SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON 25. D. C. 
20 March 1964 
Dr. Philip S. Humphrey 
Curator, Division of Birds 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington 25, D. C. 
Dear Phil: 
A couple of problems have arisen on Kure which I feel should 
be documented in case we ever need refer to them. Also, I received 
via mail drop yesterday a letter from Dr. Ely regarding our diffi¬ 
culties with the Coast Guard 14th District. No doubt you are fully 
informed on the situation. The weather has been very poor for days 
so I don't know when a plane will land to pick up this letter or my 
overdue progress report. 
First, I feel we are presently over-extended here with our study 
program. We could handle it all with three men, but as it now appears 
that we won't get more help I'm going to have to revise our program 
slightly, making sure of course that we are still getting all the 
primary data. I had hoped to collect detailed information on the 
growth and development of each species breeding here, but this is 
very time-consuming* We are presently working a 7 day week, 10-12 
hours a day, and I do not believe that we can keep up this pace inde¬ 
finitely, much as I would like. At the moment we certainly have no 
time for anything extra. I think it would be very worthwhile if Dr. 
Ely could definitely get out here this month to gpt a first hand look 
at the island and go over our study plans with me. 
The second problem is more critical; I have been unable to fathom 
a complete change of attitude on the part of the Commanding Officer 
here. Perhaps this is partly explained by Dr. Ely's letter and the 
present attitude of CG 14, I do know that the CO was very upset about 
Roger's personal uncleanliness and the general mess which he created 
in our room and lab; this story has even gotten over to Midway, for 
Chan had heard about it. Clothing and equipment of ours has been 
found all over Kure since I returned, several things being ruined, 
and a string of bands belonging to us was found on a lawn on Midway 
sometime in December or January; I don't know who lost them. 
The CO and I have had several unpleasant incidents over what I 
consider relatively minor matters since I returned. He has informed 
me that we are no longer allowed use of anything belonging to the 
base without getting specific permission for each item and each 
