Tonight’s newsy letter from Dart comes complete with a hand-sketched illustration of a San Francisco street.
He and a classmate went out on liberty last night and spent some time at a service club canteen. There, they each worked on a linoleum block carving; his buddy’s was a name stamp for his clothes and Dart’s was an “Ex Libris” book plate design. Later they met up with two other classmates in equally high spirits, so the four of them decided to “do the town.” They rode one of the antique cable cars to the end of the line and back, marveling at the hilly streets. Dart drew a fairly good detail of one of them on the back of page 2.
He reports that his test scores so far average 94%, which will help him as the material gets tougher. He’s intimidated by alternating current systems and trigonometry, but I suspect he’ll do okay.
In answer to Dot’s question about whether it’s possible to enjoy the city without spending money, he assures her that’s the case. There’s plenty of free entertainment, all of which is heavily populated by sailors and soldiers. “Also, the town’s really the easiest place to spend a load of money and get nothing in return that I’ve ever seen.” He allots a little bit of cash out of his pay to spend foolishly.
He reports that now that his bank account is getting a little bigger, he plans to begin re-paying a loan to his uncle for half a semester at Case before the Navy took over his tuition. The loan is for the staggering sum of $200.
Continuing the theme of money, he tells Dot he has decided on a certain sum that must be in his account before he makes any big steps in life. While plans can be made for those steps, the money must be there before anything happens. He wants to avoid “starting on a shoestring and ending up a heel.” Nice dream; let’s see if it materializes!
Being curious about the workings of the mail delivery system, he asks Dot to keep track of when his letters arrive and what date, time and location appears on the postmark.
He’s sorry to hear about her family’s feud with Fitch soap. The product is great for his uniform stripes. “Removes all trace of grease, grime and dandruff from the collars -isn’t worth a thing for the hair.”
He mentions some funny songs his crew mates are singing during their current jam session in the barracks. (Gorilla My Dreams and Butcher Arms Around Me.)
He finishes the letter by telling her he can’t wait to be with her in person so they can carry on with the topic he raised indirectly in last night’s letter. Reminding her how much he loves her, he signs off.
