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Magusson really turned on him like a tiger. Other than this there was no discussion of the funds for the Institutes and by about 7 o'clock at night the bill was passed and we were relieved.
After that, what about the conference between the House and the Senate? Would the Senate take the trouble to resist the onslaught from the House on the extra 10 million? Could we get them to hold it, and when would the conference be?
I went to see Bridges at his hideout office under the dome of the Capitol, and he told me, when I inquired, how he got all the work done, that it was not only the work but numerous family illnesses which wore him out and he described them. His sister had recently fallen off a stepladder and broken a vertebra. Another sister, frightened by this, had a heart attack. His son had just announced, at 20 and newly-drafted into the Army, that he was going to be married. Bridges felt very bedeviled by all these happenings, but said that his wife told him that trouble always came in threes, so it was probably all over.
This did not work out, however, strangely enough. After various false starts, the day for the conference was set for the following Monday at a time that Bridges had requested, as I had begged him to be present at the conference. Because, you know, if there's no one strong for you at the conference, you'll lose everything.
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