Ithaca, New York
November 6, 1936
Dear Folks,
I just received Aunt Dorothy’s letter and the clippings. I thought I would write now rather than wait until Sunday because I don’t have any p.m. classes and I have been studying hard all week anyway. I enjoyed Dad’s letter very much and was very much interested in the home news. It is a lovely day today and the sun is so bright that it nearly blinds one to look at the snow. It snowed for about five hours Wednesday night and two fairly warm days haven’t melted it yet. This morning on my way up to the dairy industry building I noticed that the tennis courts were a sheet of ice with a few people skating on them. Did you have much snow there?
I will leave here about 7 a.m. Thanksgiving Day and probably arrive at Saugerties around 12:00. Tivoli is about 30 miles from Smithfield as I figured it up on the map. I will get acquainted with other people from near home sometime. However, it is no easy proposition when there are six thousand students roaming around. One is doing good if he sees a person who isn’t in his class twice. I only earned 6 or 7 meals waiting table this week and was glad that I didn’t have to do more because I had 5 prelims and they were no “cinch.” I went to bed after twelve every night and was up at seven in the morning. I intend to catch up on a little sleep over the weekend.
I am sorry that Aunt D. and Aunt J. have been having such bum luck with their teeth. I got a nice letter from Martha Tuesday. It is rather difficult to get acquainted with your lecture instructors but I am acquainted with most of my lab instructors. The laboratory is the place where I learn the most. Yes I like college now but will probably like it better when I become accustomed to things more thoroughly. I have made several friends since I have been here and I meet new people every day. One boy is from Argentina and I pal around with him quite a bit. Some live in Ithaca and one Japanese boy I know comes from Korea. It seems to me that it rains about every other day here. The day I had drill it poured for 12 hours without a let up until it turned into snow. The creeks rose to three times their former capacity.
I am not feeling up to par today and think that I will take a walk downtown and around this afternoon as I haven’t had a chance to see much of it yet. I expect to go up to Taughannock State Park some Sunday with one of the boys who has a car. It is only about 10 miles up the lake. A week ago yesterday our geology lab section went out to Portland Point which is about 10 miles up the lake. They have a large cement factory there. They have quarried acres and acres of the Tully limestone and shale to use in the manufacture of cement. They dig down about 20 feet into the ground until they reach the Genesse shale which is carbonaceous and not so good for their purpose. This shale is loaded with shells of small sea animals which have been preserved for thousands of years. I brought a few of the best specimens that I could find home with me. Last spring during the flood, the water entirely filled this vast, artificial dugout and swept away one end of it, after which it rushed down into the lake carrying everything before it.
I started keeping a diary a couple days ago as I thought since Dad’s proved so interesting to me that my children might be interested in reading mine sometime. I am glad that Aunt Dorothy liked her birthday present. I also sat up listening to the election returns and was very much surprised. The newspapers can certainly fool us alright. The election didn’t impress me very much as I was not affected directly and had my doubts to whether Landon would be much better than Roosevelt. This is a Republican center. Cornell University students had an election of their own and Landon won by a large majority. I voted for Landon. A lot voted for Lemke (Union Party) and some for Browder (Communist Party).
I have used up nearly a half bottle of ink so you see I have done considerable writing since I’ve been here. I hope Uncle Charles is better now. I would certainly enjoy having the Times once in a while. I never buy a paper here as it takes too much time to read them. Some of the other boys have papers occasionally and I glance at them.
I guess I haven’t told you much about the boys who live on this floor. There are seven of us. The boy next to me Dave Titterington comes from Glens Falls and majors in poultry – third year. He is very nice and helped me a lot to get used to the place. Then there are two boys from Long Island – Bruce Bevin is taking a two year course in Agriculture. This is his second year. He is the one who has the car. I used to ride to classes with him occasionally but he has put his car in a garage now – a new Ford V-8 comfortable coupe. The other one – Dexter Seymour – is a freshman majoring in Chemistry. He says his mother used to live in Pine Plains. Then there is a boy (26 years old) from the coal mining section of Pennsylvania. He worked in the mines for 10 years and went to night school. He put two brothers through college and is majoring in Botany. His name is Clem Sergolt. There is a boy who graduated from the University of Rochester with a $1000 scholarship to take up graduate work in Engineering at Cornell. He is very bright but a little peculiar acting. Well I guess you will be tired enough by the time you finish this so goodbye until next time.
Lovingly, Hall
p.s. Write soon
Gilbert Hall Flint was born August 14, 1918 and raised on Flint Hill Farm in Amenia, New York. His formal education began in a one-room schoolhouse in Smithfield. He graduated from Amenia High School in 1936 and from the Cornell University College of Agriculture in 1940. He taught high school agriculture from 1940 to 1944, served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946, taught high school agriculture from 1946 to 1963, and finished his career as a school principal from 1963 to 1975.
Gilbert Hall Flint passed away on December 16, 2009. The letters are published in his memory. To view the letters in chronological order, please click a timeline label from the side bar menu, scroll to the bottom, and read up.
Gilbert Hall Flint passed away on December 16, 2009. The letters are published in his memory. To view the letters in chronological order, please click a timeline label from the side bar menu, scroll to the bottom, and read up.