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COMPOSITE MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
Modeling and Technology
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
Modeling and Technology
Edited by
Alexander V. Vakhrushev, DSc
A. K. Haghi, PhD
Apple Academic Press Inc. Apple Academic Press Inc.
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Burlington ON L7L 1A4 Palm Bay, Florida 32905
Canada USA
© 2020 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
Exclusive worldwide distribution by CRC Press, a member of Taylor & Francis Group
No claim to original U.S. Government works
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-77188-796-0 (Hardcover)
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All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electric, mechanical or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher or its distributor, except in the case of brief excerpts or quotations for
use in reviews or critical articles.
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with permis-
sion and sources are indicated. Copyright for individual articles remains with the authors as indicated. A wide variety of references
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Composite materials engineering : modeling and technology / edited by Alexander V. Vakhrushev, DSc, A.K. Haghi, PhD.
Names: Vakhrushev, Alexander V., editor. | Haghi, A. K., editor.
Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2019016574X | Canadiana (ebook) 20190165774 | ISBN 9781771887960 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9780429242762 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Composite materials.
Classification: LCC TA418.9.C6 C623 2020 | DDC 620.1/18—dc23
A. K. Haghi, PhD
Former Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Chemoinformatics and
Chemical Engineering and Polymers Research Journal;
Member, Canadian Research and Development Center of Sciences
and Cultures (CRDCSC), Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
E-mail: [email protected]
A. K. Haghi, PhD, is the author and editor of 165 books, as well as 1000
published papers in various journals and conference proceedings. Dr.
Haghi has received several grants, consulted for a number of major corpo-
rations, and is a frequent speaker to national and international audiences.
Since 1983, he served as a professor at several universities. He is the
former Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Chemoinformatics
and Chemical Engineering and Polymers Research Journal and on the
editorial boards of many international journals. He is also a member of
the Canadian Research and Development Center of Sciences and Cultures
(CRDCSC), Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He holds a BSc in urban and
environmental engineering from the University of North Carolina (USA),
an MSc in mechanical engineering from North Carolina A&T State
University (USA), a DEA in applied mechanics, acoustics, and materials
from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (France), and a PhD in
engineering sciences from Université de Franche-Comté (France).
Contents
Contributors.............................................................................................. ix
Abbreviations............................................................................................ xi
Preface.................................................................................................... xiii
Index.................................................................................................................. 213
Contributors
M. Avaliani
Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, R. Agladze Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and
Electrochemistry, 0186 Mindeli Str., 11, Tbilisi, Georgia,
E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]
N. Barnovi
Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, R. Agladze Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and
Electrochemistry, 0186 Mindeli Str., 11, Tbilisi, Georgia
Gloria Castellano
Departamento de Ciencias Experimentales y Matemáticas, Facultad de Veterinaria y Ciencias
Experimentales, Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Guillem de Castro‑94,
E‑46001 València, Spain
V. Chagelishvili
Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, R. Agladze Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and
Electrochemistry, 0186 Mindeli Str., 11, Tbilisi, Georgia
Tanmoy Chakraborty
Department of Chemistry; Manipal University Jaipur, DehmiKalan, Jaipur – 303007, India,
E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected]
N. Esakia
Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences,
Department of Chemistry, 0179 Chavchavadze ave. 3, Tbilisi, Georgia
V. B. Golubchikov
Scientific and Production Company “Nord,” Perm, Russia
A. V. Gumovskii
Department of Nanotechnology and Microsystems, Technic Kalashnikov Izhevsk State
Technical University, Izhevsk, Russia, E-mail: [email protected]
M. Gvelesiani
Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, R. Agladze Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and
Electrochemistry, 0186 Mindeli Str., 11, Tbilisi, Georgia
Shrikaant Kulkarni
Department of Chemical Engineering, Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune (M.S.), India,
E-mail: [email protected]
Ajay Kumar
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Manipal University Jaipur, DehmiKalan,
Jaipur – 303007, India
Sh. Makhatadze
Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, R. Agladze Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and
Electrochemistry, 0186 Mindeli Str., 11, Tbilisi, Georgia
x Contributors
Sukanchan Palit
43, Judges Bagan, Post-Office-Haridevpur, Kolkata – 700082, India,
Tel.: 0091-8958728093, E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]
Prabhat Ranjan
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Manipal University Jaipur, DehmiKalan,
Jaipur – 303007, India
Ana C. F. Ribeiro
Centro de Química, Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra,
Portugal, E-mail: [email protected]
A. A. Shushkov
Udmurt Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Institute of Mechanics, Department of Mechanics of Nanostructures, Izhevsk, Russia
D. Starokadomsky
Department of Composites, Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry, NAS of Ukraine, 03164, Kiev,
Ukraine, E-mail: [email protected]
Francisco Torrens
Institut Universitari de Ciència Molecular, Universitat de València, Edifici d’Instituts de Paterna,
P. O. Box 22085, E‑46071 València, Spain, E-mail: [email protected]
A. V. Vakhrushev
Department of Mechanics of Nanostructures, Institute of Mechanics,
Udmurt Federal Research Center, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Izhevsk, Russia | Department of Nanotechnology and Microsystems,
Technic Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University, Izhevsk, Russia,
E-mail: [email protected]
A. V. Zhivotkov
Scientific and Production Company “Nord,” Perm, Russia, E-mail: [email protected]
Abbreviations
ABSTRACT
1.1 INTRODUCTION
It is a well-known fact that structure and property are very much closely
related to each other [1]. There is not any particular method to determine
the symmetry structure of a molecule. Though, density functional theory
2 Composite Materials Engineering: Modeling and Technology
Since the last couple of years, DFT has been a dominant and effective
computational technique for bimetallic and multi-metallic clusters. DFT
methods are open to many new innovative fields in material science,
physics, chemistry, surface science, nanotechnology, biology, and earth
sciences [16]. Among all the DFT approximations, the hybrid functional
Becke’s three-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr exchange-correlation functional
(B3LYP) has been proven very efficient and used successfully for
bimetallic clusters [17–20]. In this section, conformational analysis of
Conformational Analysis of Ag-Au Nanoalloy Clusters 3
bimetallic nanoalloy clusters has been performed with the help of hybrid
functional Becke’s three-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr exchange-correlation
functional (B3LYP). The basis set LanL2dz has high accuracy for metallic
clusters, which has been recently analyzed by researchers [17, 21, 22]. For
optimization purpose, Becke’s three-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP)
exchange-correlation with basis set LanL2dz has been adopted. All the
modeling and structural optimization of compounds have been performed
using the Gaussian 03 software package [23] within the DFT framework.
Invoking Koopmans’ approximation [24, 25], we have calculated
ionization energy (I) and electron affinity (A) of all the nanoalloys using
the following ansatz:
I = – ɛHOMO (1)
A = – ɛLUMO (2)
I+A
χ = −µ = (3)
2
where μ represents the chemical potential of the system.
I−A
η= (4)
2
1
S= (5)
2η
µ2
ω= (6)
2η
a. In Figure 1.1, Au atom is fixed at the center, and other species, i.e., Ag
and Au placed at corners are not fixed.
TABLE 1.1 Computed DFT-Based Descriptors of AgAu2 Cluster with Au Atom Fixed at
the Center
Angles HOMO- Electro- Hardness Softness Electro- Dipole Symmetry
(in Degrees) LUMO Gap negativity (eV) (eV) philicity Moment
(eV) (eV) Index (eV) (Debye)
20 1.605 4.258 0.803 0.623 11.295 3.223 Cs
30 1.605 4.258 0.803 0.623 11.295 3.222 Cs
40 1.605 4.258 0.803 0.623 11.295 3.222 Cs
50 1.605 4.258 0.803 0.623 11.295 3.226 Cs
60 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.752 Cs
70 1.605 4.258 0.803 0.623 11.295 3.225 Cs
80 1.605 4.258 0.803 0.623 11.295 3.225 Cs
90 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.341 Cs
100 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.341 Cs
110 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.341 Cs
120 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.341 Cs
130 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.34 Cs
140 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.34 Cs
150 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.341 Cs
160 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.342 Cs
170 2.694 4.394 1.347 0.371 7.169 3.341 Cs
180 2.966 4.530 1.483 0.337 6.920 1.924 C∞V
FIGURE 1.2 Triangular structure of cluster AgAu2 with Au atom fixed at the center.
c. In Figure 1.3, one Ag atom is fixed at the center, and two Au atoms
placed at the corners are not fixed.
Table 1.3 Computed DFT-Based Descriptors of Cluster AgAu2 with Ag Atom Fixed at
the Center
Angles (in HOMO- Electro- Hardness Softness Electro- Dipole Symmetry
Degrees) LUMO negativity (eV) (eV) philicity Moment
Gap (eV) (eV) Index (eV) (Debye)
20 0.163 4.218 0.082 6.125 108.953 0.125 C2v
30 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.75 C2v
40 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.751 C2v
50 1.605 4.258 0.803 0.623 11.295 3.224 C2v
60 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.752 C2v
70 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.757 C2v
80 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.75 C2v
90 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.751 C2v
100 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.751 C2v
110 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.75 C2v
120 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.752 C2v
130 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.751 C2v
140 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.751 C2v
150 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.751 C2v
160 1.687 4.218 0.844 0.593 10.544 3.751 C2v
170 1.687 4.245 0.844 0.593 10.680 3.75 C2v
180 0.980 2.394 0.490 1.021 5.853 2.59 D∞h
FIGURE 1.4 Triangular structure of cluster AgAu2 with Ag atom fixed at the center.
8 Composite Materials Engineering: Modeling and Technology
In Figure 1.5, Au atom is fixed at the center and other species, i.e., Ag and
Au placed at corners are not fixed.
TABLE 1.5 Computed DFT-Based Descriptors of Cluster Ag2Au with Ag Atom Fixed at
the Center
Angles (in HOMO- Electro- Hardness Softness Electro- Dipole Symmetry
Degrees) LUMO negativity (eV) (eV) philicity Moment
Gap (eV) (eV) Index (eV) (Debye)
30 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.439 Cs
40 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.351 Cs
50 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.44 Cs
60 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.44 Cs
70 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.442 Cs
80 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.44 Cs
90 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.44 Cs
100 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.44 Cs
110 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.44 Cs
120 2.857 4.095 1.429 0.350 5.870 3.116 Cs
130 2.966 4.122 1.483 0.337 5.730 3.244 Cs
140 2.966 4.122 1.483 0.337 5.730 3.253 Cs
150 2.911 4.095 1.456 0.343 5.760 3.158 Cs
160 3.374 4.218 1.687 0.296 5.272 3.844 Cs
170 3.374 4.190 1.687 0.296 5.204 3.792 Cs
180 3.374 4.286 1.673 0.299 5.488 2.272 C∞V
FIGURE 1.6 Triangular structure of cluster Ag2Au with Ag atom fixed at the center.
Table 1.6 reveals that least HOMO-LUMO energy gap is obtained at dihe-
dral angle 110º and maximum HOMO-LUMO gap is obtained at dihedral
angles varying from 130º–170º. It indicates that an instant cluster is less
stable at dihedral angle 110º, and maximum stability is achieved between
130º–170º.
In Figure 1.7, one Au atom is fixed at the center, and two Ag atoms
placed at the corners are not fixed.
Conformational Analysis of Ag-Au Nanoalloy Clusters 11
TABLE 1.7 Computed DFT-Based Descriptors of Cluster Ag2Au with Au Atom Fixed at
the Center
Angles (in HOMO- Electro- Hardness Softness Electro- Dipole Symmetry
Degrees) LUMO negativity (eV) (eV) philicity Moment
Gap (eV) (eV) Index (eV) (Debye)
20 3.211 3.320 1.605 0.311 3.432 0.674 Cs
30 2.204 3.850 1.102 0.454 6.726 1.525 Cs
40 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.392 Cs
50 1.442 3.850 0.721 0.693 10.279 2.428 Cs
60 1.442 3.850 0.721 0.693 10.279 2.417 Cs
70 1.388 3.850 0.694 0.721 10.682 2.441 Cs
80 1.415 3.837 0.707 0.707 10.403 2.395 Cs
90 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.146 Cs
100 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.147 Cs
110 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.146 Cs
120 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.145 Cs
130 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.146 Cs
140 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.145 Cs
150 2.422 3.877 1.211 0.413 6.208 1.098 Cs
160 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.144 Cs
170 2.367 3.877 1.184 0.422 6.351 1.145 Cs
180 2.531 3.905 1.265 0.395 6.025 1.598 D∞h
are not fixed. The computed physicochemical properties of all the confor-
mations are presented in Table 1.8 with the corresponding dihedral angles.
FIGURE 1.8 Triangular structure of cluster Ag2Au with Au atom fixed at the center.
1.4 CONCLUSION
KEYWORDS
REFERENCES
1. Ghosh, D. C., (2006). A Quest for the origin of barrier to the internal rotation of
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and fluorine peroxide (F2O2), Int. J. Mol. Sci., 7, 289.
2. Freitas, M. P. D., & Ramalho, T. D. C., (2013). Ramalho, Employing conformational
analysis in the molecular modeling of agrochemicals: insights on QSAR parameters
of 2, 4-D, Ciênc. Agrotec., 37, 485.
3. Castro, A. T., & Figuero-Villar, J. D., (2002). Molecular structure, conformational
analysis and charge distribution of pralidoxime: Ab initio and DFT studies, Int. J.
Quantum Chem., 89, 135.
4. Gerbst, A. G., Nikolaev, A. V., Yashunsky, D. V., Shashkov, A. S., Dmitrenok, A. S.,
& Nifantiev, N. E., (2017). Theoretical and NMR-based conformational analysis of
phosphodiester-linked disaccharides, Scientific Reports, 7.
14 Composite Materials Engineering: Modeling and Technology
T
here are flags on all the flagpoles up
Fifth Avenue. In the shrill wind of history
the great flags flap and tug at their
lashings on the creaking goldknobbed poles
up Fifth Avenue. The stars jiggle sedately
against the slate sky, the red and white
stripes writhe against the clouds.
In the gale of brassbands and trampling
horses and rumbling clatter of cannon,
shadows like the shadows of claws grasp at
the taut flags, the flags are hungry tongues
licking twisting curling.
Oh it’s a long way to Tipperary ... Over there! Over there!
The harbor is packed with zebrastriped
skunkstriped piebald steamboats, the
Narrows are choked with bullion, they’re
piling gold sovereigns up to the ceilings in
the Subtreasury. Dollars whine on the radio,
all the cables tap out dollars.
There’s a long long trail awinding ... Over there! Over there!
In the subway their eyes pop as they spell
out Apocalypse, typhus, cholera, shrapnel,
insurrection, death in fire, death in water,
death in hunger, death in mud.
Oh it’s a long way to Madymosell from
Armenteers, over there! The Yanks are
coming, the Yanks are coming. Down Fifth
Avenue the bands blare for the Liberty Loan
drive, for the Red Cross drive. Hospital ships
sneak up the harbor and unload furtively at
night in old docks in Jersey. Up Fifth Avenue
the flags of the seventeen nations are flaring
curling in the shrill hungry wind.
O the oak and the ash and the weeping willow tree
And green grows the grass in God’s country.
The great flags flap and tug at their
lashings on the creaking goldknobbed poles
up Fifth Avenue.
C
aptain James Merivale D.S.C. lay with his eyes closed while
the barber’s padded fingers gently stroked his chin. The lather
tickled his nostrils; he could smell bay rum, hear the drone of an
electric vibrator, the snipping of scissors.
“A little face massage sir, get rid of a few of those blackheads sir,”
burred the barber in his ear. The barber was bald and had a round
blue chin.
“All right,” drawled Merivale, “go as far as you like. This is the first
decent shave I’ve had since war was declared.”
“Just in from overseas, Captain?”
“Yare ... been making the world safe for democracy.”
The barber smothered his words under a hot towel. “A little lilac
water Captain?”
“No dont put any of your damn lotions on me, just a little
witchhazel or something antiseptic.”
The blond manicure girl had faintly beaded lashes; she looked up
at him bewitchingly, her rosebud lips parted. “I guess you’ve just
landed Captain.... My you’ve got a good tan.” He gave up his hand to
her on the little white table. “It’s a long time Captain since anybody
took care of these hands.”
“How can you tell?”
“Look how the cuticle’s grown.”
“We were too busy for anything like that. I’m a free man since
eight o’clock that’s all.”
“Oh it must have been terr ... ible.”
“Oh it was a great little war while it lasted.”
“I’ll say it was ... And now you’re all through Captain?”
“Of course I keep my commission in the reserve corps.”
She gave his hand a last playful tap and he got to his feet.
He put tips into the soft palm of the barber and the hard palm of
the colored boy who handed him his hat, and walked slowly up the
white marble steps. On the landing was a mirror. Captain James
Merivale stopped to look at Captain James Merivale. He was a tall
straightfeatured young man with a slight heaviness under the chin.
He wore a neat-fitting whipcord uniform picked out by the insignia of
the Rainbow Division, well furnished with ribbons and service-
stripes. The light of the mirror was reflected silvery on either calf of
his puttees. He cleared his throat as he looked himself up and down.
A young man in civilian clothes came up behind him.
“Hello James, all cleaned up?”
“You betcher.... Say isnt it a damn fool rule not letting us wear
Sam Browne belts? Spoils the whole uniform....”
“They can take all their Sam Browne’s belts and hang them on the
Commanding General’s fanny for all I care.... I’m a civilian.”
“You’re still an officer in the reserve corps, dont forget that.”
“They can take their reserve corps and shove it ten thousand
miles up the creek. Let’s go have a drink.”
“I’ve got to go up and see the folks.” They had come out on
Fortysecond Street. “Well so long James, I’m going to get so drunk
... Just imagine being free.” “So long Jerry, dont do anything I
wouldnt do.”
Merivale walked west along Fortysecond. There were still flags
out, drooping from windows, waggling lazily from poles in the
September breeze. He looked in the shops as he walked along;
flowers, women’s stockings, candy, shirts and neckties, dresses,
colored draperies through glinting plateglass, beyond a stream of
faces, men’s razorscraped faces, girls’ faces with rouged lips and
powdered noses. It made him feel flushed and excited. He fidgeted
when he got in the subway. “Look at the stripes that one has.... He’s
a D.S.C.,” he heard a girl say to another. He got out at
Seventysecond and walked with his chest stuck out down the too
familiar brownstone street towards the river.
“How do you do, Captain Merivale,” said the elevator man.
“Well, are you out James?” cried his mother running into his arms.
He nodded and kissed her. She looked pale and wilted in her
black dress. Maisie, also in black, came rustling tall and rosycheeked
behind her. “It’s wonderful to find you both looking so well.”
“Of course we are ... as well as could be expected. My dear we’ve
had a terrible time.... You’re the head of the family now, James.”
“Poor daddy ... to go off like that.”
“That was something you missed.... Thousands of people died of
it in New York alone.”
He hugged Maisie with one arm and his mother with the other.
Nobody spoke.
“Well,” said Merivale walking into the living room, “it was a great
war while it lasted.” His mother and sister followed on his heels. He
sat down in the leather chair and stretched out his polished legs.
“You dont know how wonderful it is to get home.”
Mrs. Merivale drew up her chair close to his. “Now dear you just
tell us all about it.”
In the dark of the stoop in front of the tenement door, he reaches
for her and drags her to him. “Dont Bouy, dont; dont be rough.” His
arms tighten like knotted cords round her back; her knees are
trembling. His mouth is groping for her mouth along one cheekbone,
down the side of her nose. She cant breathe with his lips probing her
lips. “Oh I cant stand it.” He holds her away from him. She is
staggering panting against the wall held up by his big hands.
“Nutten to worry about,” he whispers gently.
“I’ve got to go, it’s late.... I have to get up at six.”
“Well what time do you think I get up?”
“It’s mommer who might catch me....”
“Tell her to go to hell.”
“I will some day ... worse’n that ... if she dont quit pickin on me.”
She takes hold of his stubbly cheeks and kisses him quickly on the
mouth and has broken away from him and run up the four flights of
grimy stairs.
The door is still on the latch. She strips off her dancing pumps and
walks carefully through the kitchenette on aching feet. From the next
room comes the wheezy doublebarreled snoring of her uncle and
aunt. Somebody loves me, I wonder who.... The tune is all through
her body, in the throb of her feet, in the tingling place on her back
where he held her tight dancing with her. Anna you’ve got to forget it
or you wont sleep. Anna you got to forget. Dishes on the tables set
for breakfast jingle tingle hideously when she bumps against it.
“That you Anna?” comes a sleepy querulous voice from her
mother’s bed.
“Went to get a drink o water mommer.” The old woman lets the
breath out in a groan through her teeth, the bedsprings creak as she
turns over. Asleep all the time.
Somebody loves me, I wonder who. She slips off her party dress
and gets into her nightgown. Then she tiptoes to the closet to hang
up the dress and at last slides between the covers little by little so
the slats wont creak. I wonder who. Shuffle shuffle, bright lights, pink
blobbing faces, grabbing arms, tense thighs, bouncing feet. I wonder
who. Shuffle, droning saxophone tease, shuffle in time to the drum,
trombone, clarinet. Feet, thighs, cheek to cheek, Somebody loves
me.... Shuffle shuffle. I wonder who.
The baby with tiny shut purplishpink face and fists lay asleep on
the berth. Ellen was leaning over a black leather suitcase. Jimmy
Herf in his shirtsleeves was looking out the porthole.
“Well there’s the statue of Liberty.... Ellie we ought to be out on
deck.”
“It’ll be ages before we dock.... Go ahead up. I’ll come up with
Martin in a minute.”
“Oh come ahead; we’ll put the baby’s stuff in the bag while we’re
warping into the slip.”
They came out on deck into a dazzling September afternoon. The
water was greenindigo. A steady wind kept sweeping coils of brown
smoke and blobs of whitecotton steam off the high enormous
blueindigo arch of sky. Against a sootsmudged horizon, tangled with
barges, steamers, chimneys of powerplants, covered wharves,
bridges, lower New York was a pink and white tapering pyramid cut
slenderly out of cardboard.
“Ellie we ought to have Martin out so he can see.”
“And start yelling like a tugboat.... He’s better off where he is.”
They ducked under some ropes, slipped past the rattling
steamwinch and out to the bow.
“God Ellie it’s the greatest sight in the world.... I never thought I’d
ever come back, did you?”
“I had every intention of coming back.”
“Not like this.”
“No I dont suppose I did.”
“S’il vous plait madame ...”
A sailor was motioning them back. Ellen turned her face into the
wind to get the coppery whisps of hair out of her eyes. “C’est beau,
n’est-ce pas?” She smiled into the wind into the sailor’s red face.
“J’aime mieux Le Havre ... S’il vous plait madame.”
“Well I’ll go down and pack Martin up.”
The hard chug, chug of the tugboat coming alongside beat
Jimmy’s answer out of her ears. She slipped away from him and
went down to the cabin again.
They were wedged in the jam of people at the end of the
gangplank.
“Look we could wait for a porter,” said Ellen.
“No dear I’ve got them.” Jimmy was sweating and staggering with
a suitcase in each hand and packages under his arms. In Ellen’s
arms the baby was cooing stretching tiny spread hands towards the
faces all round.
“D’you know it?” said Jimmy as they crossed the gangplank, “I
kinder wish we were just going on board.... I hate getting home.”
“I dont hate it.... There’s H ... I’ll follow right along.... I wanted to
look for Frances and Bob. Hello....” “Well I’ll be ...” “Helena you’ve
gained, you’re looking wonderfully. Where’s Jimps?” Jimmy was
rubbing his hands together, stiff and chafed from handles of the
heavy suitcases.
“Hello Herf. Hello Frances. Isn’t this swell?”
“Gosh I’m glad to see you....”
“Jimps the thing for me to do is go right on to the Brevoort with the
baby ...”
“Isn’t he sweet.”
“... Have you got five dollars?”
“I’ve only got a dollar in change. That hundred is in express
checks.”
“I’ve got plenty of money. Helena and I’ll go to the hotel and you
boys can come along with the baggage.”
“Inspector is it all right if I go through with the baby? My husband
will look after the trunks.”
“Why surely madam, go right ahead.”
“Isnt he nice? Oh Frances this is lots of fun.”
“Go ahead Bob I can finish this up alone quicker.... You convoy
the ladies to the Brevoort.”
“Well we hate to leave you.”
“Oh go ahead.... I’ll be right along.”
“Mr. James Herf and wife and infant ... is that it?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“I’ll be right with you, Mr. Herf.... Is all the baggage there?”
“Yes everything’s there.”
“Isnt he good?” clucked Frances as she and Hildebrand followed
Ellen into the cab.
“Who?”
“The baby of course....”
“Oh you ought to see him sometimes.... He seems to like
traveling.”
A plainclothesman opened the door of the cab and looked in as
they went out the gate. “Want to smell our breaths?” asked
Hildebrand. The man had a face like a block of wood. He closed the
door. “Helena doesn’t know prohibition yet, does she?”
“He gave me a scare ... Look.”
“Good gracious!” From under the blanket that was wrapped round
the baby she produced a brownpaper package.... “Two quarts of our
special cognac ... gout famille ’Erf ... and I’ve got another quart in a
hotwaterbottle under my waistband.... That’s why I look as if I was
going to have another baby.”
The Hildebrands began hooting with laughter.
“Jimp’s got a hotwaterbottle round his middle too and chartreuse
in a flask on his hip.... We’ll probably have to go and bail him out of
jail.”
They were still laughing so that tears were streaming down their
faces when they drew up at the hotel. In the elevator the baby began
to wail.
As soon as she had closed the door of the big sunny room she
fished the hotwaterbottle from under her dress. “Look Bob phone
down for some cracked ice and seltzer.... We’ll all have a cognac a
l’eau de selz....”
“Hadn’t we better wait for Jimps?”
“Oh he’ll be right here.... We haven’t anything dutiable.... Much
too broke to have anything.... Frances what do you do about milk in
New York?”
“How should I know, Helena?” Frances Hildebrand flushed and
walked to the window.
“Oh well we’ll give him his food again.... He’s done fairly well on it
on the trip.” Ellen had laid the baby on the bed. He lay kicking,
looking about with dark round goldstone eyes.
“Isnt he fat?”
“He’s so healthy I’m sure he must be halfwitted.... Oh Heavens
and I’ve got to call up my father.... Isnt family life just too desperately
complicated?”
Ellen was setting up her little alcohol stove on the washstand. The
bellboy came with glasses and a bowl of clinking ice and White Rock
on a tray.
“You fix us a drink out of the hotwaterbottle. We’ve got to use that
up or it’ll eat the rubber.... And we’ll drink to the Café d’Harcourt.”
“Of course what you kids dont realize,” said Hildebrand, “is that
the difficulty under prohibition is keeping sober.”
Ellen laughed; she stood over the little lamp that gave out a quiet
domestic smell of hot nickel and burned alcohol.