SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
April 23, 1937 
Dear Dr. Schmitt: 
Your radiogram of yesterday reached us in the afternoon*, It 
is too had that you are having to turn hack, and won't see Trinidad* 
A few days ago I wrote you a 40~eent letter to Port of Spain (and did 
Mr. Perx'y squeal when he had to put so much postage on it!) and now it 
will he ancient history when you get it. Not that it was worth much 
anyway. 
I 'in glad you are coming hack fairly soon, though I think it 
is too had to have the trip cut short. However, it will he better 
(for for you to he hack two weeks before I leave than two da^s! 
I was thinking that you might get hack the very end of May, and I have 
been shuddering to think of the woxk we might try to rush out in the 
last couple of days before I leave. I'd rather rush for two weeks 
than two days! It's just a shame, though, that you can* t stay away 
until the middle of June. I'd just love to prance off after dumping 
this whole office into Mr. Shoemaker's lap. 
Miss Deichmann is here for a few days with her mother, who 
arrived from Denmark three days ago. The mother is quite nice looking, 
tall hut not so tall as the daughter, with gray hair hut a young-looking 
face. She speaks excellent English. I guess she is quite travelled. 
Captain Bartlett was down day before yesterday and yesterday. 
Yesterday morning I wrote two letters for him to the State Department 
and to some one in Denmark asking for permission to land on northwest 
Greenland and hunt for the two walrus pups which they failed to find 
last year on the northeast coast. Bartlett's a nice fellow, all right. 
He tickled me to death telling me how he was on a radio program with 
Joe Cook. Here's his version of the story: 
We were rehearsing up in the studio before the micro- 
phones (i think when they rehearse, it goes out over the 
air to some one who checks up on how it sounds]]. Lilian Gish 
was on the program and she was standing there, and Joe was 
coaching me. I had my script and got all mixed up and turned 
over two pages instead of one, so I lost my place. I said to 
Joe, "My God, Joe, damn it to hell, I've lost ray place. 11 Joe 
reached in front of me and jerked the microphone away, hut I 
said, ‘'It's no use fcte to take it away now, Joe; the words are 
gone.* 1 But it didn't matter much, because it was only re- 
hearsal. The next night when jfck we put on the real program, 
they were all pretty nervous about me, hut I was all right. 
