Hyde Park, Monday—We ran true to form yesterday in weather. The morning was very beautiful, though the usual rain fell in the afternoon. However, I had a ride and a swim with a friend who came up for lunch. Immediately after lunch, Mrs. Lewis Thompson, who had flown up from Red Bank, New Jersey, to see her family, flew back with me to her home, where a pet show is given every year for the benefit of the Monmouth County Organization for Social Service.

I was to act as judge in two of the classes and give the prizes. I know nothing I dislike more than being a judge where children are the competitors, because all of them have tried so hard that your grieve at not being able to have a winning class for every one of them.

The first group I judged were pets with children dressed up to appear as some particular character. The child winning the first prize was a marvelous scare crow and her pet was a crow.

I was told it fell near her with an injured wing some weeks ago when she was out riding, and since then has been tamed. It certainly sat on her extended arm in the quietest way imaginable.

The fourth prize was won by a little boy dressed as a butcher boy with a really wicked looking knife over his shoulder, while under one arm was a squealing little pig with the nails of its front feet painted red. The pig's eyebrows and nose were also decorated in brilliant carmine.

This was the most consoling prize giving I have ever done. Those who won a fourth prize received a white ribbon and went to the prize table and obtained something as a consolation for not winning a cup.

The second class I judged was the most important of all, because all the winners of all the different classes appeared and out of them we were to choose the best pet in the show. Luckily, my co-judges were very good and I felt comparatively little responsibility.

After a few words of greeting, I said goodbye to my hosts and flew back again. I reached home just after the usual afternoon thunder storm. It was a pleasant trip and I hope the charity made all the needed money.

I had a group of young people lunch with me today. Some of them are motoring out to Geneva, Wisconsin, for the annual meeting of the American Youth Congress. One of them, Miss Fradkin, belongs to a cooperative group which is producing plays this summer that deal with stories about the Hudson River.

The girls are Vassar graduates. The boys, some of them, are still in college. Their headquarters are in Poughkeepsie, and they are opening their season with a performance on July 6th in Mr. Lowell Thomas' theatre on Quaker Hill. I wish them every success and look forward to having them here some time this summer.