December 10, 1942

Dec. 10, 1942

425 S. Cabrillo

San Pedro, Calif.

Dear father, mother and the rest at home,

Just think, tomorrow is only two weeks from Christmas. It hardly seems real. No snow, the vegetation still green — more like an Indian summer day altho the smell of fall is not in the air and of course the leaves of the trees are not falling off. This morning when I was eating breakfast, somebody was singing “Jingle Bells” on the radio when there wasn’t a snow within miles. I suppose that up in the mountains there is some tho.

The weather here this past week has, in general, been colder than previously. When the sun is out it usually warms up fair but it isn’t above the horizon more than about 9 or 9½ hours now and it really doesn’t shine until after 10 or 10:30 so it doesn’t get in very many good licks. Altho the cold here is nothing like in Iowa, nevertheless you feel it — more or less by contrast I suppose. Sometimes when I am walking to work I almost wish that I were wearing long underwear.

Incidentally, speaking of walking reminds me that I have purchased some new work shoes. My brown sponge-rubber bottomed ones were disintegrating in from ever since I spilled some catalytic acid on them some time ago. Moreover they were getting run over as my old brown ones did and I was afraid that it might result in another corn. The shoes I got cost $4.49 which was too much I thought but they seemed to be the only thing available that looked o.k. I got them at Penney’s. I was wearing light stockings when I got them last Saturday and when I wore them to work with heavy stockings for the first time they felt almost tight but they are better now. Ii think that when they get broken in they will be all right. On the whole, I probably do as much or more walking here as I did while going to school so it sort of shows up on your shoes.

I have acquired one of my usual pebbles in my shoes this week when I allowed myself to be elected pres. of the Luther League here. Why I ever let myself in for things like this is beyond me. I guess I should never have started going in the first place. I really think that I am too old to be engaged in such work, and besides I guess I’m too lazy or too uninterested to want any responsibility. However I suppose that I can do it for a year. I’ve done it before.

One thing I’ll never forget when I was pres of the Gowrie L.L. was the time the ice cream social was being discussed and when I was stating a motion or something before the house, I called it the strawberry festival and everybody sort of snickered. I couldn’t figure out right away what was going on. Which incident in turn reminds me of the time in high school we were doing pantomimes in class and I was turning around regularly in front of the class with a hole in the back of my pants. As I remember, after class, Dale Coffin took them down to the home economics room and had them sewed up.

There is a very real shortage in eggs, cream and meat here in southern Calif. Butter is practically non-existent — a margarine being used instead. However I cannot tell the difference. Several times recently I have not been able to have eggs for breakfast — simply because there wasn’t any. As for the meat shortage, I cannot really detect it, since there is always meat on the restaurant menu but I guess that sometimes it is rather hard to get at the meat shops.

The new distillation column set up in the laboratory is now all fixed up but only three columns are running because two of the heads have been damaged. One has been patched up with rubber tubing for some time and the other was broken in 4 parts a couple of nights ago by George while trying to get some tubing off one of the outlets. Fortunately, it broke at advantageous points so that it can be mended. On of these heads is worth about $35. In common with the rest of the columns they are made of glass and so are very subject to damage. Since there are five heads available, three columns are running. The new distillation (bubble-plate) column is a two piece affair, jointed in the middle which is a mistake I think as I believe it might get broken that way more easily.

Lately I have been running bromine values mostly. I have gotten so that I can do quite a few of them in a night. Last night I did 14 but one night I did 19 which is the most I have ever done. These bromine values are being obtained in connection with a hydrogenation and desulfurization run on Plant IV. This is another important use for this catalyst because in this way, a cracked gasoline can be saturated and thus made available for use as airplane fuel. Unsaturated fuels are not allowed for airplane use because of gum-forming tendencies.

The runs on Plant IV were tests at different temperatures, pressures, H₂ flow and space velocities, I suppose to determine optimum operating conditions. A new unit, called Plant IX has now been set up which does this same thing on a large scale. The B.V.’s from this unit are really low, less than 1 usually which is really something.

I was at Pastor Wellington’s for dinner last Sunday. They have also asked me for Christmas day which I appreciated very much. I do not think (or have I mentioned this before) that I will have to work on Christmas day. I surely hope that I do not. The church here has early morning services as at home but I am afraid that it will not seem quite the same.

I haven’t been in the book store for almost a week now — an example I think worthy of note in avoiding temptation. Last weekend I went to a show called “A Yank at Eton” with Mickey Rooney in it which I thought was pretty good. I have gotten so that on quite a few weekends I go to a show. Do you think that is too often? After dinner on Sat I usually feel too lazy to do anything, even drawing, so I just let myself wander in to a show. I sort of think it is the reaction after working all week. Altho why it didn’t happen at home when I worked just as much is a question I can’t answer? Perhaps it is that the work here is more exacting — I don’t know.

Last night I was reading in I Corinthians, the seventh chapter and I just could not help thinking of Clarice. I am afraid that she is going to get married to him, I really am. Altho I suppose it isn’t anything to be afraid of if they really love each other, which it sort of sounds like they do. Just think, some day I may be Uncle Carl and you may be grandmother and grandfather. How old we are!

I suppose you read in the newspapers about the bad fire in Boston. One of the victims was a fellow named Goss, an electrical engineer, who graduated at Iowa last June. This was too bad since he was very intelligent I thought.

With love

C.P.