Dear Time-Reader

Some of the things that happen after a story has appeared in TIME are as unpredictable as they are varied. I thought you would enjoy hearing of a few examples which came to my attention recently.

The Perkin-Elmer Corp. of Norwalk, Conn, is a manufacturer of optical instruments. A year ago, it was looking for a mechanical engineer with a good grounding in physics and other sciences who was also experienced in administrative work. Dr. Lee Davenport, Perkin-Elmer's executive vice-president, knew of a 32-year-old engineer who possessed this rare combination of talents. The trouble was that the man was satisfied with the job he had and, when Davenport called him, not only turned down the offer of more pay, but even declined an invitation to come to Norwalk for a visit with the company.

On a hunch, Davenport approached the man again last October. To Davenport's surprise, the young engineer asked a number of questions which showed his familiarity with the work of Perkin-Elmer Corp. This time he accepted with alacrity another invitation to visit Norwalk. In due course, he accepted the new job.

What had made the difference? Two stories in TIME. During the intervening months, the engineer had read in TIME'S Science section about the work Perkin-Elmer was doing with new types of photographic equipment (March 12; June 4). Before that, he told Davenport, the company's name meant nothing to him.

Perkin-Elmer has since hired two other engineers who joined the firm after reading the TIME articles.

You may remember the item in Miscellany (Dec. 10) which told of the Davison-Paxon Co., an Atlanta department store, getting an order for five Confederate caps from U.S airmen in Korea and accepting a $10 Confederate bill in payment.

As a result of that story, said Charles H. Jagels, president of the store, "We received letters from all over the U.S. and one from an American embassy attache in the Middle East... I had a letter from a lawyer in Philadelphia whom I had not seen since I was a kid flying kites at Point Pleasant 40 years ago."

The store received no more Confederate money, however. All payments said Jagels, were in "regular U.S. or Yankee currency."

Edward A. Pollock, 28, a Manhattan bank clerk, collects TIME covers as a hobby. Before he puts them into his scrapbook, however, he sends them out to the cover subjects for autographs. "I was always attracted by the covers," he says, "and I thought it would make an interesting collection for my young son."

Pollock started his collection with the first issue of 1951, was able to get 39 autographs out of the year's 48 cover personalities. Those of which he is proudest are India's Nehru, Generals MacArthur, Eisenhower and Ridgway, Man of the Year Mossadegh, France's late General de Lattre and Warren Austin. Among those who turned him down were Churchill, Truman, Egypt's King Farouk, Argentina's Perons and Vasily Stalin.

Pollock usually tries at least twice for each autograph, but quit after one try with Stalin's son. He sent the cover to the Russian embassy in Washington, enclosing a forwarding envelope with $4 worth of airmail and special-delivery stamps. At the embassy, Vasily Stalin's name was crossed out, Pollock's written in, and the letter was returned, using up the $4 in postage.

The last paragraph in the Oct. 8 issue of TIME told of the Pal Blade Co.'s unsuccessful search for a female barbershop quartet.

Since that item appeared, lady barbers in Chicago, Fort Worth, Dallas and New York got in touch with the company to ask indignantly where the search had been conducted. The company also heard from:

P: Eight lady barbershop quartets, including one in Philadelphia, which the company decided to sponsor.

P: Fifteen women who wanted to be barbers, some of whom asked whether the company would train them.

P: Nine booking agencies who wanted to know whether any quartets had turned up which would be available for engagements.

P: An irate man in Erie, Pa. who thought lady barbers would be the worst thing that could be inflicted on unsuspecting U.S. males.

Cordially,

James A. Linen

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