November 27, 1941

Nov. 27, 1941

Iowa City, Iowa

Dear father, mother, Verner (this distinctive address, Verner, lasts automatically for three letters. Then it stops until another letter arrives from the individual in question) and those two free, untamed spirits, untouched by the taint of education,

First of all I want to thank you, mama, for sending the cookies and pies as a special Thanksgiving treat and also for the cake, butter and eggs which came via the laundry bag. I was wondering after I got the laundry bag if you had decided to retain my 25¢ blue sport shirt at home and was all prepared to let out a loud oral gulp of protest when it came along with the cookies & pie. Please forgive me for entertaining such derogatory conceptions of your actions. No doubt you merely forgot to put it in the laundry bag. The box containing the cookies and pies came thru pretty good, considering the beating which the cookies inside took. About 1/3 resembled ground up crumbs for a meat loaf, 1/3 were in a state more or less reminiscent of cookies, while the other 1/3 were in quite presentable shape. The box arrived Wednesday morning before I left for school.

Well, I suppose you are at least somewhat interested in how the pre-initiation meeting came off last Saturday night. Well the meeting really didn’t get under way till 9:00 when the written test began, which covered practically everything ever taken up in school altho the last 1/2 was primarily concerned with engineering subjects. This test finished at 12:00 and had about 30 questions in it. After the test, the tests were all mailed someplace or other to be corrected or examined. Technically I suppose you are required to do a certain grade of work in the test, but I rather think it doesn’t make any difference. At any rate, if your standing in the test is considered I don’t see I could get in to this society, since I do not think I did so well in it. However, if I don’t, I don’t and I save $25; if I do, I do, I guess.

After that an oral examination conducted by the active members took place. Then every initiate was supposed to take the knife and block of wood which he was supposed to bring with him and carve out a bent, which is the emblem of the society. The block of wood was a 2" by 8" by 12" piece of white pine and the bent, shaped something like this

was about 1" x 4-1/2" by 8" or 9". Moreover the dimensions give were all in very odd units — miles, hands, fathoms, leagues, etc. — which necessitated conversion to a standard unit before anything could be done. By three o’clock, the five fellows being initiated were well started on their bents. At five o’clock, one guy cut his hand and was allowed to go home (he lived in Iowa City). At 6:15, I left since I had to read my meters. The rest left around 7:00. After I got back, around 7:15, I tumbled into bed and slept till one o’clock. I missed church, but I was so pooked that I couldn’t have kept my eyes open no matter how good the sermon was. Well that’s that and except for the fact that I haven’t finished the bent, the initiation (except for the formal part) is over. I am waiting to see how I came out in the test before I finish the bent.

Incidentally I have also been invited to join Phi Lambda Upsilon, honorary chemical society. The fee here is $15.50. I may be a food etc etc but I thought since I hoined the one I might as well join the other. Al Hanson, the L. S. A. president is a member (he is working on a ph.D. in physical chemistry) and he said that very little initiating is done there. Perhaps the chemists are more staid than the engineers. So that means I have spent, or will spend, pending developments, on giving myself a reputation some $40. Is it worth it? I have my doubts but then I always do what I have no use for doing which may be some guide to my actions in this affair. By the way, Al Hanson wrote an article in one of the Lutheran Companions I have received, altho it was some time ago. I meant to tell you at the time but I guess I forgot all about it.

Today, and yesterday, too, have been really beautiful fall days. Clear, calm and with just enough nip in the air to make you feel like getting out in Dolliver Park or somewhere and walking thru the woods. The river was like a mirror this afternoon. I should think, that if I were an amateu camera fan I would try to get some reflection pictures on extremely still days like today. This morning Gordon Mau came over and asked me to go to church with him so I got ready and went. I didn’t know about it since I wasn’t in church Sunday morning. When we got there, there wasn’t any services going on after all. However the walk was very nice. I wonder sometimes why people can’t find out what they’re doing before they do it. I would most certainly try to make a little sure of what I was going to do before I did it. Of course, today I merely accepted Gordon Mau’s statement as fact, since I suppose he knew what he was talking about it. Evidently he didn’t.

I don’t know yet what to do about the picture proposition. There are no 3 for 10¢ photo-taking places in the ten cent stores here. I made that round almost immediately. I guess I’ll mull things over in my mind for awhile.

All is quiet on the scholastic front this week. The test didn’t come back in organic. The university has instituted a new system whereby at mid-semester you are given some idea of how you are doing in your classes. You are graded 1-above average 2-average 3-unsatisfactory 4 and 5-some other derogatory rating. I got ones in everything except technical writing where I got a 2. This gripes me since I have had all my papers in on time, with no grade lower than a B+. However, just because I got ones in other subjects is any sign that I am going to get A’s in them. I can’t see how I can get more than B in some of them. However, only the future will determine that. On the whole the whole mess of subjects I am taking grows more boring every time I go to class. Why am I going to school? I don’t care if, if Henry’s Law holds you can use log mean concentration different in solving absorption or extraction problems or if you can get a different percentage of conversion in an exothermic reaction if an adiabatic process is employed, or if age-hardening is good for aluminum alloys since slip plans are keyed by CuAl₂

[The letter ends here. It seems as though the rest of it is missing.]

[Marginal addendum in his mother's handwriting]

We missed this usual outburst in last week's letter but it pops up again!