Late for Dinner
Sirs:
Congratulations on your excellent article concerning the crop situation in the U.S. (TIME, Aug. 19). Evidently the picture entitled Dinner for Threshers goes with the article. I don't mean to question the work of Mr. Grant Wood, but just where is the thresher who is washing his face going to sit? The table seems to be fully occupied from where I sit.
(Y 3/c) E. J. GILK
Bremerton, Wash.
P: The second table will be ready in 15 minutes.--ED.
$90 a Month
Sirs:
"Last week the President . . . signed a bill to tighten standards for on-the-job training of veterans" (TIME, Aug. 19).
In boot camp when one man broke the rules, our chief used to restrict the whole company. . . . In persuading Congress to tighten the on-the-job training law, the Veterans Administration has followed the same line, penalizing the majority in order to weed out offenses committed by a small minority.
Married veterans who accepted $150 jobs in order to learn new occupations did so because they counted on the extra $90 a month which the Government promised them. They bought furniture and signed leases and assumed other obligations which the on-the-job training allowances enabled them to afford. Congress' sudden refusal to live up to its promise leaves these veterans in a hole. . . .
Now the VA is griping because so many veterans have chosen to remain members of the 52-20 Club. It looks as if these boys, who decided to draw $20 a week for a full year rather than look for jobs, were the smart ones. . . .
E. J. THRASHER
Staten Island, N.Y.
Neatly, Politely
Sirs:
Emily Post writes (TIME, Aug. 19) regarding Russel Wright cups--"A thick edge--especially one curving inward--defies every effort of human lips to hold back the gush of liquid which dribbles down the sides. . . ."
My lips have performed their human functions for 37 years. For five years they lave been drinking from Russel Wright cups neatly, and I hope politely, with no problems of gush and dribble. . . .
MRS. WALTER W. MILLAR
South Pasadena, Calif.
Sirs:
Mrs. Post is quite right . . . in that the "18th Century cup [with] fine and slightly flaring rim" does not drool, but her fine teacup requires tender care--more time in dish washing.
Mrs. Post's point illustrates my statement that she attempts to keep the 18th Century traditions alive in these times which can hardy be called similar. She stands for drinking tea gracefully--I suppose with the pinky raised. Tell Emily I stand for more drooling, less fancy "etiquette," and less housework.
RUSSEL WRIGHT
New York City
Sirs:
I do not know who designed my modern china (Cavitt-Shaw, circa 1940), but at the home ranch and cow-camp, we like these cups. They keep coffee hot, and the handles let men, as well as women, who know better but like to do it, "hook" their cups. The ample wife of one rancher has trouble with the dribble. I thought it due to ill-fitting dentures, but noticed last dehorning that she laps her lip far down the side, as a child does. . . .
VERNA T. WRIGHT Saco, Mont.
Don't Say It
Sirs:
I would like to know why Major Day (TIME Letters, Aug. 12) considers himself a voice for the Jewish people in saying that "Negroes don't like 'Negress' any more than Jews like 'Jewess.' . . ."
BARBARA R. MESSNER
New York City
Sirs:
I've always considered myself a "Jewess" and always will. This is the first time I've ever heard that it's supposed to be a slur. To me and my friends it is a most acceptable word as long as it is not preceded by the word "dirty."
LILIAN ROTH
Montreal
Frozen Viscera
Sirs:
. . . In your Aug. 19 issue there is a quote about harnessing atomic energy for rocket propulsion. Said an Air Forces spokesman: "Even contemplating the problems makes the viscera of some of us refuse to function."
Come, come, this can't be. Maybe the spokesman blurted: "Thinking about it, brother, freezes our guts." Then popped his hand over his mouth and added: "Wait, wait--this is for the Air Forces. Change it to. . . ." And so forth. . . .
GEORGE C. APPELL Water Mill, N.Y.
P: In the presence of atomic energy awesome things are done and said.--ED.
No Bouquet
Sirs:
[TIME, July 29] has got me somewhat rattled, with its five-page bouquet to Labor. You've overlooked something--while you were busy building up Conchie Herbert Morrison, that same cocksure cockney was busy threatening the press of this country with an "inquiry." The press of this country is not afraid of any such inquiry, if conducted impartially, but under the Morrison banner it can only mean one thing--censorship of anything antiLabor.
Your caption writer inaptly labeled your front page "Britons never shall be robots;" he's evidently out of touch with Britain. This country is being tied hand & foot by a mass of incoherent legislation, miles of red tape, and a never-ending stream of forms. You list Labor's so-called achievements--take a look at the other side of the picture. For the first time in our history we have bread rationing; conditions are worse than in wartime; you can't buy a new pane of glass or paint for your porch without filling in a form; under Socialism this country is falling into a state of degeneracy from which it may never rise. . .
MARTIN FOLKARD
Wandsworth, England
No Sucker
Sirs:
Without benefit of calculating machine, slide rule or other computation, I figure I have somewhere between $75 and $125 coming to me for G.I. terminal leave pay.
I feel I speak for thousands of other men who would like to see this country at least start on the road back. None of us is going to turn down that much money and be made a "sucker" for not accepting it.
But if the thousands who feel the way I do, plus the thousands who might be shown that they are simply borrowing the money from their children, were to voluntarily forgo their share on the condition that the national debt be reduced that amount, I think we'd be getting somewhere.
Personally, my three-year-old daughter can't afford to lend me $75. And neither can her daughter.
I'll start the ball rolling. Who'll give it a kick?
WILLIAM W. PAUL
Berkeley, Calif.
Dreary Record?
Sirs:
TIME, Aug. 5 says California's Republican Party's "leadership has been vague . . . salesmanship negative, a dreary record." Here is that vague, negative, dreary record New Dealer Forrestal's friend talks about. In 1942 Republicans were elected here to five of the six state offices from governor to treasurer. This year we elected four of the six in the June primary. The other two offices, lieutenant governor and attorney general, are certain to be ours in November. . . . A majority of both houses of the legislature are made up of Republicans. We always have had a Republican U.S. Senator. Is that a vague, dreary record? . .
It is true that the Republican Party here is poverty-stricken. Not a dime of this $175,000 Mr. Thomas talks about has been raised, nor is any of it in sight. . . .
If Mr. Thomas backs his talk with action he will have united support. The party desperately needs all the support it can get but not at the expense of discrediting the loyal band of workers who have sweated through the lean years. . . .
RAYMOND HAIGHT
Republican National Committeeman from California
Hollywood, Calif.
P: As well as anyone, Committeeman Haight should know that it was Governor Earl Warren, not G.O.P. committeemen, who revived the Republican Party in California. Let him consider his own negative salesmanship of the GOParty: twice he deserted Republican ranks to run for governor on the Progressive and Commonwealth tickets (results: defeated once, withdrew once). Let him also consider the fact that the first 15 men approached by Charlie Thomas--who is no New Dealer--gave $2,500 each to his campaign.--ED.
Worry, Worry
Sirs:
I am a ready and willing worrier about the state of the nation, the state of the world --the Near East, the Middle East and the Far East. The starving millions have given me many an uneasy moment. I also worry about inflation and deflation, to say nothing of a husband, two children and a dog, and a mortgage.
Now, you come along [TIME, Aug. 5] and add the possibility of a flare-up of the sun vaporizing the world. Here, I draw the line!
REBECCA P. WALTON
Vernfield, Pa.
Mistaken Identity
SIRS:
PHOTOGRAPH CAPTIONED SELLER COHN IN TIME, AUG. 26, IS WALTER C. BERGER, PRESIDENT AMERICAN FEED MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION. MORE DISTURBING THAN MERE MISTAKEN IDENTITY IS POSSIBLE CONFUSION OF MR. BERGER, WHO FOUGHT SUCCESSFULLY TO HAVE CONTROLS REMOVED FROM FEED GRAINS, WITH PACKER COHN, WHO ASKED FOR CONTINUED CONTROLS ON MEAT.
THEODORE R. SILLS,
PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSELOR TO THE FEED INDUSTRY
CHICAGO
P:To TIME'S picture editor a dunce cap for confusing Feed Man Berger with Meat Man Cohn.--ED.
Vital Statistic
Sirs:
In your article on Chile (TIME, Aug. 19) you refer to a place where "each year more babies die than are born." It seems to me that to achieve that they would have to import babies from other more fortunate places. . . .
ERNST WAENGLER, M.D.
Toronto
Sirs:
Is it possible that . . . 1) my Midwest mathematics have me confused, or 2) our good neighbors to the south use a different method of census taking, or 3) (Heaven Forbid) TIME'S reporter has erred?
RICHARD W. GROSSHANS
Fargo, N.D.
P: Heaven forbid, he has.--ED.
Interesting Misrepresentation
Sirs:
I read with interest your article on Navajo school problems (TIME, Aug. 12). However, I take issue with the "Navajo School Dormitory" picture.
Having been reared on the Navajo Reservation--the son of an Indian trader--and an Indian Service employe for several years I have seen all the boarding schools (where there are the only dormitories) and many of the day schools. . . . Hovels such as appear in your picture simply do not exist as dormitories. . . .
. . Such glaring misrepresentation of small things of our personal knowledge and experience shakes our faith in everything we see printed.
ROBERT L. FRAZER
Tucson, Ariz.
P:Let Reader Frazer renew his faith. When buses broke down during the war rough sleeping quarters for Navajo children were built near the schools. The dormitory shown is at the Red Rock Day School in New Mexico.--ED.ED.
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