Page 79 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

She had attended Trenton Normal School in New Jersey after high school, so I
encouraged her to go back to teaching school. Being a primary school teacher, she
really helped me and my brother, Richard, get a good basic education in grammar and
child development.

Because of my scientific background, I was quickly hired by the Glidden Company on
Jacksonville’s north side as a Chemical Laboratory Assistant. The company processed
pine tree products, called Naval Stores, into turpentine that was distilled to produce
useful substances like perfumes and cleaning products.

I became acquainted with fractionating raw liquids to certain temperatures to remove
particular substances. The results were used by their chemists to produce a variety of
scents, such as lemon, peppermint, and spearmint being a few that I remember. We
analyzed the substances through an electro-spectrometer, which identified certain
chemicals by their wavelengths. This reminded me of the sun’s energy that contained
the different wavelengths of X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, and infrared rays.

I worked at the Lab from 4 PM to midnight after attending classes at Jacksonville
Junior College (JJC) (now Jacksonville University) in Arlington.

I started as a freshman, even
though I had received 33
semester hours from the Air
Force Intermediate
Meteorological School at
Oklahoma A&M (now
Oklahoma State).

The transcript from A&M
only showed a 3-semester
hour credit for Synoptic
Meteorology which I took
separate from the USAF
School.

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