I have a very good excuse for not having acknowledged sooner your letter with regard to Freed's candidacy for Municipal Court judge. When the letter came and for the five weeks that have followed that time, I have been at home sick, in bed most of the time. This is my first day at the office for six weeks, and one of the first things I am doing is to answer your letter.

Of course I have done what little I could by way of questionnaires and Bar Association ballots, to forward Mr. Freed's ambition, but apparently without success so far. Freed is a nice fellow; I have always liked him; and for his own sake, as well as that of the firm with which he has been connected, I would like to see him succeed.

If he decides to run in spite of the adverse decision of the Bar Association, I shall be glad to vote for him and do anything else for him that I can.

I see, by the way, that the firm has changed recently. I am sorry Mr. Jamison left your firm, and I hope that the return of Mr. Inglis will more than replace his absence.

Otis & Company got soaked in the stock slump, to which they contributed so largely. I know I asked one of their men when a certain stock for which I paid $98.50 was selling at $145.00 if I should sell out. He said no, that he had three times as much as I had and he was holding on -- and I held on, and as a consequence my stock dropped from $145.00 to $5.00, and is only a few cents above that now. That was only one rotten apple in the barrel. I had three or four others which I had bought at their suggestion at various prices ranging from $15.00 to $50.00, several of which are quoted anywhere from $1.50 to $10.00.