Samson & the Barber
Sirs:
. . . While waiting for a haircut in the Hotel Statler, Washington, I was reading a copy of TIME, June 21. Just as I finished Mr. B. W. Robert's letter headed "Samson and Lewis," the barber called me and put me in a chair next to the redoubtable Mr. Lewis himself.
For a moment I hoped, wildly, that this gentleman . . . was, indeed, about to be shorn of his locks. However, nothing so apropos happens in this life. I found to my disappointment that a tame and civilized barber, far from doubling for Delilah, was merely obeying Mr. Lewis' orders. These were for his usual soup bowl haircut, accentuating the top foliage.
At the same time, Mr. Lewis was having a manicure and a shoeshine to which he paid scant attention, since he was entirely engrossed with instructing the barber and watching in the mirror every snip of the scissors.
When his beauticians had finished with him, he left his chair, preened himself and strutted up and down along the solid walls of mirrors the length and breadth of the barbershop. . . .
I wondered vaguely to what sort of rendezvous this dress rehearsal was leading. . . . The following morning the newspapers announced Mr. Lewis' call for the third walkout of the coal miners since the March 31 armistice. . . .
ALFRED WILLIE
Washington
Sirs:
Lewis (shorn) bears a striking resemblance to Humpty Dumpty. Let us hope he shares the same fate.
F. C. HOWARD
Lake Geneva, Fla.
Protected from Moonshees
Sirs:
A cuckoo's egg in TIME'S nest, if there ever was one--"she-Marines" [June 21]!
A moonshee in laconisms, and you come up with that! . . .
How about . . . "Femarines?" . . .
KENNETH B. JOHNSON
Galveston
Sirs:
. . . I suggest "Marinas." . . .
HENRY R. HARROWER, M.D.
Glendale, Calif.
Sirs:
Isn't "she-Marine" a little crude? Why not "Mariness?"
LAMBERT MOLYNEAUX
University, La.
> Against the Marines' determination that their female reserves shall have no nickname, even a moonshee (Urdu for language teacher) is helpless.--ED.
New Republic Then & Now
Sirs:
TIME'S review of Walter Lippmann's new book says [June 14, p. 100]: "With the late great Herbert Croly he helped form the policy of the Wilson Administration, during World War I, when Croly's New Republic, with a circulation of 48,000 (circulation now: 27,000) was one of the most influential of U.S. magazines."
During World War I (1917-18) the net paid circulation scarcely averaged 25,000. In 1916 it had been about 18,000. This is the period of influence on Wilson's policy to which your reviewer refers.
In 1920-21, with the rejection of the League and the rise of the "red menace" the New Republic lost 40% of its circulation. Branded as Socialistic, Communistic and pinko, the New Republic has not enjoyed an easy acceptance by the great reading public. Yet it has not done so badly.
Its circulation today (net paid A.B.C. 30,000 weekly) is greater than in all but three of the 29 years of its existence: 1919, 1920 and 1940.
In so far as your reviewer's statement presents an invidious comparison, it should be recalled that the circulation of a recent supplement to the New Republic exceeded by a quarter of a million anything attained in the early days, and a supplement published in 1940 exceeded the circulation of 1919 by more than three quarters of a million. . . .
DANIEL MEBANE
Treasurer
The New Republic
New York City
> For giving the New Republic 23,000 free circulation, TIME'S Books researcher is hereby sentenced to three hours in the Morgue (air-conditioned).--ED.
Zoot-Suit Riots
Sirs:
. . . Your story of "Zoot-Suit War" in Los Angeles [TIME, June 21] certainly "jumped the gun" on facts. No mention of the several murders committed by "zoot-suit gangs"; no mention of unprovoked attacks by them; no mention of unguarded knives and brass knuckles found in their possession when "not doing anything"; no mention of two single women in different parts of the city beaten by female gang members. . . .
CONSTANCE C. CLOTFELTER
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Sirs:
With regard to zoot-suit disorders in Los Angeles, I think you have exaggerated the race angle out of all proportion. It is true that Mexican and Negro boys wear zoot suits out on the coast perhaps more than others. But to a soldier who has been taken from his home and put in the Army, the sight of young loafers of any race, color, creed, religion or color of hair loafing around in ridiculous clothes that cost $75 to $85 per suit is enough to make them see red.
You know they are loafers because no business house would allow them to work in such fantastic outfits. If you are a serviceman with a few dollars in your pocket, you also know that some of them are ready to hoist you into an alley and roll you. . . .
If the Mexicans and Negroes and all the rest of the zoot-suit fraternity want to avoid trouble, there is a very simple way. Just get out of a zoot suit and into a uniform or a pair of overalls.
(Pvt.) KENNETH KING
Kearney, Neb.
Sirs: I am sure that in addition to my thanks . . TIME will receive those of many a loyal, upstanding and worthy Mexican for the only sincerely honest picture of the recent "zoot-suit" atrocity that I, for one, have had the opportunity to read.
Your condemnation of the press, however, should not have been restricted to Mr. Hearst's notorious organs and the [Los Angeles] Times. As news editor and broadcaster of Station KGIR and the Z-Bar network, I have ample opportunity to peruse the wire service of the United Press. During the whole deplorable episode it was as if we were getting a Hearst Service straight from the office of the Examiner, . .
ROBERT N. PINKERTON
Butte
"Slate for Normalcy"
Sirs:
When I first saw Mr. Patterson's so-called Slate for Normalcy" letter in TIME, June 21, I thought that it was a well-meaning joke. However, as I read farther, I became aware that the letter, despite its contents, was sincere.
I was wholly shocked to learn that any person could even suggest that the Government should be run by such men as Senator Taft, Ham Fish, Colonel McCormick, Senator Wheeler and John L. Lewis, not to mention Governor Bricker, among the greatest dispersers of nonsense in the Midwest. . . .
THOM S. GEPHARDT
Anderson, Ind.
Sirs:
PLEASE ADVISE BY SLOW FREIGHT DOES HARTFORD, CONN. HAVE A BUG WORKS WHERE NUTS HAVE WRITING PRIVILEGES. IF SO, A. H. PATTERSON SHOULD HAVE HIS PENCIL TAKEN AWAY.
F. R. DOERFLER
Findlay, Ohio
Sirs:
I like A. H. Patterson's letter with his slate for the national elections, and I like your solemn publication of it without comment and I shall enjoy seeing the reaction. I don't suppose that more than one reader in five will recognize it as a hoax.
W. H. HERRINGTON
Collins Bay, Ont.
> Of 63 letters to TIME on "A Slate for Normalcy," 30 viewed Planner Patterson with alarm; 20 hoped (correctly) that he was solemnly spoofing; only 13 felt sure he was.--ED.
A Pro Speaks
Sirs:
It may be that a letter which you published recently [TIME, May 3] from John B. Woodward Jr., on duty presumably with the Army in New Guinea, has not received the attention it deserves. The soldier is thinking. . . . Servicemen believe they must have a greater part in plotting the course of world affairs than our present systems intend to afford them. They do not acknowledge equality of sacrifice between civilians and men who have died or risked death in combat. . . .
Another service impression: leaders responsible for military debacles are removed, but men in public life, notably those in federal government, who cultured the odoriferous background of this war with nearsightedness, selfishness and partisan politics, have survived and even dared to aspire to leadership in the future. Servicemen are not so tolerant ; they would advise many officials to inspect their own prewar records and start looking for new jobs--now.
I have noticed these ideas predominant among men who intend to return to civil life. The professional Navy, of which I am a member, avoids political opinions. . . .We are pleased, however, that the men with whom we serve for the duration are determined to curb those forces which require us to demonstrate our professional ability on the average of once every ten or 15 years.
RAY M. PITTS
Lieutenant Commander, U.S.N.
At sea
Jeremiah
Sirs: In thumbing through my Britannica . . .I come across the following:
"BARUCH, the name . . . of a character in the Old Testament, associated with the prophet Jeremiah, and described as his secretary and spokesman . . . the Book of Baruch . . . consists of several parts, which cohere so badly that we are obliged to assume plurality of authorship."
In our modern New Deal the prophet Jeremiah seems to prefer to be his own spokesman at the weekly press conferences. However, the lack of coherence which would lead to the assumption of plurality of authorship still befuddles the minds of men.
Where is Moses to lead us out of the wilderness--and will it take 40 years? That is equivalent to ten terms in office !
CHARLES R. SPEAKER
Washington
Graph of Government
Sirs:
In your issue of June 14, p. 22, you used a graph prepared by our agency.
The failure to accredit the source of the graph has made it possible for some of the members and supporters of this work to wonder whether we had used merely a government graph, instead of one that was prepared by our staff. . . .
JOSEPH R. MEAD
Editor
Citizens Bureau of Governmental Research,
Inc. of New York State
Albany
R.R. Battalion
Sirs:
TIME, June 14, carried an exciting account of the exploits performed by Brigadier General Carl R. Gray's special railway corps in North Africa. Perhaps your readers will be interested in the background of a typical unit in this special corps. . . .
At the request of the War Department in 1929, the Southern Railway System organized a railway operating battalion. . . . While we were at peace . . . the battalion existed largely as a skeleton organization, with . . . officers . . . keeping up with military and transportation developments . . . to be prepared if they should be called. . . . That call came. . . . The battalion was then designated the --th Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army, and was the first military railway organization to be activated.
. . . To provide practical experience in every phase of railroad operation . . . the Southern Railway System negotiated a contract with the U.S. Government making available to the battalion that part of the Southern Railway System known as the New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad, which extends from Meridian, Miss, to New Orleans, 202 miles. No charge was made by the N.O. & N.E. for its facilities, the services of its officers or employes, or the use of its property. . . .
How well the job was done is indicated by the following words written by General Gray:
. . . "It is a delight to congratulate the officers and men of the Southern Railway System on the manner in which they have assisted the officers of the battalion and of the Military Railway Service in the training of the --th. Never has there been, in my knowledge of railroad service, a more cooperative, coordinated, unselfish and thoroughly competent help given anybody. . . .".
The officers and men who formed the battalion were led by Lieut. Colonel Fred W. Okie, formerly superintendent of the Southern's Birmingham division. . . .
A War Department press release of April 29 reveals that the Legion of Merit has been awarded to Colonel Okie by General Eisenhower. . . .
HOLCOMBE PARKES
Assistant to the President
Southern Railway System
Washington
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