February 5, 1943

C. P. S. #59
Elkton, Oregon
Feb. 5, 1943

Dear Kin-folk,

How time does fly. In a few days I’ll have been in CPS 6 months. It sure doesn’t seem like that long. Tho a lot has happened.

I got your letter dated Sun. today which is Fri. Is that fast or slow fro airmail? How long does it take for my letters to reach you? Would it help if I’d go to sending them Airmail?

I’m glad that you liked that letter. It has been so long that I forgot what I wrote and my carbon copy is over at the dorm. I’m in the wood-shop now. I found that I get more letters written if I stay in here than if I get some one else to keep shop and go to the dorm to write. When I try to write in the dorm I get to talking with some one and the first thing I know it is 1:00 and I have to go to bed or I won’t feel like getting up for meditation.

You are right about the town not being able to supply the boys with candy and stuff. We have a Co-op store in camp run by some of the fellows that want it bad enough. They sell shares to any one in camp that wants one at two bits each. Then we get a share of the profits in proportion to what we bought. The Co-op sells a little candy when they have it. On Tuesdays the head cook and some of the office men go to Eugene to buy supplies and they usually bring back some Ice cream of some sort to be sold in the Co-op. also they sell fig bars or fig newtens and some other kinds of cookies. The Co-op handles toilet articles and a few other items like stationary and ink.

That ‘Buck’ you pined on the corner is appreciated. It will go into some worthy cause, or at least I’ll think so at the time.

Imagine “Toots” weighing 108# and being taller than you, Mama. I’ll bet I won’t know her when I see her again. I hope they don’t take a nothion to shut off Civilian travel altogether before I get to come home.

So Charles is going in for skating and Mary. Well I always said that Mary was a cute kid. And I always like to skate with her. I suspect that I would be above going on Sun. night tho. That makes Charles quite an old sinner don’t it. He’s about as bad as Harry, you know he seldom went to church on Sun. nights at Osky. However I doubt our concern will change his mind any. In myself I have had a disire for freedom from restraint many times and most of the time I have stifled this disire. But occasionally I would break down and do something out of the beaten path. Like one time Harry and I drove to Jeff one Sun. night last summer to see some show after church. Well that was quite a departure for me. I wonder if Charles may feel something the same and want to do something after being on the shelf sort of and also sticking pretty close to church too. Then of course there is the “Mary” side of it too. There is a guy here in camp that will darn near worry himself sic once in a while because he’s afraid that all the girls will be gone when we get out of CPS.

Say but I really enjoy this job. This guy that was working with me is the original gaget maker. He is far worse than I ever will be. We had a great time making gagets and fixing up the shop, then the Assistant Director went on furlough and we chose him to take his place so I lost my good man, but he is very good as assistant director. He knows how to get a long with people. I have a pretty good man helping me now tho. He has been a ‘carpenter’s helper’ and then in the last few years he built himself a house. He has never wirked with any power tools tho. There are several guys here that know more about some of this work than I do but I just let on like I know everything and don’t say too much and no one finds out. I’ve found that if you use your head you can figure out the right way and it is the way that I manage to give good service and keep the job. Right now we are building drafting tables. We made two and now they have brought us some lumber that is supposed to be clear kiln dried Ponderosia Pine. It is not clear at all every one of the boards has a knot but it isn’t very big, and there are going to be two tables made entirely of warped boards. They are soft tho and that is better than fir. I’ll tell you more about it some time.

Time to quit and go to bed. Sat. is a busy day.

I have read a little of the Eugene guy’s prophesys and it is rather interesting. I’ll send it home if I ever get it done.

Yours,
Bernard