Dart’s letter today is one of his long, newsy varieties, describing  more about his immediate surroundings and activities. He’s housed in a gigantic building along with 3,000 other men. It was once used to display whole trains during the Golden Gate Exposition.

He tells Dot about the fire drill they had last night. When the fog horns and bells start going off, everybody “falls out” to their assigned duty stations. Dart’s is at the nozzle end of a fire hose in his barracks. Marine corpsmen carrying tommy guns form a line around the buildings and fire trucks arrive from all directions.

He talks about the water shortage on Treasure Island. The advantage for Dart is that his laundry duties have been sidelined to conserve water. The folks in Oakland and San Francisco fear a typhoid outbreak because one of the main water supply lines may have been compromised by the ammunition explosion a few nights ago.

Today was the first “almost warm” day in the week since Dart arrived. Talking about the weather set him on a vivid description of a fog bank rolling in across the bay between Alcatraz and the majestic Golden Gate Bridge. He described the engineering marvels of the various bridges that connect two great California cities to each other, and Treasure Island to both.

Tonight Dart must stay on the island because he has a duty assignment, but last night he went into SF and purchased one of the last seats for the new Bing Crosby film Going My Way. He had high praise for the film and it’s lead actor.

He reports that classes here are faintly reminiscent of those at Case. Although his current math classes are quite elementary, the electricity course work reminds him a bit of some of the physics he took earlier. “But the main thing that reminds me of Case is the stack of books we lug around and the fellows sleeping in class.”

He describes his electricity teacher in some detail. He’s an excellent instructor, but he has a pronounced stutter. “It’s terrible to hear him try to say ‘retentivity’ or ‘electro-magnetic force.’ When he gets excited it’s even worse. He also says ‘youse’ and ‘that there book,’ but he’s a great teacher, nonetheless.”

The men in Dart’s class are all pretty nice guys. Dart is the second youngest of 25, and one of only four who is not married. Although Dart is disappointed by how unfaithful some of them are to their wives, they’re a good group. Most of them drink and carouse more than Dart, so they’ve given him the nickname of “Gramps.” He doesn’t seem to mind at all.

He reports that he is still awaiting her letters.

Dot begins her letter by forgiving Dart for not writing. It’s been two days since she received anything from him, but she’s sympathetic. She admits to having 20 letters unanswered from friends and relatives and marvels at how time speeds by so quickly.

She finally got a little color at the beach today. She also “invested” in a green,all-wool suit from Franklin Simon, with her mother’s approval. She has come to the conclusion that if one wants to build up a savings account, it is best if one does not work in the ready-to-wear department of a nice department store. Too much temptation, and “unfortunately, my eyes are bigger than my pocketbook.”