Sunday, Dec. 14: Weather continues cool and cloudy. Not warm enough to sit on deck in comfort without a blanket. At noon we had traveled 410 miles and were 29 degrees north of the equator. The ship does between 16 and 17 knots. Is capable of greater speed, but is running slow on Gov't orders. A number of blades have been stripped from one of the turbines. Last night there were two 25-cent bingo games. Tonight there is a movie show. Not enough space at either for all the people who want to take part. Monday, Dec. 15: Cloudy cool weather continues and to noon we had made only 391 miles. Something went wrong with the works when we were at lunch. Severe vibration then a slowing of speed. Today a half hearted attempt is being made to organize deck sports. There was a Methody sort of sing-song in the smoking room this morning. After lunch a heavy-handed woman operated on the piano and a tyro horn player about finished the process of clearing the room. Examined the reading room. Found three battered clothbound novels and 12 paper covered pulp stories on shelves which had not been cleaned since last voyage. The many children on board (over 70) seem generally in better humor today. Also there is not so much evidence of sea sickness on decks and floors of corridors. One young fellow in my cabin, an ex GI now 23 years old, has his wife and 3 small kids on board. Two of his children were born in New Zealand before he was 21. Some of the ex GI's and their wives seem unfit for parenthood. Their children get little care. Today two small boys have been found wandering unattended and taken to the purser's office. At 4 A.M. a crew man found another child lost on an upper deck and took it to the bridge for safety. This child was not claimed by its mother until seven o'clock in the evening. Wednesday Dec. 17: After a day or two of restlessness, I, like the other men in my room, have settled down to eating, sleeping, reading, and not very much exercise. The ship is too crowded for easy walking on the upper decks. The weather has been showery and, until today, too cool for comfortable lounging in the open. The public rooms are overcrowded and noisy. The only quiet place is in our cabin, where fortunately there is room to sit around, and a constant breeze through the open portholes keeps the place clear of tobacco smoke. The voyage is proving rich in human contacts. I have some interesting roommates. We sit around and talk a good part of the day. Bishop is an Australian agricultural scientist who served with the Australian Army in Palestine, was in the retreat from Singapore, in the land fighting on Java. He was captured with his unit on the south coast of Java made prisoner of war by the Japs and put to work on railroads in Burma with British and Dutch captives. After hostilities he joined UNRA, served with that organization in nationalist and communist China, and recently took 300 refugee Jews from Shanghai to Berlin. He is now considering a post that has been offered him as an agricultural officer