CHAPTER II -YOUNG ADULTHOOD - COLLEGE YEARS

Two years passed during which I worked on the farm. The longing for higher education became intensified. An invitation was received from my Bowman Grandparents, Henry Eyring Bowman and Mary Gubler Bowman, to come to Logan, Utah and live with them and attend the Utah State Agricultural College. Grandfather had undergone a serious prostate operation and was not recovering rapidly. Grandmother needed someone to take care of the cow, chickens, garden, and help around their apartment house. This was my golden opportunity.

Dad had ordained me a Priest on October 5, 1930.

Dad and Mother took me to El Paso to buy some clothing. Upon our return, we learned that Lamar Taylor and the Pierce boys and girl were going to drive up and I could ride with them. Dad was only able to give me $100.00 toward my college education.

When I got on the Noroeste De Mexico train to leave for college, Mother was crying. She knew that this was only a temporary separation, but it was emotional. I have used this example in talks in funerals to remind us that even though death is not a permanent separation, we are sad at parting. Just as I was getting ready to leave, Dad took me aside and told me that he would prefer that I be sent home in a coffin, rather than that I should come home disgraced for having committed sexual sin. This is an example of the impressive teachings I received from my parents. As a result of these teachings, all eight of us who lived went on missions, and were married in the temple.

We had a pleasant trip to Provo, where the others were going. Evidently a Mr. Smith was driving, because he took me as far as Brigham City, where I stayed overnight. (I don't remember where.) The next morning I took the Interurban (train, two or three cars) to Logan.

I was a little worried about how to find Grandmother's house, but I walked a couple of miles or so carrying my bag, north and east until I found it (585 East 700 North). My first impression was that it was a very nice place, away from the business section, and peaceful and quiet like a small town. Grandmother was very surprised, because she hadn't been informed that I was coming. I arrived on September 13, 1932.

There was plenty to do around the place. There were weeds to hoe in the garden, a steeply sloped lawn to cut, 500 chickens to care for, a Jersey cow to feed and milk, and there were apartments to clean, etc., etc. There was time to tinker with the old 1925 (or 1927) Oldsmobile sedan that was abandoned in the back yard because it wouldn't run. Then I took Grandmother in it to Salt Lake to see Grandfather. She hadn't been able to leave until September 22nd until all the apartments were rented (3). Grandfather really beamed all over when the "only woman he ever really loved" walked in. But he took one look at little Claudius and said, "You're not a Bowman!"

Uncle Henry came from Provo daily to massage Grandfather's legs, so while Grandma visited Grandpa, I went to Provo where I spent two happy days becoming acquainted with Uncle Henry and Aunt Eva's family, an exceptional family where there was never a dull moment. This friendship has lasted over the years, and we have had many wonderful times together.

Grandfather insisted that Uncle Henry drive him to Logan on November 6, 1932, although he admitted later that he should have stayed longer in the hospital. It was a great and interesting experience to get acquainted with Grandfather, even though at first he was so miserable because of the pain he suffered that it accentuated his bad temper. By the middle of December, he felt better and would get out for short walks. He enjoyed Christmas, and visiting with his many friends and relatives.

Dad, I can readily see where you get all your grit, because you are just like your father. As he described his operation, it was some ordeal. It seems that they were trying out a new anesthetic that they inject into the spine, and that is what they used on Granddad. But it did not work. They started the operation and it was too late to stop, so they went through with it. Granddad said that if Dr. LeGrand made one move that he didn't get full benefit of the pain that he would challenge anyone to tell him about it. The way he described how they got their hands down under his bladder and jerked the prostate out was very touching. Then they sewed up two or three incisions with him gritting he teeth and bearing it without the aid of an anesthetic. They called him superman around the hospital.

The nearest thing I have to a diary are my letters that I wrote almost every week. To give you an idea of how I was during my education and growing up years, as well as later, I will quote from them. If anyone reads my letters, he or she should take them with a grain of salt, because it seems that I was always trying to he funny and exaggerated the situation and the spelling.

November 6, 1932

Uncle Henry and Aunt Eva brought Grandfather home in Brother Done's car. They took the front seat out and made a bed on the right side. Grandpa is feeling pretty good. He stood the trip pretty well. He is now lying on the divan talking to a couple of visitors. I guess that I'll have the pleasure of rubbing him down with alcohol every night. Uncle Henry and Aunt Eva went right back after dinner. Granddad is surely glad to get home. He admits now that he should have stayed in the hospital a few days longer the first time. It would have saved him an awful lot of suffering. He left the hospital and went to Hugh Hurst's home for a while, but had to return to the hospital. (Hugh Hurst is a very good friend of the family. He is a son of the Hurst that has the largest marker in the Dublan cemetery. I became well acquainted with him later, and he helped me considerably because he was the veterinarian for the Utah Poultry Producers' Cooperative.) Granddad thinks he can get along all right now. He can walk around using two canes, and he can get up and down into the easy chairs, although he needs help to sit on the dining room chairs.

I met Dr. Reuben A. Hill and his wife Theresa Snow Hill. Dr. Hill is a Chemistry professor at the College. Theresa Snow Hill and her sister, Beatrice Snow Winsor, were Mother's best friends at the J.S.A. and their Mother is an Eyring. They were very anxious to hear about the family and they asked me questions for more than a half hour. Dr. Hill later took me up to the College and introduced me to Professors Coe and Wilson who were over the Horticulture Department. Everyone has been so good to me. I guess it's because they can see the rube sticking out all over.

September 24, 1932

We register next Monday. When I told Granddad I was going to major in Horticulture, he said, "Goodness, don't do that, it's a four year course". (I was planning to go only one year, or at most two). If I don't go at least two years, I won't get much Horticulture, because I have to take so much basic sciences such as Botany, Chemistry, etc.

October 2, 1932

Well I'm registered--glad of it. It was rather confusing at first, although I laugh at myself now. I didn't have much of a say about which classes I took. Professor Coe helped me, and he said that the faculty had gotten together and picked out the course for agriculture students. I have one course in Horticulture taught by Coe. My hardest course is Mathematics. I seem to have forgotten all the algebra I ever knew. I've been to two dances so far, one to the Ward recreation hall, and the other was a student body dance downtown at the Palais D'Or, which was free. The first cost me 15 cents. I didn't dance much, although I did meet a few girls. I went to a football game yesterday between the Aggies and Montana State. The Aggies won 26 to 0. (I took time out to go to Sunday School at the College Institute.) I enjoyed Sunday School immensely. I've never been to a meeting where there was such a profound spirit of reverence and worship. I could not help but compare it with ours down home. I'm very much afraid it was to the disadvantage of the Dublan S.S. I was never before impressed that the Sunday School was a place to worship. At least, our young people did not have that attitude down home as they should have had.

October 10, 1932

I'm getting so very wise after two weeks at school that I am sprouting a wisdom tooth. Oh say, I had my first job last Thursday picking apples. I have all afternoon free on Thursdays so I guess I'll be able to earn a few farthings which I need because that last $5.00 book took nearly all had.

It's winter now, all right, and how! A week ago it was warm and sunny, but now it's down to Zero weather. We had a regular blizzard last Friday. I sure donned my overcoat in a big hurry. And yet the cold doesn't go through you like it does down home. It just makes you feel tingley and gives you a red nose, etc.

I'm the invalid of the family now; I have been having me a tummy ache every night for a week or so. Granddad thinks he's a man again now. He goes walking nearly every day, snow and everything. Grandmother used to gather the eggs every chance she had, but since it has become winter she likes to stay inside a little better, so I get to gather the eggs three times a day. Christmas is near, because Grandma's Christmas cactus is blooming, a sure sign. The kids around here surely have a good time. The street just south of the house goes up a steep hill. They walk to the top, get on their sleds and really come. They pass here like a streak. I'm certainly glad I am only 3 blocks from the college. You take one step and slip back two.

I really enjoy the College Institute Sunday School. They have only two classes, both with wonderful teachers. I go to Dr. West's class. He combines religion, the Bible and science so beautifully it has strengthened my testimony very much.

October 30, 1932

On Saturday I harvested the carrots for the old bossy (cow) to nibble on all winter. There were so many it took me more than half a day to haul them in. I buried them in a pit back of the house, where they will keep very well all winter. Well, Dad and Mother, it is easier to tell you how much I love and appreciate you in a letter. It was "kinda" hard to get at it when you are right there with each other. Besides. I guess that I never thought of it. When you are with someone every day you seem to take him or her for granted. You never think that they might like or appreciate a few words of love, but I guess I can make up for it now. I am so very proud of my parents and my family.

November 30, 1932

Granddad is getting along pretty well. He was out yesterday showing me what to do and just how he wanted his lot plowed, etc. He is a good boss, but he doesn't give me any credit for any intelligence. He is like Uncle Harvey Taylor in this respect. His slogan is "get organized." If I ever have to look for anything he laughs at me. However, I have learned to love him sincerely. He is a great old man, so full of wisdom, etc. Grandmother is the best financial manager I have ever seen. If a nickel is to be spent, there must be a good reason for it. She really hates the idea of being in debt, and I don't know if I blame her.

The A.C. had a rally down to the Capitol Theater Thursday night. I went on a spending spree and took it in. It cost me a quarter with my student card. They had a good show, and the fraternities and sororities presented stunts--very good. I am joining the Ag Club (it costs a dollar for the year). I am getting along fine financially, but since Granddad came I haven't had time to get any extra jobs. Dad, he is just like you, he can see so many things to do. I could see them too, but had the idea I should earn some extra cash while I had the chance.

After this last week of Thanksgiving I'm still so full I don't see how I can eat any more for a month (until supper time). I got to thinking the other day of all the things I am thankful for, and I'm afraid if I wrote them all it would use all my stationery, and then I couldn't write you any more letters, so I won't try. But I would like to tell you how thankful I am that I have such good parents. At times, I confess I have been dissatisfied, but when I'd stop and think of all you have done for me (and my brothers and sisters) I'd feel ashamed of myself. In comparing my dear parents with other fathers and mothers I'm afraid the others suffer terribly, for there are none I have seen who come anywhere near to MY PARENTS. I hope that as I go through life I will never cause you pain. If I do this, when I am called up to be judged, I will not be ashamed.

I am thankful that Granddad is so much better. I was feeling pretty bad about his condition, but he's getting better every day. He gets out his old German songbook and sings to pass the time. He certainly knows his onions when it comes to the chickens. He lectured me for a couple of hours the other night.

December 1932

I have certainly found out what it means to be in a cold country. The thermometer has been down around 30° below zero F., but it has now moderated until it only gets down to 10° below. One morning, I didn't wear my gloves. Coming home I was carrying some books and my hands nearly froze. I walked the floor with pain for at least a half hour because I didn't know enough to put them in cold water. This country is funny, anything that it not warmed some way freezes up. In the chicken coops we have a half inch pipe bringing water from the canal that runs right by the barn. The water runs through tin troughs in the front of the coops for the chickens to drink. When it gets down to 30° below zero the troughs freeze solid and the water runs all over the floor. This makes me get up at 4:00 A.M. to clean the coops and put new straw in.

The water jacket in the furnace became clogged with lime and blew up, so I didn't get to go the the Institute Christmas Program. It's fixed now.

December 26, 1932

Old Santa Clause came from the south this year instead of from the north. I surely appreciate your Christmas gifts to me. Thank you so very much. It really wouldn't have seemed like Christmas without some of Mother's wonderful homemade candy. We were invited up to Hills' for Christmas dinner. Granddad went too, and we all had a real feed and a lot better time than I had anticipated.

Well, we have this holiday, and I do not have a job as yet. Prof. Wilson had promised me a job, so I went up to the college this morning. The buildings were not heated, so he wouldn't stay. I hope they heat them tomorrow so I will have work.

Grandmother's children all sent her something except Uncle Harold and I guess his present is just late. She surely feels bad about not being able to send them something, or do anything for Christmas, but she feels that the debts come first and pleasure, etc., afterward. They gave me a dollar to buy some galoshes.

Grandma was surely surprised to get a box from you, as I was. She sends her love and sincere thanks. Granddad has not been feeling so good lately. His improvement is very slow.

January 1, 1933

Happy New Year, and may it be a prosperous one for us all. In just 3 days we have to hit the ball again. Jimminy! A million dollars would represent a lot of time if you had to earn it at 25 cents an hour, wouldn't it. I've had about 20 hours work this week--only $5.00, but I am very glad to have it.

I profited greatly from Grandfather's teachings and philosophy. Unforgettable memories of him and Grandmother have been a constant influence in my life. If I did any little extra task on Sunday, he would say: "You're kinda' bending the sabbath, aren't you boy?" "Get organized." "A place for everything, and everything in its place."

Grandfather seemed to know that possibly he would not be around too long. He wanted to leave everything in good shape for his beloved wife. He saw that she needed an automatic coal stoker for the furnace. Much against her wishes, he arranged with a good friend, who owned a heating and plumbing store, to trade their stock in the Utah Cooperative Poultry Association for the major part of the cost of the stoker. This took some doing, because the stock did not mature for two or three years in order to be cashed. Grandmother later very much appreciated his foresight and his concern for her welfare.

Grandfather felt well enough in January that Uncle Harold and Aunt Nina came to take him the Salt Lake City so he could attend the Poultry Association annual meeting.

January 24, 1933

Granddad got back from his convention Saturday night, feeling as chipper as ever. However, his incision has broken out again, so now the house smells like a goat pen. We are hoping it will heal quickly. Since we have the stoker, I will not have to get up quite so early some days. I am planning to hike up Mount Logan in the snow with an engineering student who lives in one of the apartments. He goes up to measure the water content of the snow. He brought me some snowshoes down to fit to my feet. I went on a spending spree last week and bought me some "high top" boots, and some pants that lace on the calf and stick out at the side. I also got my picture taken, so I will have something to show for my college education (my picture in the yearbook, The Buzzer).

January 30, 1933

I wish you had some of our snow. We have more than 2 feet of it. The sidewalks are lanes.

Last Saturday I went on that hike I told you about up Mount Logan. Now it seems a great relief to get back where there is only 2 and a half feet of snow. It was new to me to be in so much snow (7 or more feet, and much more in the drifts). The trees looked like a fairy land. It snowed on us all morning and got us all so wet that we had to keep moving or freeze. On the steeper parts it was very difficult for the trail breaker (we all changed off} to get his snow shoes on top of 1 and a half feet of new snow. We made a trail that deep as we passed. There was not a crust, so we just wallowed. The water content was measured by taking a core with an aluminum pipe and weighing it. We came home a different way, and slid down the steeper places on our snow shoes.

This is the week of mid-term exams, so I'll have to get to work. I'll have to be more efficient, I guess, so there will be time for remunerative labor.

February 6, 1933

I think that I will get to go on some pruning demonstrations with Professor Coe this spring. I quite like the Prof., even if he is a "Christian Scientist." He said it was not the apple that caused the trouble in Eden, but a green pear (pair).

February 23, 1933

We certainly had a nice assembly today. We had a really great speaker who made us think. We also had a holiday. Old granddaddy Washington did us a favor and gave us time to clean out the coops without using valuable study time.

Granddad went down to Salt Lake last Sunday to see if he couldn't get a little help from the Doc. He was feeling pretty rotten, and was recovering very slowly. He went down with Ovando Gubler, Grandmother's nephew, who was here selling molasses.

I think I have nearly convinced Grandmother that she should go to the "opera" with me. The college is putting on "Faust" on March 2-3, downtown in the Capitol theater. They do a great job, including the scenery. (She didn't go, finally.)

Going to College is like a 5 ring circus. You can't possibly see it all, and if you move your head much you don't see much of anything.

March 29, 1933

I am enjoying my two hours per week in the gymnasium pool, even though we do not have a coach. Grandma is off to the temple tonight with the Hills. She is getting more and more worried about Grandfather, because he is not improving. They have taken him down to Provo where Uncle Henry can work on him with those "magic hands" of his. He needs another operation, but refuses to have it. He is probably too weak to stand it anyway.

The Dean of Agriculture, Dean Maynard, said he knew you, Dad, when you played basketball in days of yore. I should go in and talk with him. Uncle Thel wanted to introduce me to him, but I had a lot of bad luck with freezing water when he was here (and had to clean out the coops) so I was not available.

April 20, 1933

We must get our new pullets (8 weeks old) right away, so there is a coop to wash, scrape, clean, and disinfect.

April 27, 1933

You could say we had a holiday, "A" day. Boy did we work. My hands are still sore. The rest of the school knocked off at noon, but Professor Coe got a group of us horticulture students to landscape the Animal Husbandry building (where the horticulture classes are also held). We stayed all day and finished the job, so we have the prettiest landscaped building on campus.

I have put in the garden and cleaned up a big junky back yard. I terraced it and put in a strawberry patch.

May 14, 1933

School is out, and since the last edition of the "scribble" I have been and done things. I have been over to Newton thinning beets. The labor agent said that it was 8 miles over there, but the "Olds' says it is 17 miles. Just the same, I have learned the value of a dollar. I have almost irrigated the man's beets with the sweat of my brow, and what do I get? A paltry one dollar. We came home Monday afternoon and cleaned the two upstairs apartments, and rented them the next day at a reduced summer rate. I am having a time growing a garden. I water and the sun bakes. We can have baked vegetables.

June 22, 1933

At present I am out of a job again (partially). I cleared about $1.15 per day thinning sugar beets. It cost me about 30 cents a day to run the "Olds" the 30 miles round trip.

The chickens (pullets) are growing like weeds and seem to be as healthy as I am. We have not lost even one. We are feeding them sour skim milk from the college dairy at 5 cents per 10 gallons.

(I do not know why I didn't write about Grandfather's death, funeral, etc. He died on May 30, 1933, and was buried in the Provo cemetery. Uncle Henry died a few months later.)

July 19, 1933

I have a job at last, hoeing sugar beets for $1.75 for 9 hours. The raspberries are on now, and that means that Auntie Maybeth must pick them. She has been very rushed these last few days. She is up the canyon at the girls' camp leaving me all alone.

I drive ten miles to the farm, but it is not so bad now since 3 other fellows ride with me and pay the expenses. I broke a spring on the car, and it's so old, I do not know if I can find another.

August 11, 1933

We have been cleaning house for quite a number of days, and I am tired of housework. I've had to go over all the walls (they have a type of plastic wall paper on them) with a wall cleaner of our own manufacture. We use it like an eraser to remove the black deposit from the hot air heating system and grease from the cook stove.

The pullets are starting to lay eggs now--got 8 yesterday. They are nearly 5 months old. I have lost 9 by disease. In this country where chickens have been raised for so long, it is difficult to keep them disease free. We have lost about 15% of the hens over the winter. Still, this young flock is relatively disease free.

August 13, 1933

It is about time, I think, for me to be making some sort of a plan for my future. I feel I am at the crossroads, so to speak, whether to go on to school to graduation, or return home to help the family. I would like to know your desires, and whether or not I could be spared for a few years, so as to govern myself accordingly.

September 7, 1933

School starts September 25. Before that time I must amass about $45.00. If I can collect the $7.00 due from the sugar beet job, I'll have about $25.00. If I can get about two more week's work before school starts, I will not have to use any of Grandmother's chicken money. When I talked to Maybeth, she approved the idea that I could use a percentage of the net income. But Grandmother is buying another washer, then there is the coal to buy, other bills, and taxes.

Sept 13, 1933

I have been varnishing and painting here in the house (chairs and floors). I dropped in to see Mr. Maynard, the Dean of the School of Agriculture. I introduced myself to him, and he said, "Are you Curly Bowman's boy? I used to know him years ago when he played basketball down in Texas." I asked him if he could help me find work, and he told me to go to Alder (head of the Poultry Dept.) and if he couldn't help me to come back.

The cow had her calf, but it was dead when I found it. She has freshened anyway. The price of eggs has gone up to 21 cents for extras, so that will mean quite a lot to us.

Well, I have turned wallpaper hanger. Grandma had a couple of men come to hang the "sanitas" on the two kitchen walls upstairs. She thought they were charging $1.00 per roll. When she found that they were charging $2.00 per roll, they had already finished the ceilings. She told them she couldn't pay that much, so they left the paste and brush and turned the job over to me. Grandma paid them $4.60 for their work. So we saved $5.00.

September 26, 1933

I'm registered, and more broke than ever. All I am doing this quarter is filling required groups of classes. I have two tough courses, Chemistry 3 and Freshman composition. I have to take High School Geometry, and if there are not enough who want to take it, I'll have to take it by correspondence.

Grandmother deserted me today. She went to Provo because Uncle Henry is worse. She got a ride on the spur of the moment with someone, I don't know who.

I have signed up for the A.C. Glee Club. I want to learn to sing. I feel myself growing inside. The sensation is pleasant to think you are somebody (even if you are not), and it’s heavenly. It has been truly said that the more you learn, the more you find that you do not know. I hope to pass through these four short years with ever widening scope, vision, and capabilities.

It cost me $45.00 to register this quarter. The next quarter will cost about $20.00, and the Spring quarter, $10.00.

The student body had a free dance last night, so I went down and indulged. I danced more than I have for a long time. There were some good looking girls there too. I have found that not everyone has as high moral standards as us colony raised young people.

October 11, 1933

I am now deeply submerged in study again, which is simply another way to say I'm in deep water. What with trying to take 19 hours of courses, earn a livelihood, and have a good time, my days are pretty full. I have earned $5.00 since school started (one afternoon and both Saturdays). Grandmother gave me chicken money to register with. The chickens are still $197.00 or so in the red. I am hoping they will pay it by Christmas. The young pullets cost $128.50 and we bought wheat costing $148.50. The price of eggs has gone up to 30 cents a dozen for extras, which will help.

I get tremendous pleasure our of Men's Glee, even though I didn't the first few days. Welti is "quite the guy.” He really embarrasses the pianist, a girl, with his jokes. Incidentally, he did the same to me. He had us all get up and try out to see which part we could sing. I marched bravely up. He said. "Do this," and ran off a scale on the piano. I tried, and my voice cracked. "No fair yodeling," he said. Those few minutes were hours long. He commented that I took life too seriously, and that my voice had not fully changed yet. He put me in the first bass section, and I thought I was a tenor.

Vertis Wood is staying here with us this winter. He is a fine young former missionary in his Senior year here at the college. He stayed in one of the apartments last year. So now I have a sleeping partner. I have always slept in the fruit storage room in the basement. It is an unfinished room. So now we both sleep there.

October 18, 1933

I went down and represented our family at Uncle Henry's funeral. I know how much you missed not being able to be here. The only family members on both sides of the family who were not present were you, Dad, and Aunt Maybeth. The service was very beautiful and impressive. It is at times like this when I appreciate my family most. I cannot think of any other family I would rather be a member of than ours. Our heritage is a wonderful thing to contemplate. We, the younger generation, must show our appreciation by passing on to our children a heritage as great as the one we have received.

Uncle Henry was like his father in many ways. He understood boys, and could get the utmost out of them. They had put him in Scout work.

When I think of the heights that man can now attain, it gives me no small amount of inspiration to go and make something of this insignificant individual I call myself. I enjoy school this year more than ever, and although I am not taking much horticulture, I am laying a foundation on which to build in the future.

After the funeral, I met Brother and Sister Young. They took me up to the Y to see Mennell. We found him at the horticulture exhibit. It was Founder's Day. They had a pretty good exhibit, but nothing like our show last year. While I was there talking to Mennell, Professor Coe came by, so Mennell got to meet him. The Horticulture Professor at the Y is a former student here at the A.C. I met quite a few students there from the Colonies.

I went over to an orchard last Saturday to pick apples for Professor Coe, who was buying the crop. While I was waiting, I went over and helped Henry Peterson, an old man who owns the orchard, and who is also a professor of psychology. He was pulling extra large crop of watercress off his pond. I helped him for about half an hour. When we finished, he said, “When you go home, take a bushel of apples to your Grandmother." I explained to him that I didn't expect anything for that little bit of work, but he insisted, so I did. He had learned quite a bit of my family history in that short time. He told me that he had been to the colonies before the revolution. The world is a very small place.

October 24, 1933

I have not missed a Saturday at remunerative work since school started, and I have worked some in between. There is no school Friday so I can finish harvesting the carrots. They average about three inches in diameter and over a foot long. English and Chemistry are not as hard as I expected. I even get "A's" on some of my themes.

November 8, 1933

Grandmother has gone to the temple tonight, as she does quite often when someone is going who will take her. It is good that she can go to the temple, it makes her day seem more worthwhile. I admire Grandmother more every day. She is of a different era, and it is difficult to understand her sometimes, but upon looking into her soul, so to speak, I see a character that is hard to duplicate, even by looking the whole world over. Isn't it funny how environment shapes our lives and way of thinking and acting? The teaching a child receives even while very young means everything in the world to him or her. There is a family across the street--the father is a regular demon. He curses and swears at his kids just like they were dogs. The children are just like him; anyone who is around them for a while gets a surprisingly complete lesson in swearing and meanness. They have no sense of right, or of other people's rights. They will go through life handicapped, for it is very necessary that we get along with our fellowmen. It is things like this that make me appreciate my upbringing. Oh, my home foundation means so much to me!

I bought me some rubber boots to wear doing my chores this winter and winters to come. They cost me $3.25--cheap for the comfort they will give me, especially when the water freezes up and floods the coops. Winter is upon us; it has snowed since I wrote last week. That makes two light snowfalls we have had. The last two days have been as warm as Logan's two days of summer.

I went to the football game last Saturday. (I had no work assignment.) We won against Wyoming U. 28 to nothing. It doesn't cost me anything to go, we get in on our student body activity card.

Well, Utah went "wet” (voted against terminating prohibition). What a shame! Grandmother's only consolation was that Kane, Washington and Cache counties (our county) voted dry. We are not very good Mormons are we? Especially since the President of the Church spoke so strongly in favor of keeping prohibition. To think that Utah would let North and South Carolina be the only two states that didn't ratify.

I am going to get the lot plowed this week before the snow comes and covers it for the winter. A man came and offered the furnish our straw if he could have the fertilizer. It will save us $10.00.

November 15, 1933

I need to go up to the gym to help prepare the Horticulture Show. It opens in the morning. There are loads of activities this week because it is Homecoming, the Ag. Club Harvest Ball, and the big game with the Y on Saturday.

P.S. I forgot to mail this so will add a line. I didn't get home until 1 :00 A.M. last night. Needless to say it was hard for me to get up this morning, and I had an eight o'clock class. Vertis' fiancé came up from Salt Lake last week. She surely is a swell girl. She drew my picture, which I will enclose.

November 24, 1933

Last week the Horticulture Show was a great success and all the Homecoming activities were fine. It was capped off by the U.S.A.C. beating the Y in football, 14 to nothing. It was the best game I've seen.

We have had a raise in wages because they have received aid from the government. Now we earn 50 cents an hour.

I can attend the Varsity Play tonight with my student body card, so I think I'll go up, even if I am so very sleepy. Last night I was up unti1 12:30 getting a thousand word theme for Freshman Composition. These themes are getting me down. The show was "As Husbands Go." I went early and got a good seat--studied while waiting.

November 30, 1933

Congratulations Dad! I cannot describe the feeling of pride that I have upon learning that they have made you President of the Stake, but I know (and I say this with pride too) that they set apart the right man for the calling. If we children of this wonderful family will only live up to the standards set by you, our beloved parents, we will surely go to that much desired place that we mortals call the Celestial Kingdom. With all my pride, I think that Grandfather and Grandmother are just as great or greater than any of us.

Grandmother also wrote a letter of congratulations to Dad. This is the sort of thing that makes her heart swell with joy--to have her sons be worthy of a high position in the Church. Everyone she talks to hears about it. In fact, it was the subject of a very lively conversation at Thanksgiving dinner today.

We were invited up to Hill's to eat a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. They surely take an interest in us, and we appreciate it. It is the next best thing to being at home. Beatrice Winsor and her family were also there, including their two grandmothers, so there was quite a crowd.

December 6, 1933

Vertis and I are now on our own again. Grandmother found a way to Provo with LaVieve Huish.

We had a good stake conference last Sunday. Reed Smoot was the visiting Apostle. I guess I will never forget his talk. He spoke of the sufferings borne by the pioneers, and whether we, the youth of Zion will carry on. He made it so graphic and impressive that I said to myself, "I will carry on, or something will be radically wrong with me." Another thing he wanted to impress us with was that all the prophecies that have been made by the Prophets of God will be carried out to the letter.

"Ya con esto me despido, con el alma entristecida. Ya te cante los dolores Y las penas de mi vida. Ay! Love Claudio.

December 12, 1933

Last night the Glee Club gave a concert down at the Logan Tabernacle. It really was a musical treat, even if I did sing in it. On Sunday, we are going to ride the Interurban over to Smithfield (about six miles) to give another concert, participating in the fine glee club is giving me a great deal of pleasure. I think that I will continue to take it all year. I am enclosing the program.

I got a hundred percent on the last Chemistry examination. This is the first time I've done that under Maeser.

December 28, 1933

Old Saint Nick has come and gone and the bright New Year is upon us. We spent a very pleasant afternoon at Winsor's last Sunday. They have such a nice home and everything. It is built like a castle on the edge of the hill. We were served a very elegant lunch and played and talked the time away. Coming home, after dark, and passing Smith's home up there, I could see old Santa Clause and his good wife through the window. There were lots of kids and they were all making merry, having a great time. I stopped there on the sidewalk and watched and listened for a while. My thoughts wandered southward--I found myself looking for Santa's sleigh. I wanted to stowaway in some corner of it until he stopped at a certain house in Dublan. But old Santa came out and would not let me go because he had to pick up a large cache of presents in Salt Lake, and he already had his wife along. One passenger was enough he said. All of those kids, old Santa, the Christmas spirit made me so homesick that I could scarcely contain myself.

We spent Christmas day very pleasantly indeed at Hill's. The kids all had lovely presents, and were all busy entertaining themselves and us also. That afternoon Bea Jr. and Theresa Jr. and I went downtown and saw "Little Women." That is a good show. Everyone was in tears when Beth died. I have been trying to get Grandmother to go, but the one who gets her to go to a show will accomplish one of the seven wonders of the world. She had a very happy Christmas, and heard from and received presents from all her children except Uncle Harold, who has gone to the coast for the holidays. She appreciated your letter just as much as if it had been the most costly of presents.

Grandmother gave the loveliest little book for Christmas ("Flashes From The Eternal Semaphore"). If I send it to you to read, I know you will use it to get ideas for talks in conference or other meetings. It contains signals to keep us on the strait and narrow path while traveling down life's highway. Grandmother composed a pretty little verse and wrote it on the first page of the book:

Dearest Claudius:

This gift of mine is a book so fine,

If you will but heed its teachings.

It shows the way you should live each day.

It is through toil and strife

One gains eternal life.

On January 23, 1934, Grandmother encouraged me to go to Salt Lake City for the Utah Poultry Producers Cooperative convention. It didn't cost me anything to go because I rode with Mr. Elliot, the manager of the Logan plant. Dr. Hugh Hurst gave an illustrated lecture on diseases that was worth the trip. He also invited me out to dinner. I stayed at Uncle Harold's overnight. Dr. Hurst told me that I had some footprints to follow if I wanted to equal what my Dad has done.

I tried out for the ROTC Rifle Team, and did fairly well, but not quite good enough to make the team. The team practices shooting instead of marching as the others do. My quarter this quarter is:

Military Science: 1 credit per quarter. I only take it because it is required.

Inorganic Chemistry: 5 hours credit, with two laboratory classes per week.

Soils: 4 hours credit, 3 classes per week and one laboratory. This is a required course and a good one.

General Animal Husbandry: Required course, 3 hours credit. Darn these orientation courses.

Agricultural Entomology: 4 hours credit. To learn how to control insects. Four classes and one laboratory per week.

Geometry: Two hours, and ten dollars gone to the dogs, because I didn't take it in High School.

February 15, 1923

It was the anniversary of Grandfather Bowman's birthday on the tenth of the month. I get a funny feeling when I think that last year he was with us here, as an invalid, of course. He thought he was good for another 20 years yet. He would have been 75 years old on the tenth.

February 20, 1934

This is a red-letter day for me. Dr. Hill got me a $15.00 per month job. I will be working in a laboratory for Dr. Hirst, a Chemistry Professor. It is great to have a job. I had thought I was busy with what I had to do. How will I be able to put in an additional 50 hours a month? It is now 10:10 P.M. and I have to get up at 4:30 to clean the coops.

Bishop Arwell Pierce came to Utah on business, and he brought Aunt Eva, her daughter Mary 1 and Marion up to see Grandma. Bp. Pierce asked President Ivins about his daughter marrying Marion. (They are cousins.) President Ivins said. "I wouldn't hesitate a minute to let one of my girls marry a Bowman, they are strong in both mind and body and good citizens all."

February 28, 1934

I ought to have a blue ring around the date this time. Last Friday, I went up to work, and they showed me a lot of those big acid bottles and told me to get busy and wash them. They were hard to clean. I had worked for about a half hour when one of the bottles slipped. I tried to catch it, but it hit the side of the sink and crumpled in my hands. I saw that my hand was in the sink. It was so sudden that I didn't even feel it. I grabbed the towel so the blood wouldn't drip on the floor, and went in and asked the Professor if he had some disinfectant. He sent me over to the school doctor, Doc. Preston, and he took me downtown when he went to get it sewed up. (Mother was crying when she got to this point in the letter, so my trying to be funny misfired and I felt really repentant when I received her letter.) Oh yes! I forgot to tell you that my hand was not disconnected from my arm while it was in the sink, but I did cut the left side of my wrist quite deep and a little over an inch long. After only five days, it is almost healed up. It was a little inconvenient to milk the Jersey with one hand. Vertis cleaned the coops for me last Monday morning. The doctor bill was paid by the school.

March 7, 1934

We are all well, and anticipating your trip this spring to conference. (Dad and Mother came up to conference twice a year, most years, and this took the place of my going home.)

Another red letter day for me; I have been elected to Alpha Zeta, the National Honorary Agricultural Fraternity at the A.C. No wonder I think that my stock has gone up a few points. Although I might not merit the honor, I am really glad that they have given it to me. It is going to cost me $9.00 a year to belong, but it will be well worth it. To be elected, a person has to be in the upper eighty percent of the class, and receive the unanimous vote of all the members. (William Bennet was elected at the same time I was. He later became president of the fraternity. He also became an Assistant to the Twelve Apostles, and later one of the Seventy. On a trip to preside at the Juarez Stake conference, he came to our home to see me, and I was very flattered because he did it.)

April 19, 1934

Yesterday, P. V. Cardon, the Director of the experiment Station, and husband of one of the Ivins girls, spoke to us in the Alpha Zeta meeting. Afterwards, the pledges had to say a few words. He found that I was a Bowman, so he came over afterward and told me that he had met you (my parents) at Winsors. He invited me to drop into his office any time that I had problems. He was glad that I was in this select group. He is a swell fellow.

During the first part of the summer of 1934, I couldn't find work, except the chores around the house, picking raspberries, etc. Aunt Maybeth was home. We played some tennis. I had a day or two work irrigating the school tree and plant nursery. Rosalba Gubler stayed with us while attending summer school. She was married in July. We used some of the chickens to feed those who came to the wedding. Dr. Hill gave me a little work in his milk testing project. He was testing cows for mastitis.

I attended a free lecture at the college given by a geologist, Dr. Larry Gould, who had been to the north and south poles with Byrd. The lectures were illustrated with slides and moving pictures. It was very educational and entertaining.

I also worked a few days cleaning up the Winsor flower garden. Also I had to find a farmer who would sell us wheat. I bought 50 bushels from Mr. Down and more from Andrews.

August 17, 1934

I have been working 8 hours a day cleaning windows and rooms at the college. Maybeth took Grandmother on a trip to Silver City New Mexico, they planned to stop and visit relatives along the way. I washed and waxed her car to make it look like new.

I have been working for Larsen, the head janitor. He laid off most of the crew, but since I was such a valuable man, he kept me on to finish up. Also, I cleaned and painted the apartments, and they were rented without any problems (worked occasionally for Dr. Hill testing the milk samples. He taught me to do the entire test. We had 68 in one day.

We have a little alfalfa patch on both sides of the canal. I cut the hay with a scythe and carry it into the barn when dry.

September 27, 1934

I went up and registered last Tuesday. I had bought a suede jacket, some shoes and cords (pants), and so I had to borrow $15.00 from Grandma to register. I have $30.00 due me on October 10, so I will be able to pay the loan back. Coe is taking a sabbatical and going to Cornell, so we have another professor, Arvil Stark. He is a distant cousin.

Grandmother returned on September 20th. Aunt Flora and her children brought her home. We have had a killing frost. I finished digging the potatoes yesterday. We have enough to last the winter. We also have cabbage and carrots, so we will not starve.

I hadn't been too exact in paying my tithing. I was having so much trouble getting enough work, so I got really serious about my financial condition. I knelt down and promised the Lord that I would pay a full tithing, and I asked him to help me with my financial problems from that time on I have paid my tithing faithfully, and the Lord has really blessed me. My income has increased every year since that time.

October 17, 1934

Everything is going well for us, except that the cow got into the canal somehow and drowned. Grandma is nearly sick about it. She has been phoning trying to find another. I am going to go see some prospects she has located to see the production and how rich the milk is Grandma sets the milk out in pans, and in the morning there is a thick layer of cream on it.

I have paid back what I borrowed, and have paid for my suit, with a few pennies over I have worked sorting apples, and also making cider. We grind up the apples and press out the juice in a press. We sell it to the fraternities and sororities or anyone who is having a party. We made 25 gallons today. We are back to working for 25 cents an hour.

November 7, 1934

Busy times are here again. The Horticulture Show is this weekend. The gym has taken on a new appearance with lumber and nails, pretty paper, and WORK. Today I made about 55 gallons of cider. We are all preparing exhibits of fruits and vegetables, using products available at the college. I am getting better acquainted with Dr. Arvil Stark, our distant cousin. He says he knew Ara Call very well at Ames, and hence he knows quite a lot about the Colonies.

Dad, the bishop has asked me if I would like to be advanced in the Priesthood. I would like to wait until you come up so that you can ordain me as you have in the Aaronic Priesthood. Please let me know what you think about it.

November 14, 1934

I won the poultry judging contest, but instead of awarding a prize for first place as in previous years, my name goes on a cup. If I win again next year I get to keep the cup. I got a 100% on the production judging, but on show or "Standard of Perfection" judging I was a little rusty.

December 14, 1934

Now for the good news: I got a $10.00 per month job, which will make it possible for me to pay my expenses this year. I'm going to take care of Dr. Wilson's greenhouses. Dr. Wilson is now head of the Department since Coe left.

January 13, 1935

Grandmother and I were just like a couple of kids Christmas morning opening packages and dancing around etc. Maybeth sent me a lovely leather case containing brush, comb, and containers for toilet accessories (not a razor; I do not use such an unnecessary thing).

Boy! did I enjoy that cake and candy you sent Mother. The pajamas fit perfectly, so I will enjoy sleeping more for years to come. Thank you so much. Uncle Devereaux and Aunt Cleah were here last week, and he gave me $3.00 for Christmas. Uncle Harold and Aunt Nina sent me a couple of pair of beautiful socks, and Uncle Demar a nice tie. Grandmother gave me a couple of little books on photography.

January 30, 1935

I came within one foot of heaven the other day. Clara, a neighbor girt, and I were coming down the hill on a sled. The hill is like ice. We were going about 40 miles an hour when a man backed his car out on the street. He didn't see us. We whizzed by the back of the car so close that Clara caught the calf of her leg on the spring shackle of the car lacerating it terribly. They had to put her under ether and use about 70 stitches to sew the wound up. It took a long time to heal up.

Last week we had some cold weather--8°F. below zero. The chickens dropped a little in production, but they are still doing fairly well. This reminds me that I must pull out very early in the morning, in spite of my flu, and clean the coops. Coops and examinations wait for no man.

Dad came to Logan and ordained me an Elder on February 8, 1935.

May 13, 1935

I am President of the Horticulture Club (The Grafters) and co-manager, with Wes Soulier of the next Ag Show.

June 6, 1935

Bob is in Salt Lake. He called me Tuesday morning, so he must be rich. Maybeth arrived Monday about 4:00 P .M. and left the next morning to take Grandmother to Provo to see Dr. Merrill. For some time, Grandmother has been bothered with an itch, but she wouldn't go see a doctor. She seems to be rather particular which doctor she sees. Maybeth is going to find out more about what Bob is doing.

I have been working the last two days trying to get caught up on the work around here. I have cleaned the coops and runs, hoed the weeds, planted garden, and sprayed the raspberries with iron sulfate for chlorosis, etc.

Last week I was as busy as a hen with no chicks. Examinations would have been enough, but in addition, I had to spray. I put in 28 hours doing 8 hours of work, working with an old 200 gallon sprayer (about 25 years old). I think, however that I did all right on my examinations in spite of insufficient study.

I worked at the college on Saturday instead of going to the graduation exercises. But I attended the Baccalaureate on Sunday. It was a morning of supernal beauty. It was held in a green filled amphitheater. The view included the snowcapped peaks, green slopes of fir and spruce, more green slopes of dry-land wheat that had been rained upon for a week, a tree filled valley with the magnificent Temple of God thrusting its magnificent spires into the sky among the green trees.

June 12, 1935

We have been cleaning house and various other things so I didn't get to go to conference. The chores are quite a drawback. I would also have had a few more days work. Dr. Wilson wanted me to go to Farmington to take care of the spraying, but it was while Grandmother was not here, so I couldn't possibly leave.

Grandmother came back from Provo with an armful of prescriptions. It seems that she has been overdoing. Her heart can't take it.

Maybeth took particular pride in presenting a sandy haired Loaz Johnson and a magnificent diamond. They took Bob to Provo with them, sitting on Johnson's knee, but because of the inconvenience, didn't bring him up here.

Grandmother still has the itch. I took her to see Les Miserables last night and she practically wore out the seat scratching her back.

June 20, 1935

I have been working every day except yesterday doing various jobs for money and otherwise. I appreciate a little leisure. Yesterday I let everything go and went trout fishing. Pretty poor fishing, but I got 15 so Grandma has plenty to eat for a meal of two.

July 14, 1935

Grandmother is feeling very noticeably better. She sends her love. Her brother, Henry Gubler, and his wife were here today. Rosalba's mother will stay until the birth of her child.

I went fishing on July 4th, and have seen a show or two lately. Fuzz is starting to grow on my face, so perhaps I will become a man.

July 24, 1935

Boy! Do I feel good with a tummy full of cherry pie. It is Grandmother's birthday tomorrow, which I suppose explains the celebration. We had two trees of Montmorency cherries at the college, and I brought a few home. Grandmother will be 72 tomorrow, and her golden wedding anniversary is September second.

I really celebrated the 24th by picking berries all morning and cleaning the coops in the afternoon. I spent most of last week working in the laboratory. I left the labels off four nitrogen tests that I did, which messed them up. Doc Wilson didn't cuss me out. He just told me what I had done and said we could do them over.

Maybeth and Loaz were married last Sunday as planned. The boys didn't come up, but Aunt Josie and family did. Gaskell Romney performed the ceremony on the front porch, and the invited guests stood on the lawn. We slaughtered 9 hens and did away with 4 gallons of ice cream and lots of cake, not to mention tons of potato salad and sandwiches. I finally got enough ice cream and cake. Lorraine was maid of honor and I stood in as the best man. Grandmother now feels pretty good about the marriage. Before, she was worrying herself sick about it.

Maybeth and Loaz left yesterday morning and their honeymoon is a pack trip into the mountains of Colorado. The chile from the seeds you sent me are doing fine. I find I am quite a chile eater.

October 10, 1935

The Ag. Show is growing in proportions by the day. Plans are slowly whipping into shape. We are trying to make this the biggest show that has been held to date. Here is the Ag. Show letterhead. (It wouldn't fit so I will put it at the top of the next page).

I am ready to turn my stomach in on a new one. Consumption of sodium bicarbonate has increased a thousand percent around here (we didn't have turns).

The A.W.S. Ball was a huge success. I went with Louise and had a very nice time.

I have another bed-partner this year. John Hale, who is a Chemistry major, needed a place to sleep so he could board with his sister and other girls upstairs. I would rather be alone, but I guess some sacrifices are necessary.

October 23, 1935

Lou Wagner lent me his 25/35 rifle, so I went hunting the other day. I saw 11 does and one buck, that is, I saw the buck for a split second. Six does played around me for about half an hour. I should have had some field glasses to see horns if any of them was a yearling buck. You must see horns before you shoot. When I came home without my buck, Grandma said, "I told you so" or words to that effect.

We get out of school Friday for Teachers' Institute. This offers a little time to catch up. Maybe I can get a little paint on the house. I started to paint last Saturday morning, but had to quit and go down and go downtown to put up a 30 x 3 foot sign over the street advertising the show. This typewriter is my bed partner's.

December 19, 1935

Uncle Harold bought a Kodak for me and saved me $6.00. It will certainly be a source of much pleasure to me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Since for various reasons it is impossible for me to say it in person. Grandmother is not doing so much for Christmas this year, that is, she is not shopping. She is making a bathrobe for Aunt Eva. She is also working on a project foisted on her by Aunt Nina: which is a crocheted bedspread. This is an imposition because it will take her many months to complete it. I was not planning to send any Christmas presents, but I did send $5.00 to Bob in the mission field, along with another five from Grandma.

February 5, 1936

We had to buy a new battery for the "Oldsmobile" because the old one burst--it froze because the temperature went down to 15 degrees below zero for a few nights.

There are only 3 more weeks in this quarter, and there are so many things to get done. We are planning on attending the Utah Horticulture Society meeting in Salt Lake. Now I must gather the eggs and get up to school for a class.

March 7, 1936

I did go down to the Horticulture Society meeting with Prof. Coe, leaving the cow in charge of a neighbor boy and the chickens in charge of one of the boys living in one the apartments. I stayed overnight at Uncle Harold's and saw the pictures they took in Mexico City. Dad and Mother went with them.

My close association with Grandmother Mary Gubler Bowman and Aunt Maybeth added unforgettable memories and taught me more that I realized at the time, My admiration and love for both is great. I also had the privilege of becoming well acquainted with my Uncles and their families when they came to visit Grandma, The Winsors and the Hills (our Eyring relatives) invited us to participate in their Thanksgiving and Christmas banquets and celebrations, and were especially kind and helpful to me.

I do not remember the arrangements we made to take care of Grandma's chickens, cow and garden. She must have hired a boy to do it, because I believe that I returned to Mexico with my parents in their new car.