August 30, 1943

Dear Margaret,

I went to the local horse races the other day. It was quite a spectacle. It was only two blocks from the hospital. It's a grass turf with only a thin wooden rail separating the spectators. The officials are all local people dressed up in fancy white sun helmets and white coats and very proud. The crowd numbered about five hundred, and the local gentry were out in their glory. The women in their bright-colored dresses and multi-colored parasols parading over the grass. The crowd was varied. Numbers of women with children in arms -- Chinese and Abbos (Aborigines). The horses are all locally owned. Scattered over the lawn are bookies in their wooden stalls shouting the odds and sounding like the tobacco auctioneers on the radio. They carry satchels on which their names are printed. In these they carry their money. There is a small grandstand behind which is a lunchroom serving soft drinks and gin. It's a wonderful country.

Much love,

Herb