A Letter written on Sep 26, 1920

Connecticut College
New London, Conn.
September 26, 1920.

Dear Miss Turner -

My mental telepathy apparatus has been working over time sending out messages to you; but for fears yours may not be in good receiving condition I am going to try ink and paper.

I do hope your sciatica has stopped "sciating"; somehow it doesn't seem to go with you at all. Did you get your tramp in? I haven't heard from Eleanor or Dothy [sic] Eliz. so don't know how things turned out. Did Eleanor get the position you spoke of? I do hope she got something good.

How I wish I could get to see you - so near and yet so far! I had hopes of getting up to So. Hadley early this fall to register to vote (voting can be done by mail in Mass.) but the Town Clerk informs me that I am not elegible [sic] - which means that I can't vote at all this first time, for D.C. has no suffrage at all. Of course I suppose I could come to So. Hadley without registering, but it would be terribly hard to get off. Of course if I could have registered I would have let some things slide, especially after President Marshall's opening talk to the college.

But things started off with a book here Wednesday the 22nd; I gave my first lecture from 11:15 to 12:05 A.M. and thoroughly enjoyed myself doing so, tho whether the students did so is another question. I noticed one give me a yawn or two, but I have kept my eye on her since, and I believe she is one of the perennially-bored kind. It will be fun to see how near I can come to waking her up. I think I am going to enjoy the year immensely, tho I shan't have time to loaf. I'm hoping tho' to get time off to get to So. Hadley sometime this semester, at mid-years anyway, provided you are planning to be there part of that time. Then I shall have plenty to talk about, Woods Hole and all sorts of things; and I shall want to hear all about Mt. H.; and I shall want to ask bushels of questions abut physiology. I expect I shall pester you from time to time about the latter anyway - and right now before I forget it, will you send me the method of clearing embryos to show the bones - the centers of ossification? I never did any - and worse than that, I never took down the method either in my mind or in my notebook. I know KOH was used, but that doesn't help me an awful lot. We are rather devoid of specimens for physiology - haven't even a human skeleton. Every time I turn around I think of something that we haven't that would be so nice to have - Deaver, for instance. I'm afraid it will be some time before anything so expensive as Deaver must be, will be acquired. Of course so many many things are lacking in so new a place; but on the other hand it will be fine trying to see what you can do without them.

There are only six in the physiology - which of course makes it easier to get along with little, but there are some things thare ("thare" is abbreviation for "that are".) needed about as badly for a few as many.

We are not using (or will not be using) either of your outlines for the class, but refer to them ourselves, and extract parts of them, partly because he have not half of the equipment that would be needed, and partly because this class has had different preparation. They have all had two courses in zoology (except one girl who has had lots of Nutritional work) and yet none have dissected a mammal. So they are sort of in between the two classes at Mt. H. An example of lack of equipment - I don't think there's enough glassware here for two people to do some of those digestion experiments, yet if we had more we would have to hang it to the ceiling or out the window. Wel We have only one sink in the lab. and that sink has only one spiggot (both for hot & cold.) There's another sink and spiggot in Miss D's office (which is mine also.) [We haven't any couch in it.

Neither have we a Hazeltene to fix up chemicals etc (if we had them) nor have we a Mrs. Moody to wash glassware, and to dust. The janitor sweeps and with much persuasion empties the wastebasket and garbage-can, but we have to do our own dusting. The men very assiduously close the windows, however, - when you don't want them closed.

Friday was a rather hectic day because I didn't have the lab. outline ready. Later one we can get students to do typewriting but their schedules have been so uncertain this past week that it has been impossible to get hold of them So I had to do my own typewriting and I didn't finish in time. Miss D. has a typewriter, but it's a rather an antique one with no back-spacer (which I have need of often), and moreover its ribbon spindle was a little "off." There is a new Fox typewriter for the faculty to use, when the students in typewriting are not using it, but I hadn't heard about it then.

We dissected rabbits instead of cats. I hinted mildly to Miss Dederer that I was used to cats, but she said the girls didn't mind dissecting rabbits as much as cats, and besides it would be a lot of trouble to get cats whereas one of the professors was raising rabbits for us. So I thought since I had numerous other things to do, it would be nice to have the rabbits brought to us, and too, it would be a good time to get used to rabbits. But you can't imagine how I wished for one good old cat Friday. Cats somehow seem so much firmer inside, - then too, their organs do not spill overboard so easily; and they are more diagrammatic inside. I should think the girls would rather dissect cats than rabbit because they know they won't ever want to eat cats anyway, whereas they might rabbits. I heard one of the girls say she didn't think she would want rabbit for some time. As for me, I'm impervious as far as that's concerned, but give me cats.

It surely is one beautiful place here - the college is upon a plateau overlooking the Thames River and the Sound. We have been having glorious weather lately except yesterday and to-day have been fiendishly hot and humid here.

My room looks out on the river - way up and down. There is a submarine base a little way up - it looks like a bed of flowers at night, it has so many electric lights. I'm about a 10 minute walk from the college, which I don't mind at all - gives me exercise, but I do mind being 12 or 15 min. from meals. But then I'm no worse off than most of the faculty. Another thing I miss is the faculty parlor - you know we used to have such fun for about a half hour every night after dinner in Porter. after Well, here, the faculty sort of fade out into thin hor air after dinner.

We only have an hour at lunch time - which keeps us lab. people hustling, I tell you. Then I'm afraid I'm going to have two 8 oclock lab. classes. Miss D. has two already. The beginning Zoo. class is so large that we have got to make an extra section and that seems to be the only time. It will be decided to-morrow. Of course an 8 o'clock zoo. class is not as bad as an 8 o'clock physiology. They have to have the hours spread out so over the day because there are not enough rooms or teachers to accommodate several classes in one subject going on at once.

Friday afternoon and Saturday will be my easy times. I might as well show you my schedule as I think it will be.

	Mon.	Tu.	Wed.	Thurs.	Fri.	Sat.
8:00	Zo. 1 Lab.		<--	Zo. 1 Lab.
8:50	Chapel	Chapel	Chapel	Chapel	Chapel	Chapel
9:15	Zo. 1 Lab.		<--	Zo. 1 Lab.
10:15					Physiol Lab.
11:15	Physiol. Lect.		Physiol. Lect.		"    "
1		Zo. 1. Lecture (listen)		Zo. 1. Lecture (listen)
2	Zo. 1 Lab.	Zo. 1 Lab.	Zo. 1 Lab.	Zo. 1 Lab.
3	Zo. 1 Lab.	Zo. 1 Lab.	Zo. 1 Lab.	Zo. 1 Lab.
4
5		Convocation

The Tues. afternoon, Wed. morn. & Wed. aft. Zo labs will be all alike; and the Thurs. aft. & Mon. morn. & aft. Zo. labs will be alike. Miss Dederer has Zo. 2 lectures and lab. Tues. and Thurs. mornings, and then Histology lab. Friday afternoon and lecture Sat. moring. [sic] She and I both have the Zo. 1 lab. Tues. and Thurs. afternoon - a big section.

At least that's how we hope it will come out - but whether the students can so arrange themselves is another question.

My schedule really isn't so very heavy, except that of course where you have everything to do - errands & all, it takes time.

I've met the gym. faculty and like them very much. Guess who one of them is? - Miss Leonard who took that Industrial Hygiene course for Training Heath [sic] Officers at Mt. H. in 1918. I was sure I had seen her somewhere. Miss Sniveley, the director is great. She says there was some chance of Florence McArdle being here. I wished it had turned out that way. I hear Florence is at Chicago.

I forgot to say that I like Miss Dederer very much, tho not as much as some other physiology teachers I know. Of course I haven't known her long, but I'm sure I will like her very very much. I think I'm going to enjoy the year immensely (as I believe I said before), and I'm getting fat already.

Please remember me to all the Mt. H. people I know, and if you should by chance come to New London (to inspect hospitals, etc.) please let me know & I'll be at the Station.

Lots of love
Mary Jane.