Letters home to his parents; paper on religion; and two photographs : Beckwith with friends and Branner Hall

have hopes of being one of the lucky ones.

Last night our hall gave its first dance though it had to be given in Toyon as our main room is not finished yet. I went with "Winky" Widamen and met a couple of nice co-eds. Sterling was there hashing.

I have been enjoying my meals at Russell's very much for a change. If I walk down there and back twice a day it totals near seven miles.

I am writing a rather lengthy short story over this week-end. The plot is about the niece of a wealthy banker who is cut off in the will will & spurned by her fiance as a consequence. It would almost do for a scenario but I know of worse ones.

I have to memorize 110 lines of Shakespeare & finish this short story by Tuesday so I am quite busy. It is now 10:45 P. M. so I had better retire.

Good night,

Burnham

(copy) Stanford University March 16, 1924. Dear Parents, I am sincerely sorry that I caused you to think I had lost ten ponds in weight. I infer from my mother's last letter that I must have absent mindedly, written down my weight as 132 rather than 142, which it was then and is now.My reference to a loss of weight meant only two or three pounds and no more.

All classes are over for this quarter now, and final examinations will consume our time this next week. I have already received my grade, "B", in English Composition. Friday, I visited my faculty advisor, Professor Cottrell and signed up for my next quarter program. At eight o' clock on M.W.F. , I will take an advanced Economics course in banking ( that is if i can get in it ) . At nine on M.W.F. I am taking a course in Essay Reading from a lady professor, who is reported to invite her classes to have tea with her once a week. At ten I will continue my present interesting course in American History and at eleven I will take my first Law Course , called an introduction to the study of law.

I am getting better grades than ever before this quarter and hope to make a plus 15.

You remember I told you the two best speakers in each section of my Extemporaneous Speaking class were to be selected this week. I eulogized Eugene V. Debs in my talk and as a result, was not one of the lucky ones.

This week and I am writing a 2000 word report on my study of mental telepathy this quarter. I know father is interested in this, so I will typewrite an extra duplicate and send it to him.

I wonder if you have ever heard of Dr. Bitting, the well known Baptist minister of St. Louis. He has been preaching here recently and I had lunch with him at the Union this week. He is extremely modernistic and very hard to join to anything except a belief in a deity. Men like him are the greatest enemies to Agnosticism as they come so near to being reasonable without really being so in one or two fundamentals , such as belief in a deity . I have on my desk now a book called "Outspoken Essays " by W.R. Inge , the famous "gloomy" Dean of St.Paul's Cathedral, London, which I hope to read this vacation.

I also have on my desk a copy of a new magazine "The American Mercury", edited by H.L. Mencken, the critic and George Jean Nathan. It contains some very clever satires.

I attended my first college assembly this year when I heard that a socialist was to speak. Paul Blanchard, who won every

-2oratorical prize at Michigan - a university of 8000 - and was a minister for a year or two, addressed us on the subject of the British Labor movement. He is, next to Captain Hobson, about the best speaker (not orator) I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. He spoke for forty-five minutes and kept that assembly of light-minded college students fairly entranced, with his subtle satire of American treatment of Labor problems and his wonderful exposition of conditions in England. As an example of the mass of information he gave, I learned that the greatest industry in England, the Rochvale Cooperative Ltd. , is controlled entirely by the workers, and feeds one third of the families in England in competition with private firms.

He is going to speak at Mrs. Gartz's next sunday, and you had better get back into her good graces as he is well worth hearing, and I would like to go myself.

We will arrive in Pasadena at the usual time Saturday . Stacy Smith, Gene Cox, Ellis Abbe, and Heinie Roberts are coming with us.

Your loving son, Burnham.