2 I LIVING HERE /A 45 



chorus: Oh, the joys (trials) of being a waiter 

 With everybody late or later, 

 While their appetites grow greater 

 At the Mess ofMBL. 



Early every morning when his dreams were at their best, 

 The alarm would sound beside him and disturb his peaceful rest 

 And with an awfil effort he would manage to get dressed 

 and eat his breakfast first. 



Then he would take his stand beside the table with his tray 

 And carry in the mackerel for breakfast every day, 

 And in and out the dining room would swiftly make his way 

 To bring the people food. 



Trinkaus points out that the waiter had considerable power since he could 

 give the obnoxiovis people cold coffee or burned toast. 



Today, the dining hall in Swope has no morning mackerel, as it once 

 routinely did, nor tablecloths nor waiters for everyday meals, and no as- 

 signed tables. No Miss Belle reigns in Swope. Whatever the advantages of the 

 more freewheeling system today, it is clear that something has been lost 

 socially. Today people may spend ten minutes, eating silently, or the stu- 

 dents may eat together at one table and the instructors together at another. 

 Social mixing at the MBL has become more haphazard as the style has 

 changed and the community has grown. Even in the wdnter, when storms 

 batter the Cape and occasionally close off the bridges and shut off the 

 population — even then people have lost the habit of comfortably sitting 

 down and talking with people they do not know. 



Weather 



In September of 1938 the Mess was closed for tlie winter season as usual, 

 but the MBL had not yet completely shut down. A few people remained 

 working in the laboratory. On the 17th they heard reports that a tropical 

 storm was headed from the Bahamas toward Florida. That storm then 

 moved northward on the 20th, toward Cape Hatteras, bringing high winds 

 and water. The conditions would deflect tlie storm out to sea from North 

 Carolina, the weather bureau reported. By midmorning of the 21st, the 

 weather station in New York realized from observing the rapidly dropping 

 barometer that a major storm was on the way north rather than out to sea. 

 But they had no authority to issue official warnings. Only the Washington 

 office could do that, and their information indicated no cause for concern. 

 With no preliminary warning of more than a seasonal gale, Woods Hole 

 did not worry. By 4 p.m. when the electrical power went out in the labora- 



