Tag Archives: Florida

September 1, 1941

Stationery from the Fort Gatlin Hotel, Orlando, FL.

Panama City Monday.

My dear Ina & Boys,

Have been rushed, but the dog fly control work is getting under way now. The Public Health horned in for the money and 2 of their men are here to make purchases. It is a PH program but actually we are operating it with Bureau funds for salaries etc. on the basis of an exchange of funds.

September 1, 1941

September 1, 1941

I went in by air for a conference on Thurs. night of last week & left Washington last Monday night arriving here about noon last Tuesday. Verbal arrangements were made with the PHS while I was at Washington. On Wed. night I met Mr. Padget at DeFiniak [?] & spent the night there. Mr. Dopson & RA were there and all came here. On Thursday night trucks rolled in from Gulfport & Florala so that our yard at the lab was filled with them. Friday we mounted sprayers on 8 barges & opened an office at #11 Page Bldg (upstairs over music store). The phone number there is 10. The control set up there is entirely separate from research, but Dr. Simmons is in close work with us & one man is helping him on research phases. Oil is being bought from the Sunny State & 30000 gals of creosote from Pensacola, delivered here by trucks with 1000 gal. tanks.

Mr. Griggs is in charge at Ft. Walton with 3 barge units which we shipped by tug boat from here at 6AM Sunday. Our first sprayer operated at Tyndall field on Sat. Mr. Landrum, Duck, Culpepper and Miller are in the crew. We will have 2 big barges with supply tanks, one at Ft. Walton & 1 here.

At Wash. I had a good visit with Claudelle & BM. Spent night at their house & they seem like newly weds. Joyce was there part of the time. Dr. Annand seems to be starting out OK as Chief.

Yesterday I had dinner & a good one with Simmons. In PM I took Mr. & Mrs. Landreau, Mr. & Mrs. Duck & son (8 yrs) for a drive to see the barges.

The high school opens next Friday & the date for opening of other schools has not been announced. After the Board meeting this week they will announce the date. Usually it is one week after the high school. Will let you know when. If you could come either next Sunday or one week from Sunday I could meet you in the car at New Orleans. If you could arrive at N.O. on Sunday morning I could be at the station & we could eat breakfast at the station & drive home that day. I’ll bring the ice box in the car. You could wire me Tourate when to meet you.

With love to all of you,
Walter.

P.S. I am enclosing the Kehoe check with my endorsement. You can endorse & cash at Uvalde. Would suggest you call the station agent a day or two before you leave & reserve a drawing room to New Orleans.

August 18, 1941 (PM)

At home, Monday nite,
Aug. 18, 1941

My dear Sweetheart & Boys,

Your letter was a real good one and I was more than pleased that our boys are on their best behavior. I hope that they will keep up the standard they have already set, and that all of them including Tommy will not give any trouble to Mother and Daddy Lewis.

August 18, 1941

August 18, 1941

It is lonesome here without you and I’ll be glad when you return. At Gulfport I saw Helen and Kenneth and their little red headed boy. He whines like Helen used to, and I think she has quit it. They have a nice new home about 1 1/2 blocks from US 90 and the water front. The corn in the back yard is not as tall as it was in Minneapolis, but there is a larger lawn of fast growing grass to mow. Helen put a little package in my coat pocket for you, Ina, and at home I find that it is some sort of Verbena soap. I opened it to see if it was fruit cake which might spoil before you come home. You might care to send her a card. I had to promise that we would stop there on the return trip. I did not leave Gulfport until about 8:30 PM, after Kenneth and I had dinner down town, so that I did not get home until about 3:30 Tuesday morning. I had a good visit with the White FB men and learned something. Dr. Dickison was expecting his family soon. R.A. was in a very good mood and will be there two or three weeks.

As yet there has been no word on the control program. I am expecting it at any time, but am inclined to believe that the papers showed up on the desks of some disinterested parties. Mr. Wylie of the USPHS has been here a few days going over the problem. Apparently with a view of making recommendations for a PHS project by WPA. A high tide on Santa Rosa Sound gave a good degree of natural control, and it seems that there has been quite a delay in the season this year.

Saturday PM I washed 2 lots of soiled clothes and dried them. Sunday I ironed them, on the ironer, including 10 shirts and 3 pairs of trousers. Sunday night I drove to the Old Dutch Tavern for a steak. It was fair and I met Mr. Bergdorf who had a collection of heads and skins from Alaska. I found that he had spent about the same amount of time up there as you and I. He went north from Fairbanks to Point Barrow. I drove back by Panama City Beach and listened to Mr. Weir toot his trumpet. He isn’t as good as Walter White thinks he is.

That quart of milk each day makes me think that I am cheating some calf out of something. It is more than I need.

Have a good time and be good.

With love
Walter.

Walter is starting up a program to control dog flies in the Panama City coastal area. The flies breed along the shoreline, which is why an unusually high tide killed off a batch of them. Apparently there are some administrative snags holding up the program.

August 18, 1941

Ina is visiting her family in Uvalde, TX with the three boys, while Walter stays back in Panama City, FL.

Monday.

Thanks very much for the nice letter. No word on the control p. yet. Tides have helped some on Santa Rosa sound, but have not given complete control.

August 18, 1941

August 18, 1941

An announcement issued Sat. states that Annand was appointed Chief of the Bureau & Hoyt as Associate Chief.

The weather continues hot here.

Walter.

September 16, 1940

Walter and Ina moved to Panama City, FL in late summer 1940, and he began working in his new USDA position reorganizing the Department’s entomology research and insect control programs in the Southeast. Now he’s traveling around the state to check on various projects.

Stationery from the Fort Gatlin Commercial and Tourist Hotel, Orlando, FL.

Monday PM.

My dear Sweetheart,

There was car trouble, but I drove some extra miles between Floral City and Orlando so that I did not arrive until almost 12 o’clock.

September 16, 1940

September 16, 1940

This morning I met King & Bushland and during the day I have learned much of the work they are doing. Tues. AM Dr. King & I are to be in Cocoa at 9AM & will then drive south for visits in other counties where mosquito control is under way. We will be in Fort Pierce about Wednesday night & in Miami about Friday night. I’ll return to Fort Pierce & spend Saturday & Sunday there. Will be in New Smyrna next Monday & Tuesday & return here about Tuesday night. Will stay here a day with Bushland. King leaves next Tuesday for the conference & for his vacation. At that rate I should be home about Thursday night of next week & Mr. Shields will probably come with me for one of the pickups.

I hope the boys are helping you by putting their toys up & by keeping quiet witn no running in the house. I’ll ask about these when I return.

With love to all 3.

Walter.

June 30, 1940

Sunday A.M.
June 30, 1940.

Dearest Sweetheart:

I’m hoping you will telephone today, but am writing this letter in case you don’t.

I agree with you that the Barrow house, 105 Cove Blvd., looks like the best bet. It looks like it is not crowded, it has no stairs, it is close to the lab and the grammar school, it rents for only $45.00, and it requires only a 6 mos. lease. The two-story house must be lovely, but $65.00 is too much to pay for a house in a small town like Panama City; furthermore, we had unpleasant experience with a long lease in Mpls. We can endure almost any unforseen unpleasant condition for 6 mos., and that will give us time to look around. Moreover, Mr. Gaddis told me something confidentially to tell you. When he saw Dr. Strong last, Dr. S. repeated that, although he could appreciate the value of your continued services in Mr. G’s division, he thought it was more necessary that you put the S.E. on a productive basis. AND he said “I’m going to need a new division chief in that work (whether it was Dr. Bishopp’s work or some other research work wasn’t quite clear to me, but I think it was Dr. B’s) and it may not be so very long off.” Moreover, Mr. G. asked him specifically if you were going to have to submit to Dr. B’s ideas in the S.E. Dr. Strong replied with an emphatic “No,” and said he was going to see to it that you did not. So, my dear young man, cheer up; your Panama City assignment may prove to be a very pleasant stepping stone to greater things. In that case, it might not be wise for us to sign a year’s lease, although we might be there longer than that.

June 30, 1940

June 30, 1940

We are enjoying Mama’s visit. I wished for you yesterday when Mama, Claudelle, Mr. G. and the boys and I took a picnic supper to Haines Point.

Don’t be too disappointed when I tell you that we received a letter from Thelma yesterday in which she said that Reitha and Boliver had married the preceding Saturday night in San Antonio in a double wedding with her roommate. Reitha had telephoned Thelma & Bob that afternoon for their consent. Reitha will finish her business course at Draughn’s in S.A. in August, and Boliver will finish his course in accounting in Uvalde in November, I believe. They both expect to work. It’s bad, but we shall have to make the best of it like we did Thelma Lee’s and Paul’s marriage. Theirs has turned out to be an unusually happy one. Thelma wrote that Thelma Lee had just won the $80.00 at the show on bank night.

Walter White has acquired a BB gun and a puppy since you were here. He acquired the latter before we learned definitely that we were going to move. Just what we shall do about it I don’t know. Lewis Dunbar is more fond of it than W.W.

We all are looking forward to seeing you on the fourth.

It is going to seem good to get our little family together again in the car and get on the road.

Honey, it is important that the house in Panama City be put in first class condition before we move in, don’t you think?

Lots & lots of love,
Ina.

It was very kind of Dr. Simmons to go to so much trouble about a house for us.

May 20, 1940

Personal

Sunday Night [Postmark suggests Walter got the day wrong again.]

My dear Ina,

Your very important news is great and we hope that the little daughter is on the way. According to your calculations the date would be some time near Walter White’s birthday. She would be grown about the time I reach 65. I am sure that she will keep both of us young and a lot of company, after W.W. and Lewis are grown. With 5 and 6 years between the ages of the youngsters, we should find it not so difficult to see them through college.

May 21, 1940

May 21, 1940

I am rather glad that we are not going to Menard, for two or three reasons including the arrival of the daughter. I am wondering about the steps at Mr. Gaddis’s house. You will need to be very careful and not undertake to carry things up the steps. Perhaps we can know something definite before long and guard against your climbing too many steps. Is the colored girl coming regularly and could she come every day instead of part time? You do not have a good place for walking, as the road is too dangerous for long walks.

I believe it is best not to mention it to the Cushings until after they go to Menard. We feel sorry for them, and as you say we can consider ourselves lucky. Feb. 19 you had completed your period and I recall that March was on time. In April it was late as we expected it in N.Y.C. You remember I went by the drug store for you while in N.Y.C., and you did not need the napkins until after we returned home. About 2 days after. May be this will help you check the date. April 12 sounds about right.

Since I wrote you I went with R.A. & Thompson to some boxing matches which were OK. The Elk Club here have a good team & there were 8 bouts with the Golden Glove team of Chicago. Denver won 5 of the 8 matches. Every day I manage to walk quite a bit and I am feeling fine. On Sat. & Sun. I get in some extra walking. Tonight I went to a movie for a change. One reel on the trophy winners of 1939, a comic & I think the other was called The House Across the Bay, across from Alcatraz prison.

Both Dr. Wakeland and R.A. seem to regard me with some suspicion, although I have been able to get R.A. to talk some. I do not see him evenings. When Messenger was here it was not a great deal I could get from him. It’s a good thing we do not have a big grasshopper program, because it would be so different that several adjustments would have to be made in the way they do things.

I love you lots & lots & I hope to see you before many moons.

Always your
Walter.

I find this discussion about Walter and Ina’s expected daughter amusing, for reasons that will be apparent soon.

November 15, 1931

Postcard mailed from Funiak Springs, Florida.

Arrived at Funiak Springs about 6 PM. Am at the hotel where we stopped with Claudelle. Left Chas 9PM yesterday. Slept about 1 hr. Smoke and fog were terrible on Atlantic Coast. Had to drive slowly. No mishaps. Swamps here been on fire about 2 weeks. Fires are out now but smoke is there.

W.E.D.

December 29, 1931

December 29, 1931

June 19, 1930

June 19th.

My dear Sweetheart,

We spent the day here and found it interesting. This morning we went to Zellwood (about 25 miles) and saw Mr. McNiel. He is a Harned[?] student and his wife is from Tallulah. She is rather pretty (but not as pretty as my wife). They were married a few months ago. Mr. McNiel’s work is interesting. He is studying a mosquito which is peculiar to this locality. There are no sand flies here.

June 19, 1930

June 19, 1930

This PM we called at the headquarters of the Med. fruit fly campaign. Saw Mr. Yothers and his group, then we met others on the eradication campaign. Mr. Kimball, one of Harned’s students is here, in charge of our area.

We are leaving tonight for Jax. Will be there tomorrow morning, then to St. Mary’s, then Savannah. I am getting anxious to see the “promised land.” I am getting enough of Florida. Conditions are not so good down here. Every once in a while another bank fails. Everyone has lost money in property and in bank failures. It makes one feel that he wants to put his money in his shoe.

I certainly hope that Walter White has been sleeping well and that you have been getting along all right. It seems ages since I saw you. We have covered a lot of territory and have seen lots of people and it seems that we should close the trip. I guess I’ll get my return tickets on the last day of June. This seems to be about the time. Hope to see “Jimmy” at Charleston.

With lots of love, Dear, I am

Your
Walter.

June 18, 1930

Stationery from the San Juan Hotel, Orlando, Florida.

June 18, 1930.

My dear Sweetheart,

We made stops at Stuart, Vero Beach, and Cocoa, after spending most of the forenoon at Ft. Pierce. You would be surprised, but there are less than 10% as many mosquitoes at Ft. Pierce at the present time. They have about 50 miles of ditches which permit the minnows to find the wiggletails. Many of the ditches are made by blasting the mangrove trees with dynamite.*

June 18, 1930

June 18, 1930

We found more sand flies and mosquitoes at Vero Beach than at any other place along the East Coast of Florida. The conditions were quite similar to those of Marco Island. Mr. Reed came to Cocoa with us and then we took a bus to Orlando. We arrived here at 8:30 tonight. We had dinner and now it is about 10:30.

Orlando is a nice town. It is not in the sand fly section. Bish wants to spend a day with McNiel here. Tomorrow night we leave for Jax. The next day we go to St. Mary’s, then Savannah, then Charleston. We hope to find Jimmie up there about that time. Too, we expect to find that his appointment went through. As near as I can figure, it is not going to give me much time in Charleston before it will be time to return to Dallas. Will try to get Bish to cut out the Wilmington & Myrtle Beach trip or make it by himself.

I hope you are getting along OK and that Walter White sleeps well.

With love,

Your,
Walter.

* Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.