HARDWOOD RECORD 



25 



yi Forestry Student's Letters to His Father 



Dakmstadt, Germany, Jan. 12. 



;My dear Father: Yesterday I received 

 your letters from Sandusky and it sure did 

 seem good to read them. I almost died when 

 I thought of you people eating one of Aunt 

 Carrie 's good New Year 's dinners, for it 

 made me so homesick. 



Things have been going along nicely. A 

 week ago ilonday I took my examination in 

 tree identiticatiou from Dr. Schenck. Everv 

 man upon being graduated from the B. F. S. 

 must take this exam and pass 100 per cent in 

 it in order to be eligible for a degree. I was 

 successful. I now have nothing to fear about 

 getting a degree, for I have not failed in an 

 examination taken since I entered the school. 

 I note the letters which were published in the 

 Eecord. Eeally I did not want them printed, 

 but if they went well I am not sorry that they 

 were ])ublished. However, I hope after this 

 you will not send any letters in, unless I 

 acquiesce. 



The weather here has been fierce ever since 

 we arrived. The sun has shown for but two 

 days and we have not seen a bit of snow. 

 The climate in this part of the country is al- 

 ways bad, being misty and damp at all hours 

 of the day. For that reason I would suggest 

 to Mother a change in the plans of the trip 

 she outlined to me. Instead of going from 

 Munich over to Frankfort. Heidelberg, etc., 

 and then back to Carlsbad, I would go to 

 Vienna, which is just as near Carlsbad as 

 Frankfort, and the best city in Europe. Peo- 

 ple over here say A'ienna is even better than 

 Paris, and by all means to take that trip 

 through Austria-Hungary. I think the trip 

 will be great. Wish you would let me know 

 on what date you expect to return home. I '11 

 be on the job March third at Genoa, and the 

 first person you will sight. Y'ou land there 

 on ' ' lighters, ' ' not coming into the mainland. 

 I must now close and go out to eat. Am in- 

 vited to dine with Dr. and Mrs. Schenck to- 

 morrow evening. 



Darmstadt, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 19. 



M_y dear Father: What on earth is the 

 matter that' I do not hear from you or Moth- 

 er? Have looked for a letter the last three 

 days now. 



Things are going great, and I am having 

 the time of my life. Went to Doe's to dinner 

 last week and he had several of the best peo- 

 ple there. Had a peach of a dinner, and 1 

 succeeded in getting through with it without 

 putting my feet through any trains, etc., 

 showing the Dutch frauleins that I have been 

 ■* ' elegant raised. ' ' After dinner the ladies 

 all smoked with the men, even to the young- 

 ■est. who is seventeen years old. 



The next day Dr. Schenck told us we were 

 invited to a big ball given by the Mercks 

 liere. He invited four of ns, Jones, Buchanan, 

 Tong, the Chinaman, and myself. By the 

 way, I have never mentioned Tong to you, I 

 believe. He is a prince of a fellow. Went to 

 America six years ago, and since then has 

 ■developed into a typical college man. Wears 

 good clothes, talks well, smokes cigarettes, 

 drinks beer, and is the best student in the 

 class. His father is a big man in China, and 

 lie went to the United States with the Prime 

 Ministc-r. He intends to practice forestry in 

 China. He dances well, and last night at 

 the ball was the hit of the' evening. In 

 the cotillion he had the Dutch girls fighting 

 ■to pin a flower on him for a dance. He and 

 I are great friends. He has all kinds of 

 nerve, and no matter how hard the iield work 

 is (and it is awfully hard over here), he al- 

 ways sticks. He is not accustomed to such 

 strenuous work, and before the afternoons 



FOURTH SERIES 



are over he generally is about fagged out, but 

 he sticks to the end and as a result is a great 

 favorite with the Doctor and the fellows. 



We all made a big hit last night, from 

 what Doe says. It was one of the biggest 

 affairs I ever attended. All the nobility, ex- 

 cept the Grand Duke, were there — Prime Min- 

 isters, Barons, Counts, etc. We had a peach 

 of a dinner, at which champagne flowed like 

 water. Afterwards they danced four regular 

 dances and a flower cotillion where the ladies 

 collected a great bunch of flowers and the 

 men got colors and carnations for favors. All 

 the foresters were in on every dance, and 

 I came home with my dress suit covered with 

 flags. The ladies all looked good, but Mrs. 

 Schenck was without a doubt the prettiest on 

 the floor. She is • ' right ' ' over here, and 

 last night she and the Doctof were the whole 

 cheese. I met piles of men wearing ' ' Vic- 

 toria crosses, ' ' or something like them, which 

 signifies honor. All Doc did was to rush us 

 around introducing us, and when the finish 

 came he said to us, ' ' Boys, I 'm proud of the 

 Biltmore School. We can show 'em that 

 we 've ' got the goods. ' In overalls in the 

 morning and dress suits at night, we're al- 

 ways there. ' ' 



it nas a great experience for me, and one 

 which few Americans have had. 1 sure have 

 been the lucky one in getting my share of 

 social experiences over here. First, I at- 

 tended a student kneipe of the best corps 

 here ; then a ' ' slagger bout, ' ' then a dinner 

 party, and now a grand ball. I '11 be shooting 

 craps with the Kaiser next. 



I took the exam, in slyviculture Friday. It 

 was not hard, and I think I drew a high mark. 

 My work is nearing the end. Have two more 

 diaries to write and only an exam, from Dr. 

 House. 

 Darm.stadt, Germany, Friday noon, Jan. 21. 



My dear Father: I have just an hour be- 

 fore our train leaves for the Black Forest, 

 so I '11 drop you a line. Cannot understand 

 why you do not receive more letters from me, 

 as I write twice a week regularly. 



Things are just whooping along now, and 

 I never felt better or enjoyed myself more 

 in my life. Don 't believe I ever got so much 

 exercise. Y'esterday Dr. Schenck read his 

 pedometer, which he always carries on field 

 trips, and he told me that the B. F. S. have 

 averaged twelve miles walking every day. 

 Not bad, is it? Wednesday we had a great 

 field trip. We went to Heidelberg by train 

 and visited the communal forests in that vi- 

 cinity. Climbed mountains all day long, and 

 it was great. These forests are perfect exam- 

 ples of good forestry practtce. Here we saw 

 government experiments being carried on 

 with the various species. Saw pure and big 

 stands of the diflScult American species, such 

 as Douglas fir, Cliamcecyparis Lawsoniana 

 (Port Orford cedar), sequoia, diameter three 

 and four feet, chestnut, white pine, and, in 

 fact, everything that grows over home, and 

 doing better than they do at home. A gentle- 

 man from Pittsburg, who lives in Darmstadt, 

 accompanied us and was very much enthused. 

 Dr. Schenck is as enthusiastic as I have ever 

 seen him. He says the school has never been 

 in as good condition as now, and these new 

 fellows work better than the old ones used to. 

 I never have been kept so busy as since we 

 have been here. 



Today we ride by train until 11:30 at 

 night, barely arriving at the Black Forests. 

 Will sleep in a little town over night and 

 beat it up in the woods in the morning. Will 

 come back Sunday night. 



We sure were hit hard when we heard the 



news of Pinchot's dismissal. Dr. Schenck 

 would not believe it. He has always said 

 since this controversy came up that the coun- 

 try would not dare dismiss so valuable a man, 

 and when he heard the news he said, "What 

 will they do? Foresters they have in plenty 

 in the United States, but no more Pinchots. 

 He is not only a forester but he is a diplomat, 

 and just what the country needs for the 

 job." When he heard Graves got Pinchot's 

 job he threw up his hands. That is an awful 

 joke to us all, for we know Graves to be a 

 forester who fools with dendrology, botany 

 and the like more than the practical side, and 

 I believe he will not be broad-mindel enough 

 to cope with the lumbermen of our country 

 as Pinchot has done so well, giving the For- 

 est Service its present position. We have not 

 read the American papers, as they have not 

 arrived. We found the news in a foreign 

 paper, and immediately wired Pinchot, ' ' Bilt- 

 more Forest School stands by you. ' ' 



Doe disagrees with Pinchot iii many things, 

 but he always has impressed upon our minds 

 that big men disagree. For instance, one day 

 he introduced us to a professor in this way: 



' ' Boys, I want you to know Prof. . 



Now, boys, you must listen to him because I 



love him, but I don 't believe a word 



he says." The Doctor thinks Pinchot is a 

 wonderful man in forestry and everything 

 else. I think Taft has made a rash move, 

 don't you! I must close now and get ready 

 to leave. 



Tell Mother I will leave my trunk and will 

 not buy another. I can travel in my suit 

 cases. Trunks are a bother and cost like the 

 deuce, and you genei-aUy have to wait for 

 them a day or so. 



Please bring over for me a large one-pound 

 can of Tuxedo smoking tobacco. Open the 

 top and take out some just before V'ou get 

 into Italy, and I don 't think you '11 get 

 soaked. Smoking tobacco over here is awful. 

 T have not smoked a cigarette since the first 

 of January. Am awfully anxious to see you 

 both, and know we will have a great time. 



For Heaven 's sake flag Mother in sending 

 my picture to Hardwood Record. I don't 

 like the idea at all, and don't publish any 

 more letters. 



D.\rmstadt, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 23. 



Dear Father: Here goes for a letter be- 

 fore dinner. Have been in the Botanical Lab- 

 oratory at the university for the last three 

 hours. Things are going fine. I feel good 

 and am counting the days until we meet in 

 Genoa, on March third. We sure will have 

 the time of our lives over here. There is so 

 much to enjoy. 



Last Saturday I wrote you a postal from 

 the Black Forest. We were up there for two 

 days, and I never enjoyed anything, so much 

 in my life. Wish you and Mother could have 

 been there to have seen the wonderful stand 

 of timber. I truly never saw such trees in 

 my life. I ran a couple of estimates through 

 some of the big spruce stands and found them 

 to exceed anything in the States. We climbed 

 mountains all day, and when we got back to 

 Darmstadt late Saturday night we were a 

 pretty tired bunch, I can tell you. Snow 

 there was two feet deep, and everybody used 

 skees up in the mountains. We walked up 

 to the top and had dinner at the Hotel Sand 

 there, and then took bob sleds and coasted 

 down to the railroad in the afternoon. It 

 sure was great, and Doc has promised to take 

 us up for a week ne.xt month, when we will 

 estimate the timber fro.m heights and survey 

 various tracts. It will be the best kind of 

 practice, and I hope he does it before I leave. 



