16 Oct 1939
John Griffin to Mother / Chicago, IL

Write me at 205 U. S. Court House Bldg.. Chicago, Illinois. c/o Bureau of Motor Carriers Interstate Commerce Commission.

Hotel Berkshire
15 East Ohio Street
CHICAGO October 16, 1939

Dear Mother,

It is two weeks tomorrow since I left Washington for Chicago, and I wrote you the day I arrived here. I don't remember receiving an answer and so this is just a little reminder. No doubt you have been very busy since Elsie arrived home and with all the excitement I will forgive you for not writing. In get awfully lonesome out here though and would enjoy hearing from you very much. You might remind Elsie that I would like to hear as to her safe arrival, and tell Donny and Dad that they both owe me a letter.

I have been here most of two weeks, and it seems that we haven't done very much yet. This is such a big case, and after we're through with it I don't know whether we will have anything or not. Recently we have been doing real detective work, hanging around saloons and following trucks.. None of it is dangerous though. If things, get tough then we get the U. S. Marshals to take things over. You see under the Motor Carrier Act all trucks and buses were put under federal regulation. To operate they have to have authority from the Interstate Commerce commission just like the railroads do and they are authorized to haul just certain things between certain points. Here in Chicago there are a lot of trucks operating without authority. A bunch of service stations have sort of got together and act as agents to get these illegitimate truckers loads, and we were sent out here to bust it up. It is a slow process but I think we will succeed in the end.

I guess it seemed good to have Elsie home again. I had a letter from Ben the other day by Clipper (the first one since the war started) saying that the government was going to send Marian and the kids home right soon and wanted us to go to New York to meet them He didn't say just when they were coming but said that they would let us know in time to meet them. He said that he was trying hard to get a transfer, and that since the war broke out there was quite a bit of chance that he might get one. I think that would be pretty tough on both Marian and him for her to be over here, however, with Germany really going after things I suppose that it isn't safe to keep the kids over there. I don't think Ben need worry as long as he is working there in the Embassy I certainly don't thing Germany would dare bomb the American Embassy.

This traveling life is surely the bunk. I get so tired of hotels and restaurants that I don't know what to do. I am hoping that when I get a permanent assignment I wont have to be away from home so much. I am going to try hard to put up with it for three or four years and if I don't get something better where I don't have to travel so much by then I'LL quit and go back to Washington and try and find me something there.

Since I've been here Rig and Nedra have surely been swell to me. They have had me out to dinner both Sundays. Rig is as busy as a one legged toe dancer with the itch these days. He is trying to take care of-a doctors office during the evening and night, go to school, and conduct a lot of research for some foundation. He took me up to his research labs the other day. He has a whole bunch of rats and dogs he is feeding and giving certain shots. He says the experiments are working out much as he expected and he is quite satisfied with them. He seems very competent and is a swell kid. You know I hadn't seen him for some ten years.

I also saw John Smith. He was playing in an orchestra out here in one of the big hotels. I had dinner with him one night and then he came up to the hotel another night. He looks fine and says that he is trying to save enough money to go to school another two years so that he can teach music in California.. He left yesterday for a touring schedule which will end up in New York sometime in November. He is with Will Osborne's Orchestra.

Well this started out to be only a reminder.. I do have some other letters to write though so I'll sign off. Please write often as I get awfully lonesome here.

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