Letter # 482 September 28, 1944

New Guinea
Thurs eve
Sept. 28, 1944
Hi Beautiful;
Another day and still no letters from you.  There has been very little mail coming into the outfit for several days.  Must be some holdup either at the base or in the movement of mail.  It'll all come at once one of these days again.  I do miss having those nice sweet letters every day though.  I know I can't kick.  You just had two weeks with no letters at all.  T.S. isn't it, honey? I love you even if I do go gallivanting off and don't write.
Got our issue of cigarettes for October today.  I got one carton of  Luckies, two Chesterfields, and one Raleigh.  Some mixture isn't it?  No more get used to one brand and you get three others the next time.  Also could buy two packages of pipe tobacco.  Bond Street.  I sure don't know where all the Camels are going.  We've never even seen one over here yet.  No beer this month either.  I don't care about that at all.  Warm beer isn't anything to go wild about.
Things have been happening in the outfit.  Since we've been overseas our commander has been loosing his grip and paying no attention to business, except monkey business, and "chicken", so an I.G. [inspecting general] was called in and listened to all the bitches and complaints of the officers and enlisted men alike.  The result is we have a new commander.  An old army man and boy is he G.I.  He'll probably be a much better leader if we do any fighting, but it's basic training all over again now. Our Captain says he is ok.  I'm withholding my judgement for a while yet.  I can't see any sense in a lot of the things he is having done so at present I'd be prejudiced against him.  I'll see what happens in the future and then draw an opinion.  One thing that tickles me is he seems to have put the officers as well as the men on the ball.  That's a big point in his favor.
I haven't done any more work on my little projects but they are still cooking and one of these days they'll be on their way to you.  Gosh I'm having a lot of fun getting back at you for teasing me so long.  I guess I'm not being quite fair about it either 'cause these won't be as nice surprises as the ones you sent me.  I love 'em, honey.  I love you too.
Almost the end of September again. Time sure does fly doesn't it?  Even as much as I miss and want to be back with you the time isn't dragging.  I wish I knew how much longer it was going to be though.  On second thought, maybe I don't want to know either.  I remember a year ago about this time.  I knew I was coming home in a couple weeks and boy, how those two weeks did drag.  Time just wouldn't seem to pass fast enough to suit me.  Then they made me wait another two days before I could come home.  That was a swell furlough, honey.  I'll never forget a minute of it.  We loved and loved and went places and had so much fun.  The next one will be better yet 'cause I think it will be a permanent furlough from the army.  Happy day for us.  I know for one, I'm going to try to make up for all the things I'm missing.  Sound like fun?  I'll say it does.
Now I guess I'll tell you a little about the rubber industry here in N.G.  Full of lessons ain't I?  I can't figure any rhyme or reason for the location of these rubber plantations.  I'd think they would be as close to the coast and transportation as possible.  Instead of that they go way back into the interior where, until very recently, the only way in or out was on foot or by air.  Like Australia, N.G. used air transport for nearly everything back from the coast.  The rubber seems to grow any place it is planted in the lower altitudes.  It is a very fast growing tree and gets rather big.  It is white barked and has leaves similar to an ash only bigger.  In thirty years the trees grow from seedlings to 3 feet through and 70 ft tall.  Very bush top.  Trunks usually divide a few feet above the ground into three or four sections and makes a beautiful shade tree.  Nice places to camp or stop for a rest.  Rubber trees are native to only S. America and all of this in the S.W.P. has been planted here.  They are the only tree here that looses all its leaves for a short time each year.  The rest of the trees here are evergreen.  I don't mean of the pine family, and loose leaves all year around, few at a time so they always look the same.
The rubber trees are tapped all year around at present.  In normal times the owners will let them have a rest of three to four weeks a year, at least, and may give them more.  The tapping is started when the trees are eight to ten inches through.  The trunk is divided into three equal sections and the first slanting cut is made about four feet above the ground and as long as the one third section.  The cut is only through the first bark.  A small wooden trough is stuck into the bark at the low end of the cut.  The thick milky sap follows the cut and drips from the trough into a cup.  A tree will only yield about a pint a day.  The tapping is done every day, only a very thin shaving being taken from the bottom of the former cut.  The shaving is so thin that it takes three years to tap to the ground.  Then another one third section of the trunk is tapped for it's three years and then the last.  That makes nine years that the old scars have had to heal before re tapping is started.  
The sap is gathered every day and is handled in two ways, depending on the size and equipment of the plantation.  On the larger ones it is poured into divided wood settling tanks to a depth of about two inches.  The divisions are about ten inches wide.  A small amount of chemical is poured into it to hasten the settling.  Stands over night and the crude rubber has settled into a spongy sheet about an inch thick.  It is taken out and put through a wringer to squeeze out all the water and compress the rubber into a pure white sheet about 1/8 inch thick.  This is hung out to dry like the wash.  From a distance it does look like a big wash of handkerchiefs or three cornered pants.  I thought that when I first saw it.  When dry it is hung over sticks in the smokehouse and smoked like ham for another day.  That cures it and turns it a rich golden brown.  It is now ready to bale and send to the rubber factories.  Pure gum rubber.
The cruder way used on plantations of small size and run by natives is to gather the sap in a bucket or any kind of container and just leave it stand for several days.  By this time the same spongy mass has settled and the natives then pack the crude rubber to someplace where it will be smoked before being shipped.  This rubber looks like a dirty white sponge varying in size and as thick as six inches.  Doesn't take much equipment does it?  A tree of average size will produce about $20.00 worth of gum rubber a year or about 280 pounds. There, sweetheart, is another bit of information I picked up first hand on my trip.  Now do you begin to believe it was worth the trouble and the lack of letters to you?  I really did see and learn as much as I ever have in a comparable length of time.  If I could do as well every two weeks I'd be an educated man and be able to keep up with my librarian.
Night, sweetheart.  I'm not getting much loving in these letters but love and lessons never did mix.  To hell with the lessons.  Give me the love every time.  I'll write a loving one soon.  I do love you more and more all the time.  You're my perfect wife.
Your hubby.
Norm.