HYDE PARK, Thursday—Mrs. Scheider and I were going to lunch yesterday on a glass of milk and a sandwich on our porch in the New York apartment. My brother telephoned and I asked him if he would like to join us. He did and brought two other people to feast on a glass of milk, a tomato and lettuce sandwich and some fruit! I felt fairly inhospitable, but they had been warned and I must say they accepted their decidedly frugal meal with good grace!

The simplicity of the meal was a contrast to the complexity of the questions which we discussed for we ranged over the problems of the world! One of our guests had just come back from Europe and felt that we were greatly exaggerating the feeling of anxiety of the people over there. He assured me that in England the newspapers carried far less war news than they do in this country and that the average individual gave war news but little thought. I only hope that he is right, and that we can feel less anxious about conditions in Europe than our newspapers would lead us to believe.

Last evening I had two hours with my son, Franklin, Junior. He came up unexpectedly from Wilmington, leaving Ethel to do her packing and prepare for the move to Charlottesville, Virginia. He kept telling me that he had another engagement, but two hours slipped away almost unnoticed and we certainly had a grand time. I think his zest for living and his interest in people are going to provide him with a most interesting life. I know only too well how often we have to change our conclusions, and revise them to meet our own growing understanding and the acquirement of new knowledge.

Mrs. Scheider and I visited Harpers yesterday afternoon, turning in the galleys of "This Is My Story," which will come out in November. I thought there was nothing more to be done, but found I had to take a set of galleys away with me to do a little more work. There is a great sense of satisfaction, however, in the feeling that however little I may have accomplished this summer, this book is finished.

We did not make a very early start this morning and we reached Poughkeepsie by train at ten minutes to twelve to find a glorious autumn day. The maples are all turning red and I love the autumn colors, but how I grieve over each passing day of summer!

I had an appointment with a gentleman and found that he was on the same train, so he drove up with us and told me of the competition which his firm has started. They are offering a prize to the students throughout the country in the various schools of design for a living room to be furnished in a modern American way, using a symbol in decoration to represent this period in our history. There is something quite exciting about this idea and I am most anxious to see what comes from the fresh mind of youth. Too many of us are bred in tradition, and we find it hard to have original conceptions, but perhaps we may get something atypical and new out of today's student!