1902

Your secretary, not relishing the cold New England winter, left Portland, Maine, January 16, on an auto trip to Texas, Arizona and California. Because of snow and ice conditions in the midwest, the A.A.A. advised us to take the Southern route, called "The Broadway of America," through Washington, D. C., Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.

In New England, the snow was piled four feet on each side of the road but the roads were nicely ploughed and sanded so we rolled down the Merritt Parkway and through to Philadelphia at good speed. In Philadelphia, we had a mild snow storm but continued down into Virginia over the Blue Ridge into the mountains of the western toe of Virginia, where we ran into such a blizzard of snow that we had to stop at noon. In Tennessee, there was 12 inches of snow at Memphis, but we ploughed along through the snow and cold to Dallas, Texas.

At Dallas, it snowed for six hours and they stopped the taxis. The road from Dallas to Abilene had the worst snow and ice conditions I have ever experienced. Chains wore out and there were no more to be bought. We had to stay two days in Abilene (the Eisenhowers' hometown) because the iced roads were so bad that even the Greyhound Buses weren't running. It snowed all the way to El Paso with ice and crashed autos and trucks strewn along the highways. At El Paso, it snowed all day, was 4° below zero and then we had to wait another day. In New Mexico, we had a sand storm, which is worse than all snowstorms. In Southern Arizona, where the rainfall is usually a rarity we ran into two days of pouring rain and the roads, not being drained, were rivers. Every passing car obscured our windshield with its splash. And now in Los Angeles, we have had an earthquake. Next winter I shall stay at home! ! With all the sand in Texas, not a bit was on the road.

Bob Smith and his good wife Anne spent a pleasant day with us in Tucson on his way home to Laguna Beach, California, where we are looking forward to seeing him again. Bob addressed a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in Phoenix, Arizona, and this winter he went to a meeting at the Statler Hotel in Washington, D. C., where 1,000 members sat down to dinner.

A SOUTHERN IZAAK WALTON: Leading the sort of a life many dream of, Edmund Jonakowski 'OO had the right idea when he decided to spend his days fishing from the causeway bridge near his home in Sarasota, Florida. Shown here with him, is a better-than-average haul for one day's work.

Secretary, 7 Ship Channel Road, South Portland, Me. Treasurer, Tremont Building, Boston, Mass. Class Agent, 584 Highland Ave., Montclair, N. J.