“Elizabeth Moody, age nineteen and very beautiful, accompanied her Uncle, Dr. Walter C. Lowdermilk and family on an official trip for the United States government, using their personal car and paying their own expenses, to study old Roman lands for the benefit of the US soil conservation service, and American farmers to find out what could be [learned] of the agricultural successes and failures of the past.” – Forward to Lowdermilk’s niece’s diary
January 19, Thursday—Wrote. Mdm. and monsieur Aubere had lunch with us and we afterward down town and shopped. Aunt Inez bought a zircon ring that looks like a huge diamond. Mac bought a beauty of a real diamond for some girl in the future and Wester, Billy and I acquired a puppy. A ragged Arab was holding a tiny little puppy which was shivering and trembling and we were so taken with a little thing that we bought him for Fr.30 ($.90). I don’t think he is more than a week old but he knows how to lap up milk. We have called him Mecktube which is “it is written” in Arabian, and it certainly fits this little baby. He is adorable. Even Uncle Walter succumbed to his charms. We got a bottle and a nipple and so far Billy M Wester have helped write well in looking after him. Dinner was quite hilarious for Aunt Inez flaunted her new brilliant ring under Uncle’s eye and quite caused a scene of surprise. Uncle knew Aunt Inez had been looking at diamonds and pricing them, so he was quite floored with what he saw. However, a zircon, while a real stone, had no words at all compared with the diamond. After dinner I read for quite some time and gave Mecktube some “doodies” when I came up. Wester and I had him in our room and we were up several times in the night—I hope it doesn’t keep up too long.