May–December 1954

Dear G. Roger: May 12 - 1954 Long time no hear. Trust that all goes well. News in general good; but the usual minor complications. The estate has deposit ed in the Chase Bank $ 3500 in counterpart funds on the furniture etc.; I am under the impression that the amount should have been $ 3600 and that that is the sum retained for the estate by Sir P. from the Fassouri stock sale. Opinion here seems to be that if that is the case, instead of bothering Ewing again about the matter, it might be best for Sir P. to make the adjustment at that end - that is, something like a refund for an overpayment of $ 100. Item: Gloria states that the Curium account is overdrawn by $ 22.47; that is, I suppose, on items like travel and supplies from here, from the first $ 10,000 from the estate. I am not sufficiently familiar with the intricacies of the account to be able to check on it myself (I pointed out clerical errors of the Home Office in both the Gordion and the Afghan accounts) and you will have to have it out with her on your return. But as the amount is minor and she wants the books to be clear and to balance at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, I suggested that Fro draw this amount from the joint account to make the books balance; and then if there has been a mistake you can find it on your return and get reimbursed. Sorry about these minor complications. Item: Agnes Stillwell will send a check for I think the amount is $ 675.80, which is the difference between Dick's stipend-plus-travel and what you paid. This will be deposited in the Chase Bank account when it arrives. Dick has got the tickets and all seems to be in order; quite pleased at the prospect of getting off. I think the plan is that the younger Dickie goes with him to Cyprus, and The Theodora to Corinth with Agnes. Went to Princeton last night for a lecture, Princeton Society, by Boethius; quite good. Drinks at Frannie's then supper at Lucy Shoe's then lecture. Hiram Macht and Ellen along. Home at ten to one. Saw both Stillwells, Eric Sjoquist Smithson et. al. Also Josephime Shear; expect ot work a bit in the summer on my share of N. cemetery. Wrote the Potted about various things; she turned up a week later to see me incidentally about north cemetery - her main purpose was to borrow things for a big show at Boston Museum next Xmas for meeting, which is 75 th anniversary one and which has got city of Boston excited. You will be glad to hear that the direction turned her down on the ram in the bush and the ur-harp. She seems much the same as usual. Our More Famous Colleague Dr. Goon seems to have washed up Afghanistan. He left here with 10,000 dollars about the first of March; proceeded to Iraq and Syria, with little woman and a geological follower, then to Agfansitan; reconnaisance, then digging for 3 weeks in a cave which produced some Mousterian things - but apparently not very exciting Invited to go to Siam on a tiger hunt; went. We suppose he sold off all the Agfanitsan equipment; seems to have been very discontented with prospects of getting anything out in way of remains, with our Poopey, with weather and etc. - I gather that at the meeting of the board yesterday the Afghanistan dig was written off as an almost total loss and it was decided that our more famous colleague would not go on another expedition in view of the fact that of the 10,000 spent only 399 had been spent on actual digging. All very quaint. I think Gordion will be safe for another year; but also that we would do well to claim our share of sherds which we are entitled to from the Turks before the matter of future money is brought up to the board. In a letter Raci says that we should make formal application to Cahit for them, then he will get them and they can be sent; what do we want? Don't think Raci can just be turned loose among sherds, and suggest that you have the selection in mind for your September (?) visit to Gordion. I think also that if the matter is left in Raci's hands he will be sympathetic to some skullduggery such as really good sherds (if any), broken pots of which most pieces exist, broken tiles also almost complete etc. Machteld will sound him out when she goes. She may be able to make some suggestions. There is one thing in the air which is TOP SECRET but which might make even me willing to relinquish our grip on Gordion after a decent cleaning up. A certain Mr. Kavorkian of Armenian extraction and great wealth, also proprietor of a collection of notorious excellence mostly acquired at fantastic prices (and mostly from Iran) is anxious to make a dig on the site where most all of these things come from; he is negotiating to buy up the site (which is under a modern town called Hamadan) and if he is successful it is agreed that it will be turned over to U.M. to dig. All the secrecy is of course because any leaks would affect the prices of the land and houses adversely, as well as the fact that one doesn't shout about birds in bushes - at least unless one is a Goon. But it is quite the most exciting unexcavated site of spectacular size and quality that I can think of; but also a big job which would take years to do - one assumes that if it produced the sort of thing that Mr. K has bought, purportedly from there for his collection, there would be no question of finding the funds to do the digging with. Its sisters are Persepolis and Susa; but it is a predecessor and should go back considerably earlier. Also the things from here in his collection are a treasure hunter's dream. Country round about said to be very pleasant - hill country and not desert. Name of site in mod rn times is Hamadan; in ancient (no doubt about identification apparently) is Ecbatana. Exciting? [handwritten: Roy]