WASHINGTON, Monday—We had a very pleasant dinner party last night, consisting of my husband and myself! He ate milk toast and I ate one poached egg, which was good for our figures and permitted much conversation, since neither of us had to pay attention to our food.

I spent the evening wrapping Christmas presents and was joined by one of my friends, who arrived from the train. She remarked that she had not found me in such a carefree mood for a long time. There was no mail in sight and no interviews scheduled, just a deluge of Christmas wrapping, paper, ribbons and cards.

Today is colder but really lovely. I reached the office this morning before anyone else was in sight and came up in the elevator with Miss Wilma Shields, head of the Volunteer Bureau Section, who seems to be another early bird. We had a very full staff meeting, followed by a meeting with Mrs. Stanley Resor, who has kindly come down to give us some advice and is lunching with me today.

I returned to the White House in time for my press conference at 11:00 o'clock. At noon, I met a very charming young woman who, with her sister, has taken over her late husband's business, the making of wire screening. Priorities affect this industry, especially where they use copper. It is not a very large industry and the amount of materials needed in it are not very great, but Mrs. John Ralston is here not only in the interests of her own plant or the industry, but because of the danger she feels a shortage in screen wire will mean to the health of the nation.

She points out that screens are of vital importance in our camps, and in all our defense industry buildings. Without them, we lay ourselves open to epidemics of all kinds which are spread by flies and mosquitoes.

Talking of health, a most interesting health cooperative came to my attention the other day. It is called the New York Volunteer Health Cooperative. You have a certain freedom in the choice of doctors. You pay $18.00 a year without hospitalization. You cannot belong if you earn more than $2,000 a year while single, or $3,000 a year when married. There are already over one thousand members.

There is much I should like to find out about this organization. For instance, just what are the services rendered if hospitalization is not included? I suppose if there is only a limited choice of doctors, there will be the same complaint about the doctor-patient relationship. People in this salary range do need more access to good and inexpensive medical care.