Dear Mac --

Spring is here in Paris and it reminds me of golf and of you. The forsythia is in full bloom, the horse chestnuts are leafing and of course the grass is green -- it scarcely changes color over winter however. Naturally the season is a trifle early and we may pay for it later.

Speaking of golf -- I have little to report. Played twice last fall at Chantilly (just out of Paris). But the courses are so far out that unless one has a car, it's too much of a task to get out. Golf can wait however.

Life in Europe proceeds apace. My experiences are valuable beyond measure, but one year of Europe is quite enough for one who has work at home. I can't thrill over the French particularly. We speak a different language literally and figuratively. As a nation or as individuals the French are so tremendously individualistic and narrow that one must handle them with gloves. From the standpoint of art they seem apparently to be holding their own, but in science and agriculture they are a decadent people with only a shred of hope left for them. We try to fathom their philosophy patiently but must give it up. We sense that they are different from us, and we sense all too well that America is so damn foolish in many respects, and yet we feel tremendous hope for our future and overwhelming impressions that they are coasting down to some sort of fall.

On the other hand, the Germans we seem nearer to -- at least we can sense their reactions to life. I came over with but little use for Germany, but after two visits there, I simply must hand it to them. They are coming rapidly to the front with a force that is difficult to believe. Their powers of recuperation are astounding. In science, industry, art, agriculture, aviation, they are flourishing. They must, in the future, be counted as one of the three leaders of Europe that cannot be ?? (England and Russia are the other two, the rest of Europe being unimportant from the standpoint of leadership).

So much for politics. My life here is a mixture of Paris and travel to other countries. Here in Paris, I am living a bachelor life in an apartment near the Bois de Bologne with two Rockefeller men, one the vice-President of the European office. Earlier we used the metro (subway) to get to the office, but now the V.P. has a Buick so we ride in state with a chauffeur. I am missing the family greatly. Mrs. L. comes over alone soon -- sailing in April.

Thus far I have traveled in England, Holland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Not all over each country yet. In England, I've only been to London, Cambridge, Leeds, and Edinburgh. But in Germany I have seen some 10-12 towns from Hamburg to Munich. The work or rather opportunities to see the best biological laboratories in Europe is a real inspiration. It is providing a background that will serve splendidly in the future.

Conditions in England are only fair. Labor and agriculture conditions are none too good. I like the English as a people very much. I enjoyed London greatly -- all except their rotten cloudy weather. Austria is low economically. Vienna is not up to pre-war standards. The Czechs are coming along very well indeed for a small nation. Poland is so-so, nothing to be proud of.

Have seen some good opera here in Paris, in Vienna, Prague and Warsaw, although the U.S. gets the best artists from here. In Vienna I saw the attempt to introduce the American negro jazz into the classical opera realm. In the famous opera house there they played, three times a week, `Jonny spielt of' with uncertain success. Some applauded, some hissed. Personally, I (who belong somewhat to the young generation as well as to the older) thought it was a miserable attempt. I'm afraid the older musicians of good repute simply cannot grasp the spirit of this new age, and the younger ones have not enough experience yet. I heard I. Stravinksy conduct a large French orchestra through an ?? of his modern music. Most of it was damned rotten is my verdict, although some fools applauded like mad. However here in Paris where there are congregated thousands of these half-baked modernists who adore anything that is new simply for that reason, one can always get applause or support for any attempt. If you could see some of these art shops displaying daily their wares of modern art, you could realize what idiots some mortals are. For some reason Paris collects many of the derelicts of the artistic world -- the US sends its full share as one may note in the so-called Bohemian cafes -- and they form a sufficient body to impress other fools by their numbers and noisy activity.

We had a radio here (London is playing now) and enjoy a good many national concerts. The stations in order of London, Germany (Berlin), Denmark (Copenhagen), Paris (rather poor), etc. America has it all over European radio -- by all odds. There is a wider range of wavelengths here, however. We go from 200 to 3000, so an American set is of no value.

I've walked 18 miles today in the Spring, sunshine, and since it is nearly midnight I feel the need of bed and a cigarette just now. French beds incidentally are good but their cigarettes are miserable. I smoke Camels at 28 cents per as long as I can afford them. Well, regards to Mrs. Mac and out common friends.

Cordially, Lindy