October 9, 1942

C.P.S. #23
Coshocton, Ohio
Oct. 9, 1942

Dear home folks,

Your last letter had a lot of good news in it. I guess things come out pretty well if we wait long enough. I’m sure glad that the sick people are better also that the corn is going to be picked. From what Opal say about the corn, it will be pretty good picking. The first time for several years that I havn’t picked corn.

You will find my sugar book in the letter. It seems that they don’t need them to get sugar for the camp. So if you can manage to get sugar with it, you might use some of it to make me some candy or cookies. You could send it in those tin film boxes that we got at the fair I think there are three upstairs that I bot. Nearly all of the fellows get stuff from home and from people that feel sorry for them I guess. Well, they are very generous and pass stuff around, so I’m sort of in the hole. I’ve even gotten in the habit of eating before going to bed. There are a bunch of guys in my end of the dorm that have an electric coffie pot and every once in a while they have tea party and sometimes they have hot chocolate and always bread and jam. They bring the jam from home when they come back from furlough, we get the bread from the kitchen. They insisted so that I finally consented to eat with them and now I’m a regular tea party man. I even drank some tea the other day, it had a lemon in it and didn’t taste like tea. Well, that’s the eating story.

Ab and Opal and I took a week-end trip last Sat. and Sun. Stayed all night in Dayton O. The town was full of defense workers and soldiers. We went with a guy that wanted to see a friend of his in a small town near Dayton, but his friend wasn’t home so we went on to Dayton and saw the big defense city, the third largest defense city in the US. I went to church with the fellow that took us he is a Baptist named Francis Clark. We went to a big Baptist church, the biggest that I have ever been in. It was world-wide Communion Sunday and so I comunioned with them. I still think it is a lot of hooey. However it was a very solem service. That was sure a swanky church tho, they had a bunch of ushers that wore long tailed coats and standup colars and only seated late comers between songs and stuff. This guy I was with thinks a lot like we do about the Bible and believes in evangelism and that people must be saved, which is a little odd around here. Some of the fellows here don’t even think there is a heaven.

As for my work, I like it better than the kitchen, tho I havn’t been on any set job yet. I guess I’m sort of an odd job man for the Hydrolic Engineer. I have been working on what they call an experimental water-shed. There are five flumes on each of the two water-sheds that I have been working on. They are similar to the pictures on the Sept. issue of Seed, expect one is quite abit larger and the rest are smaller than the one on the picture. The article on flumes in that paper sort of explains what they are for. Today I installed a rainguage. It looks something like a ten gallon cream can with a hole in the top for the rain to run in. Then in the side about two thirds to the bottom is a door with a glass window. Inside is a lot of works to weigh the rain as it falls and record it on a chart that will tell the time it starts and the rise in rainfall and when it stops. All I had to do was stake down a wonden base and fasten it on with lag screws. It had to be level which took a little time.

The county has been exceptionally Pretty this week, we have so many pretty trees here and they all have a different color now. We had our frost a couple weeks ago and few days of cold weather.

The new issue of Seed has just come out tonight and will probably be mailed tue. The fellow that drew the Cover page sleeps across from me and we were kidding him about the pitchfork he drew. You will notice it the first thing. He says that the dunb sack you see is alright cause what looks like the bottom is just a shadow. You won’t know what this is about till you see Seed. The Seed costs me 2 ½ cents per copy and you can save me that. You will find a subscription blank in the copy I’m sending you. But you may not want to subscribe, I might find a detached service project that I like before the year is up. So far I don’t like anything we have had a chance at.

The clothing you found are mine but I don’t need them here. I may want my bed blankets later on tho, I’l tell you when. I left a pair of those long metatarsel pads around somewhere, I didn’t think I’d need them but I wish you’d send them if you can find them. My left foot has been hurting a little when a I do a lot of walking the last couple of days.

Keep praying for better days, I’ll have to quit now.

I’m going to write to Eileen someday yet.

Yours,
Bernard

P.S. [illegible]