HARDWOOD RECORD 



27 



A Forestri; Student's Letters to His Father 



The following are extracts from the per- 

 sonal letters of one of the forty boys of the 

 Biltmore Forest School who accompanied Dr. 

 Schenck to Darmstadt. Germany, last month, 

 where they will pursue their studies during 

 the winter. In the spring the boys will return 

 to America and will take up their work on 

 tlie property of the Little River Lumber Com 

 pany at Townsend, Tenn. During the summer 

 they will be located at the operations of the 

 C. A. Goodyear Lumber Company at Tomah, 

 Wis., and later they will spend a month at 

 one of the chief lumber manufai>tnring points 

 in Michigan. 



These letters are breezy and boyish, and 

 every lumberman who is the father of a boy 

 will enjoy them. More of these letters will 

 appear in the Record from time to time. 



Diary Aboard Ship 



Tuesday, Nov. 9. 



We sailed at 9 o 'cloek. I waved good- 

 bye to Father until we were out of sight, then 

 went below and wrote letters to be mailed oif 

 Sandy Hook at 11 'clock. 



An amusing thing happened when Hutchin- 

 son, commonly called the "wood Pussy" 

 among the foresters, got left and came steam- 

 ing up alongside the Pottsdam aboard a tug, 

 which he hailed from the dock. It cost him 

 $1.5 for getting left. Were outside by 12 

 o'clock and at 2 o'clock out of sight of land. 

 Weather fair and I have not felt seasick as 

 yet. At 4 o'clock the band played for an 

 hour. After supper we sat around and sang 

 songs and told stories with Doe Schenck. 



Wednesday, Nov. 10. 



Arose at 9 'clock ; had hot salt bath, fol- 

 lowed by a cold shower; breakfast at 9:30. 

 Weather tine and although the boat pitched 

 considerably I have not been sick. The ocean 

 is never smooth, they tell me, and this is the 

 way the boat always rocks. 



ileals aboard are fine. For dinner I ate 

 more than I have ever eaten before, I believe. 

 This afternoon, I slept outside in my steamer 

 chair until the band began to play. Watched 

 the prettiest sunset I have ever seen. 



The wind is coming up tonight and they 

 say it will be rough tomorrow. Went to bed 

 at 10:30 after playing bridge for two hours. 



Thursday, Nov. 11. 

 Arose at 9 'clock ; had my bath. The 

 boat pitched considerably, but I did not feel 

 it. Had breakfast at 9:30 and at 10 Doc 

 started lectures on Sylviculture. Later I 

 slept until dinner at 2 'clock, in my steamer 

 chair. I am outdoors most of the time. This 

 salt air sure is great, and how one does 

 sleep! The wind blew like the deuce this 

 afternoon, coming from the East; later it 

 changed to the North, and tonight the boat 

 rolled so Harold beat it to his bunk right 

 after supper. 



Friday, Nov. 12. 

 I awoke at seven in the morning at an 

 awful sound. The boat seemed to be turning 

 over on its side and my suit case came sail- 

 ing down from the bunk above and scattered 

 its contents all over the floor. Jones rang 

 the bell for the Dutch steward, who tends our 

 room. He is the Dutchest Dutchman I ever 

 saw. Cannot speak a word of English and 

 we talk to him in sign language. He began 

 to pick up my things when I winked to 

 Jonesic and we both started to make a noise 



like we were vomiting on him. You should 

 have seen him boat it out of there. Yester- 

 day he told me that he makes $8.00 per month 

 plus his living. I finally managed to get out 

 of my bunk, but, Lord, how that boat did 

 roll ! It seemed every time we rocked that 

 something was pulling the bottom out of my 

 stomach. I managed to dress and get into 

 the closet, when in came some puking Dutch- 

 man, who shot his bunch from the door to 

 all three closets and all over the floor. That 

 got me going and I beat it up on deck, to 

 see huge mountains of water rolling toward 

 me, so that I concluded to go below again 

 and managed to drop in my bunk just in time 

 to save myself from losing my lunch. 



I stayed there until four 'clock in the 

 afternoon, then I managed to get up on deck 

 again, where I stayed until suppei , which I 

 ate in my bed. I cannot go near the dining- 

 room in rough weather. It rocks too much 

 and the smell 's enough to make you sick, 

 alone. I went to bed at eight o'clock, after 

 carefully perusing the ' ' Wireless News. ' ' 

 They print a paper aboard each day with 

 the important news of the day as well as 

 stock market reports. 



Saturday, Nov. 13. 



This morning I arose and felt much better. 

 The wind has shifted to the east again, and 

 the boat pitches but does not rock any more. 

 I feel quite like myself today and I do not 

 believe I will get sick again. Had a good 

 breakfast and then went above, where I slept 

 until noon. Doc has cut out lectures during 

 this rough weather. I think he is getting 

 sick himself. Several of the fellows have 

 been awfully sick. Little "Tommy" Thomas 

 lias thrown up twenty-four times since we 

 have been out and has not left his bunk once. 

 The new fellows are a good crowd and I am 

 sure that I '11 like them. The trip is getting 

 tiresome already, and especially so in this 

 rough weather, when second cabin is rather 

 disagreeable, as you cannot walk. If one 

 could exercise it would be better, but here we 

 are so low down that you cannot walk the 

 deck because of the waves breaking over 

 them. Above, in first cabin, they walk all the 

 time, but here all you can do is to go way up 

 on the little poop deck and lie down in your 

 steamer chair. 



I spent the afternoon in the smoking-room 

 telling stories. The boat is rocking fear- 

 fully, but I do not notice it and feel as if 

 1 am all over my sickness. 



At 5 'clock this afternoon, all of the fel- 

 lows who are interested in Michigan, got to- 

 gether and I led them in a locomotive as we 

 figured that the two teams were just start- 

 ing to play then. We are out of connection 

 with American shores by wireless, but the 

 operator says he can now get Ireland O. K. 

 :ind he hopes to get reports of the game for 

 us tonight. I had quite a talk with him yes- 

 terday. It is awfully interesting to hear 

 him tell of his work. He says that when 

 things get tiresoine for him he cracks jokes 

 over his instrument with the operators on 

 other ships on the ocean or with the shore; 

 says they even have a laugh signal which 

 they give at the end of a joke, and he then 

 showed me by pulling down a lever and laugh- 

 ing at the man 400 miles back at Cape Sable. 

 They hear the wireless through a telephone 

 receiver which they have at their ear at all 

 times. Before them they keep a chart which 

 gives the courses via wireless which our boat 

 passes each day or it tells at a glance to what 

 boats we can telegraph as well as what sta- 

 tions. I cannot write this very plain, as the 

 boat rocks too much. I 'II close now until to- 

 morrow. 



The gang are all sitting around here in the 

 smoking room telling stories and the boat is 

 raising h — 1! 



Sunday, Nov. 14. 



This is the roughest day we have had so 

 far, but I do not feel the least bit sick. The 

 wind comes directly from the east, so the 

 boat pitches instead of rolling. 



I awoke at 9:30; had a bath and then 

 went up on deck. Started to go forward 

 when an immense wave swooped over the 

 boat and simply soaked me. Had to go be- 

 low and change all my clothes, so I decided 

 to stay indoors the rest of the day. We have 

 now been out seven days and the captain tells 

 us it will be seven more days before we land, 

 as this wind has kept us back. Lord, but it is 

 getting monotonous. Only one day of good 

 weather so far, so that we have been penned 

 in here in second cabin most of the time. If 

 you meet anyone who is going across, foi 

 Heaven's sake tell them to take a fast boat 

 and go first cabin, for this is almost unbear- 

 able. I don 't believe I 'm cut out for a 

 sailor anyway, and I think of all the sad 

 boats the Potsdam is the saddest. 



It makes you hot as thunder to think of the 

 Lusitania leaving yesterday and passing us 

 before we reach the other side. However, 

 1 '11 stick it out, as there is a better time 

 coming. I told Dad 's story at dinner table 

 about the woman who got on the train in Ar- 

 kansas, only I applied it to the Potsdam, and 

 it made an awful hit. I must stop now. 

 Guess I am a little homesick today. 



We sighted a Russian battleship today, but 

 she passed us also. Every boat on the At- 

 lantic passes the Potsdam on one trip — fine 

 ship ! Am going to bed now. 



Tuesday night. 



Did not write anything for Monday, as 1 

 remained in bed all day. 



Well, this is sure the worst I have ever ex 

 perienced. I am writing this tonight, sick 

 at head and heart, I can assure you. Never 

 have felt so fierce. For two days the wind 

 has blown a gale; worst of the year, the cap- 

 tain says, and we are now two days late, with 

 present prospects pointing to more. Last 

 night I awoke being banged about in my 

 bunk while this old tub was trying to turn 

 acrobat and stand on her nose. Yesterday 1 

 felt so rotten and the boat banged around 

 so that I stayed in my bunk all day and night 

 The food is getting tiresome. I am bilioue 

 and for two days we have been cooped in 

 here between decks without breath of fresh 

 air and the place smells like the steerage. 

 If anyone suggests second cabin to you peo- 

 ple, tell them to take my tip and steer clear. 

 When I come home I come via Lusitania, first 

 cabin (5 days). This life on an ocean wave 

 is no joke. 



We are now half way and tonight the cap 

 tain is afraid of a hurricane. Let her come. 

 I 've got to the stage where I don 't care. 

 However, I'll stick her out. The fellows are 

 all some balled and sore on the whole game 

 They'll be O. K., though, when we sight Hoi 

 land. 



Wednesday, Nov. 17. 



Weather same as it has been every' day of 

 the trip. Am feeling much better, though, as 

 1 took two of Dr. Duncan's black pills last 

 night, followed by a dose of Hunyadi water 

 this a. m. 



There is absolutely nothing doing on board 

 the ship and the food is fierce. Sleeping is 

 a hard proposition now, as the air below is so 

 poor because everything has been closed up 

 owing to the rough weather, I never saw 

 such'^waves in my life. They break every 



