Jan 30, 1942
Iowa City, Iowa
Dear father,
mother, the three little boys, and whoever else may read this letter,
Well, I’m
finished with my tests but I haven’t yet found out what I did in
any of them. I got along pretty good answering everything but that is
a long way from saying that I got everything correct. I suppose I’ll
end up with a bunch of “B’s” but I suppose it cannot be helped.
The English test was certainly peculiar test like I expected it to
be. Just a bunch of rather general questions about vague ideas. It
was one of those tests where you could start a national shortage in
pencils if you wanted to. He handed out five sheets to every person.
Some guys asked for more than five when they got those filled up but
when I had finished five, I thought that was good enough and left. Of
course, it was distributed between all the questions in about
proportion.
By the way,
speaking of national shortages really riles me up. In my opinion, the
people in Washington are absolutely the blindest, dumbest, most
illogical-minded and generally “candidates-for Cherokee” kind of
people I have every heard of. This sugar rationing plan is the last
piece of monumental stupidity and short-sight that has come out of
Washington. Instead of looking at the situation candidly, somebody
starts yelling “sugar-shortage” and everybody starts yelling with
him “sugar-shortage” and presently they begin to think there is
something to what they are saying because they haven’t stop[ped] to
think, if such a thing is possible. First of all, for years now,
production and refining of sugar beets in the U.S. has been
definitely curtailed because of the competition it would cause with
Cuban sugar. Sugar can be produced much more simply from beets than
it can from sugar cane. The sugar cane juice as it is crushed from
the cane is mixed with all kinds of nitrogenous waste that inhibits
the crystallization of the sugar.
This is not true in
the beet sugar industry where the beets are not squeezed to get the
juice out but rather extracted. If the gov’t wanted to it could
sponsor a sugar growing & refining campaign in the Middle-West
which would dive Cuban sugar off the market in no time. Even as it
is, production from sugar beets could be stepped up. But of course,
nobody realizes that, so they have to start rationing the supply,
which is limited in the first place by the gov’t simply for the
same of Cuban interests.
What is going to
happen in my opinion is that the sugar shortage will either go the
way of Ickes oil-shortage
or that Henderson
will find himself wallowing in a sugar pile of monumental dimensions
presently. But then, people don’t think and its a cinch, the
leaders they elect don’t even think of thinking.
That lets my blood
pressure down to about atmospheric pressure again. Every once in a
while I get fed up with the gov’t in Washington and if it happened
when I am writing a letter home, you get the benefit of it.
I have been sort of
loafing along since yesterday morning when I had my last test. Last
night I went to the basketball game between Iowa and Kansas U. I
cannot figure out what is wrong with Iowa. They have lost about 3
games by 2 points. In my opinion they only game they deserved to lose
was with Illinois. When they are “hot” they make the other team
look like a bunch of flat-feeted policemen. Then they cool off till
they look like Gowrie this year.
This coming
semester I am going to be taking 19½ hours. It will consist of 5 hrs
of organic, 5 hrs of electrical engineering, 3 hours of principle of
chem. eng. 3 hours of chem. eng. economy, 2 hours of technical
writing, ½ hour of plant inspection (a field trip) and 0 hrs of eng.
society. I have a petition in at the dean’s office which if granted
will enable me to graduate at the end of August or thereabouts. It is
concerned with substituting some subjects for other subjects. If it
is not granted I will have to squeeze in some extra hours someplace
or take a longer time to graduate. I rather think however that it
will be o.k.’d. Then this summer I will take 12½ hours which will
fulfill my graduation requirements.
It is sort of a
queer feeling to be able to look forward to the definite end of your
school days. I don’t know whether to be happy or not the more I
think about the job. I don’t like chem engineering very well and
even the salary doesn’t seem to be worth doing something you don’t
like to do. What use would I have for $160 a month? I probably
wouldn’t spend more than ½ or even less of it. And most of that
would probably be due to the higher cost of living in a city. I only
hope that it will keep me out of the army, which would be even worse
than chem eng.
However, following
my usual policy of doing that which I wouldn’t do if I didn’t
feel I had to, I wrote and told them I would be in Calif on Oct. 1. I
am sure enough of my petition going thru to make such a statement.
School should be over along about the 1st or 2d
week in Sept so I can come home for awhile. Also there will be some
time after this next semester when I will be home. The more I think
about it, the worse I feel. I guess I shouldn’t have any time to
think. Whenever I do I only become discontented with my future. Sort
of like looking a gift-horse in this teeth I guess.
Two other fellows I
know from here have accepted jobs with the same company. Both of them
are graduate students in chem. eng. One of them is from “down south
in Alabama” who probably thinks this Iowa winter is too much to
stand and also understand. First it is very cold for awhile, then it
gets nice warm, and then turns foggy and sort of raw. That is the
kind of weather we have been having for about ½ week now.
Even in all of this
mental blackness there are some light spots however. The music shop
this morning was very good I thought. He even had, “Voices of
Spring” on. Whispering voices, I guess. And then of course there is
the two very welcome interludes every week when daddy’s and
mother’s letters come. And then there is always the matter of
walking to church Sunday morning, especially when it is nice. I am
beginning to think that everybody who is physically able should be
required to walk a half mile or a mile, or mile and a half or two
miles to church on Sunday morning. On a nice day I think it is more
of a service than the actual liturgy, sermon etc. On a day that isn’t
so nice, it makes you appreciate more that which you are walking for.
This may sound
queer, but I actually believe it. Church services are very good and
the Bible and other religious writings are necessary to understand
what we believe and how we should act etc. but for a really thoro
understanding of the wonder of God and his creation (as far as a
human is capable of understanding it) there is nothing like getting
out where the creation can really get at you. Fundamental or not,
that is the way I think. Incidentally at L.S.A. we have started the
study of the Augsburg confession. This I think will be rather interesting. Also, when I got down here
after Christmas I was unable to locate my devotional booklet. Its
somewhere but where I don’t know. So I have been simply reading as
I felt from the Bible. Not so good but all right I guess.
Well my room-mate
wants to go downtown & eat now so I guess I will close and go
along.
With love
C.P.
P.S. I’ll try to
remember to send my old cap home next laundry bag.
P.S. Thank you,
mother and father, for writing to me. I will address my letters to
you all, but whoever doesn’t write to me doesn’t get any thanks
either.
Posts
