[letterhead: THE SHERATON HOTEL

WASHINGTON 5, D.C. This letterhead appears at the top of each of 3 pages ]

January 24, 1945

Dearest love:

I was happy to find your letter here on arriving this morning, two and a half hours late. My stop at Pittsburgh had been enlivened by great excitement - the idea that I had communicated a couple of weeks ago had been combined with a new development by Kincaid to give a most promising result, in which everyone is interested.

I telephoned Phoebe in Chicago, and found that Thorfin was in Washington. Then I went to a movie -- Bob Hope in "The Princess and the Pirate," which was pretty funny, and also to the Newsreel.

Today I spent mainly in the Academy building talking to the CMR people. Dr. George Guest then invited me to his home for a cocktail. I stepped into the Academy

[page 2 is continued on another sheet]

washroom, and brushed a man without looking (nor did he look). Then I said something to Guest; at the sound of my voice the stranger turned -- he was Goudsmit! Just back from Paris (which he entered one day after de Gaulle -- with tears streaming down his cheeks) and Strassburg, and full of tales; he is in charge of a unit (army, navy personnel + civilians -- he is looking now for a sensible scientist who speaks German). He has a pass from Eisenhower saying that MP's are to keep hands off, + that he can take any materials he wants, interrogate prisoners, etc., without hindrance. He was feeling low in spirit, having had trouble with the higher-ups in the service. Guest (who is a

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pediatrician in Cincinnati in peacetime) asked him along too, and after the cocktail Mrs. G. asked us to take potluck for dinner; which was excellent -- soup, spaghetti (and meatballs for the others), with Beaulieu Cabernet, salad with a fine French dressing (made by G.), biscuits in wine (from a can), turkish coffee, brandy, and later Creme de Menthe frappe. Mrs. G. is a writer (no children); I'm glad G. has her and not I! I may see Goudsmit again tomorrow night.

I talked with Lothrop + Chadwell earlier.

Good night, dear love, I adore you.

Your own

Paddy.

[An air mail envelope, with red and blue stripes on the edges, is included. Return address reads: CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

Postmarked: Jan 25, 1945 from Washington, D.C. VIA AIR MAIL Addressed to: Mrs. Linus Pauling R. 1 Box 622 Pasadena, Calif Added later in LP's hand writing: Goudsmit -- He asked me to go to Germany on ALSOS ]