Washington, Tuesday—Yesterday afternoon I received Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco, the Ambassador of Uruguay and Madame Blanco, and Mr. Fernand Dennis, the Minister of Haiti, and Madame Dennis. They were my first diplomatic visitors for the fall, and they certainly were charming ones.

Secretary and Mrs. Morgenthau dined with us last night, and today Mrs. Morgenthau has been catching up on some of the civilian defense work on which we are going to work together in the coming months. I find a wealth of volunteers who are anxious to do something useful, but I shall not be satisfied until I begin to see people actually at work in communities all over the country. That is where the real civilian defense must have its roots.

It certainly has been delightful weather, neither too hot nor too cold. I am beginning to wonder if September is not one of the most pleasant months to be in Washington. Rain is needed badly, however, but when the sky is blue one can hardly wish for a rainy day.

I have been reading some articles in a Magazine called "Who." One is about Mr. and Mrs. Melvyn Douglas and it is a charmingly written and very accurate description of two useful and busy lives. My admiration for Mr. and Mrs. Douglas is very deep, because they are among the few people I know who will smilingly make the necessary sacrifices for their convictions.

I imagine the article on Mayor La Guardia is also written with knowledge, as well as sympathy and understanding. I loved the little quotation which says that the Mayor avers any emotion which he shows is "very deliberate." I confess I have had a suspicion that he sometimes gets angry on purpose.

It has often been said that righteous indignation is good for the soul. I have never been able to prove it, since I am never quite sure that I am righteously indignant, but I do know it is good for the soul to let your indignation evaporate in words.

A good part of the past few days and nights has been spent in the Walter Reed Hospital with my brother. I should like to write a eulogy on the devotion of the doctors, nurses and corps men in this hospital. I have never seen more kindness, more patience and more infinite attention to detail. I can not say, however, that it is a very pleasant or easy way to spend one's time.