November 22, 1942

C. P. S. #23
Coshocton, Ohio
Nov. 22

Dear folks,

I’m still alive and seem to be keeping ahead of the cold. My winter underwear feel pretty good some of these mornings. We have been having some warmer wether for the last days till today.

It is Sunday night now, about 9:00. We had one of the few local preachers in tonite that aren’t against us. We had one last Sun. nite too and it was really good to hear a real sermon again tho they just talked to us it was different than what we had been hearing from various campers.

This camp is about to be reduced through the winter to about 100 men. We have about 158 now. Now that the election is over the detached service projects are opening up rather supprisingly. There was a couple of Drs. from a Mental hospital at Cleveland today and they will take 20 men and would like a lot more if the NSBRO thought it wise to concentrate so many men in one hospital right at the first. So I guess there will be 20 fellows leave here next week fro the Cleveland Hospital. I imagine there will be a lot of this sort of work in the future. I think I shall stick to this camp till I figure I have exhausted its possibilities which seem to be amazing. I’m getting to like this country more and find that there is some better farm land not so far from here but this land around camp here is not fit to farm.

Thanks for the Dollar, a little money has to go a long way here and I sure appreciate it. Thanks for the cookies too. Say, isn’t postage quite an item? I see a lot of stamps on the stuff you send. I really can’t say as any kind of cookies havn’t been as good as the others but the ones that stand the trip best are the chewy type. Perhaps you can’t always tell whether they will end up chewy or not. This last batch was in good shape except one kind and they were pretty well pulverized. They sure must handle that stuff rough. The other fellows always rave about the Iowa cookies and they only last through about one tea party. I have few left to piece on when there aren’t too many around. There was one kind that some of the thot were very good, they said they had heard them called Tollhouse cookies, they had little chunks of chocolate but they were the ones that crumbled the worst. I imagine that the more cookies you can get into the box the better they will travel, it seems to me that it is the rattleing around that crumbles them. Also we need some rags to wash the printing press with and maybe you can pack some around the cookies next time. Don’t make cookies too often for me I’m sure tha the rest of the family needs some attention too.

I think that by the time my blankets get here I will want them. So you had better send them now. The temperature doesn’t go so low but it certainly cools off at night and sheets feel pretty cool when you turn over. I suppose you know what blankets I’m talking about. Those two sheet blankets that I bot. when I was at school. Not the heavy ones. We have four or five wool army blankets each, depending on the distance from the stove and personal taste. I am the third bed from the stove and the third from the door which puts me in the temperate zone.

I’m giving you that list of stuff I’d like for you to include with the blankets if you can locate it. My Discipline, those pamphlets on “What Should a Christian Do?” by E. Stanely Jones, the belt to my raincoat, and you might pick up a few “Young People’s Weeklies”. I miss the good short stories that they have. Say do suppose that you could send the Y.P. Weekly to me? May you could put a couple of them together in one packages and stick as stamp on them. I think that if all you put on them is my address they will go as second class mail which is cheeper.

Now about that Chocolate business. One of our tea party guys’ mother sent him some Chocolate in a box, it looks like cocoa but it had some of the things that make it good just mixed with hot water. Well if you happen to see anything along that line I could use it. You’d never know me, I sit up way late and drink tea even and eat cookies and talk over stuff and things. I really enjoy it I have ever had such a variety of people to get aquainted with.

I’m still praying fro all of you, don’t work too hard, you only live once so you may as well enjoy it.

Some of us unsilent people here are starting a sort of mid-week meeting. This morning there was a discussion on the Sunday School lesson and they are going to continue that too. I sort of missed those things.

Yours
Bernard

Thanks for all the trouble I am to you I guess you love(?) it tho.