Sunday [July 7, 1918]
I was going to sleep this morning but there is a miserable paper boy with a most marvelous voice who patrols the neighborhood, evidently on a wheel. When he's right in front of the house his calls are appalling in their penetration and they are audible most of the time so I judge his beat is a short one. It's not so early, though, so I'll see if I can get a letter of some length to you today to tell you more about this place. You won't mind if I sit in my evening clothes. They are cool and I don't want to disturb Miss Newell by going into the bathroom in the process of getting dressed.
So you'd not like my packing box? Mrs. Keiser went to much trouble to make it and cover it and I'd not like to seem unappreciative. To use her expression I'll just not "pay any mind" to its idiosyncrasies for the present. You see Louisville is filled to overflowing with officers' families and I don't know how many places Miss Newell tried before she got this house. One place she tried for a while was $35 a month for room alone and other places had like disadvantages. Then this is very convenient for us because of the nearness to the hospital. Not many of the blocks in this region are suitable for habitation. Next block is absolutely black. Somewhere not far off is a region where soldiers are forbidden - bit I don't know about that locality yet. I do know that I cashed an express package into one region where I'll not go alone again. 'Twas too dusky in here and such terrible faces! Was really a little scared in spite of two years on 59th Street. And this room is beautifully cook with a breeze coming in most of the time through the big windows.
One of the girls had a long, enthusiastic letter from Miss Peck now in N.Y. I guess Dr. Graves and Miss Newell are relieved to have her depart for she did make diplomatic errors in her behavior with the internes and doctors. Anything of the ♂ sex, especially one of the older divorced men, was irresistible and required much attention and time out of the hours supposed to belong to bacteriology. She was quick in her work, though, so she had spare time. For instance she had made up a lot of vaccines so she'd take a tube, pour some of the emulsion into it, look at the turbidity and say "That contains about 2 billion organisms per c.c." Now the two I made up last week had to be carefully counted against blood cells and with the new autopsy needle I did have such a time drawing enough blood - at once - to count. Used Wright's method.
Had another choice autopsy yesterday - a medico-legal affair. This person had been buried six or seven weeks Somewhat mouldy in spots. Terrible serious affair with witnesses for family, witnesses for Insurance Co., witnesses for coroner, person to take dictated notes (me) from Dr. Graves. Very thorough and long. Had to go downtown to lunch because the hospital meal was over.
Oh, I was going to tell you about our simple fare. The dining room is arranged like this:
Nurses sit at the six side tables and the two [center] tables have the odds and ends. x = I. The food is well cooked and there's plenty of it but it's usually meat and potato and a hot vegetable for dinner and meat and potato and fruit for supper. Corn bread at dinner. War bread at night. Once once have we had lettuce and you know - now much later - and we had cucumbers & lettuce and tomatoes all in one day, so I'll not continue that remark. Two or three times a week we have desert [sic] but not every day.
By the way before I forget to ask, what kind of people are in your school and where did they come from, and what did they have to know? Why don't you present the black legged damsel with a safety razor blade and let her shave her shins? I'll be glad for you when this school is done. Won't you then please not take up something for every minute every day in the week? You'd have a considerably longer letter if I hadn't torn up a sheet relative to your hyperactivity. I wrote it this morning and decided tonight that maybe I'd better not send it. Consequently it's in small pieces in the waste basket, and you'll be saved the annoyance of being severely dealt with. It's rather hard on us, though, when you get so involved you don't have time to play a little bit. Naturally that doesn't affect me much now for I'll be here all but two weeks out of a year, but I did hate - oh , well, what's the use of talking. I suppose by the time it gets around to my vacation I'll be feeling quite differently. It's time to write home so I'll send you my love,
I don't know the textbook in Anat. recommended at P. & S. Gray is one the girls talked about, also Cunningham, & Piersol, too, I think. Dr. Graves thought maybe I could do a little anatomy here at odd moments, but I don't know whether it will materialize or not.