedule would finish two years from this spring without any summer school and would include practically all the courses that I would have taken had I come down here as a freshman. It is practically impossible to get my schedule to come out in two years from now. Maybe it can be done, but so far I can’t do it. I was talking to a fellow last night who said that since I have had 4 hrs of organic I might be able to let that apply on organic lab work and take only the organic classwork. If this is true it might simplify matters somewhat so that I could get thru in two years from now. If I decide to take 2½ years from now to finish, two advantages present themselves — (1) I would have plenty of time, (I think) to take some art courses (2) Maybe it would be easier to get a job around June, I don’t know. Of course all this assumes that I’m going to finish which might never happen. You might include in your next letter a little advice on what I should do.

How my studies has progressed since I came down here.

(1) Chem Industries: So So — I only got C+ in my notebook, which sort of griped me. However I was talking to a fellow who said that you should be sure to type anything you hand in to him. If its written and good, your work doesn’t get a very good grade. [By the way, what is Vivian’s address? Is it 1491 University Ave or 1491 Delhi St?) If types and lousy, it still rates pretty good with the instructor. I guess that’s what I’ll do next semester. With my 2½ year schedule this course might be postponed awhile. Of course, that is highly conjectural.

(2) Mechanics of Solids — not so hot. I wrote and told you I believe that I got 77 in the test I wrote before Xmas. That wasn’t so bad since the highest grade I saw was 80. We have had another tho in which I got only 55 (highest grade – 75). I would have had 75 too had I not made an error in arithmetic. I had my 3 equations with 3 unknowns in them correctly set up and then I messed them up in solving them. The teacher in this has gone to a convention in N.Y. so we are having a substitute teacher, who is a pretty good fellow, I think. Next week starts the semester review in this course.

(3) Industrial Stoich — So So — We are just winding up the semester’s work. We had a quiz today in which I will probably get an 8, due of course to my ever-present ability to get a decimal point or some other little thing wrong.

(4) German — Friday we are going to have an oral examination. I hope I get thru it all right and I think perhaps I will. At least I think I am considerably better than most of my class mates which is more than I can say in some of my other classes.

(5) Drawing — Rah! Rah! We have had another examination and I got 95 in it, which was the high grade in the test all tho about 2 other guys got it too. The nice thing about it tho was that I got my test posted on the bulletin board. That makes 3 of my 5 examinations that I have had posted as being the best in the class, the lettering examination, the one-hr factual exam and then this one. This makes me quite happy, indeed. Unless something goes extremely awry in the final, I think I should get an A in it.

Predictions on how I will make out in my studies at the end of the semester. Drawing – possibly A, certainly B. German: ditto, depending on oral examination. Mech of Solids B, Indus Stoic, B (?) everything is a question mark in this class. Chem Industs, if I write a good test – B, otherwise C (effect of notebook grade)

[Written down left side of last page of letter]

That is what I think I will get. In about 2 weeks I will know what I did get. It doesn’t sound any too good to me and I sort of doubt that it is worthwhile continuing if I don’t get better grades.

[Written up right side of last page of letter]

This is the complimentary close to this letter, out of place but nevertheless present.

With love, Carl

[The following sentences were written sideways up and down other page margins.]

I have been a little lonesome since I returned, but I suppose it will pass.

Hint [word surrounded by three arrows for emphasis]: Now that daddy has his new glasses, why don’t you, mama, and you, daddy, have your picture taken together. I think that would be a very good ideas.

My cap is very nice. However, I think I got it about 1/8[?] size too small.

Do not forget to tell me how Bungle & his friend are getting along.

P.S. I have started a rough sketch of Verner but haven’t had much time to work on it.

Things forgotten at home and to be returned at the earlier opportunity — one pair of high grayish blue pants, very good for wearing in the room so that the other pants will not lose their press