8 Apr 1939
John Griffin to Mother / Arlington, VA
Dear Mother,
I put Elsie Mae on the bus for New York at 5:15 this morning and I suppose she will have arrived and spent several hours sight seeing by this time. I would liked very much to have taken her up there myself, but we are so busy at the office that I just did dare ask for the time off. She didn't arrive here until Wednesday morning, and she beat the card she sent so no one was home when she arrived. The colored maid was here though so she got in all right, The cherry blossoms were still out so we took her around to see them that night. Last night she and Ernie and Marge and her boy friend went to the "Pirates Den" a new night club here and had a lot of fun, She is going to stay at the McAlpin Hotel in New York.
I talked to Via Wallace who is in the State Department on her going over on a German Boat. He did riot think that it mattered very much whether she was on a German boat. In fact he said that should trouble break out the German Boat would probably be taken into tow by a British battleship and she would go to a British Port. Of course he does not think that the European situation looks very good right now, but then I assume that Ben can take care of her once she gets ever there, and Don does not feel like there is going to be trouble right away. Anyway I do hope that she has a good time and that everything works out OK. I wired Marcus to meet her but I don t know whether he could get off work to do so. Anyway I told her how to get to the Hotel from the bus station and she is going down to see the steamship company as soon as she gets there, about getting her bags on the boat. I hope that by the time she comes home I can get up to New York to mast her, She was going to leave last night but when the chance came for the party last night she decided to stay until this morning. She won't have much time in New York for sight seeing, taut probably can do that on the way home.
Verna Jackson just brought Bob home aid now he wants to run this, eat crackers and most everything else all at the same time. He is feeling himself again and is eating like a horse, He was a pretty sick boy a week ago last Sunday. The doctor gave him this new drug sulpalnimide and it cured him in short order, I don't know whether they use it out there or not but it is quite widely used here and is very effective. They say it is especially good on colds, pneumonia and all infectious diseases. He is a regular little chatterbox lately but does not may much. Right now he is raising the devil because he just finished his cracker and I wont give him another, one. It will spoil his dinner if I do.
We have been having rather cold wet weather here lately. Yesterday it rained all day long, but today id it has cleared and is much colder. I guess it will go from winter into summer with not much spring the way it usually does, though the trees are beginning to show green now and it makes you feel that it is spring even if it is cold, I guess I'll have to sign off and feed Bob, Write often.
John.
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