February 5, 1950
Dear Mom and Dad
I received both of your letters the other day, so glad that dad likes his pipe, one of the men that is working on this project, got it for me up in Istanbul Turkey, he looked all over Turkey for one and that was the only one that he could find.
We got froze out over here too, we lost all of our tomatoes and eggplant; also some of our wheat was hurt, sure glad that we don't have to depend on the crops for our money, it was down to 25 degrees two nights in a row. Down at the other ranch at Kharj it even froze the dates.
No doubt Maybell has told you all about what I am over here and what my job is , well any way I am the only mechanic on this ranch which we have 3 Cats and 4 farmalls and all the equipment that goes with them. Also we have 8 pumps, four of them have diesels and four are electric which we generate our own power with a 200 H.P. Cummins Diesel, we have plently of native help but at times they just about drive a person crazy. altho we have it pretty good out here , no one to bother us and we do just as we please, we have a six room house for just two of us and three house boys and a cook so we don't kick to much.
Maybell tells me that Dad is much better for which I am mighty glad to hear. has he been to any Elk meetings since I left ? There is nothing like that over here is Saudi Arabia these people live like they did over 2000 years ago. They buy these wives just like so much cattle. The women can ware nothing but black from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet, and when they eat the men eat first the women second and the children last, each man is allowed to have four women and when he gets tired of them he can sell them and get some more.
There houses or Gorastie as it called over here is nothing but a mud hut with no windows and just one dore and no plumbing or any thing like that and to cook they just build a wood fire in the middle of the floor. You can look at the worse run down shack in the states and that would be a place out here.
For food the main dish is rice they also eat camel and sheep and once in a while they have chicken.
Well I have just about run out of any more to talk about for now so will close for this time, with all my love
Bill
Please provide corrections as needed....
Researcher::
Jim Radja
Vienna, Virginia, US of A
