A cartoon," says Herbert Lawrence Block, "is an offensive weapon." For some 30 years Herblock, now 50, has been using his weapon with such skill and power that even critics who disagree with his barbed points of view recognize him as the foremost editorial cartoonist in the U.S.

Since most of his work is seen in daily newspapers (from his regular chair at the Washington Post and Times-Herald, his cartoons are syndicated in more than 200 newspapers), his cover painting for this week's TIME is a rare reproduction of Herblock in color. Last week, after he finished painting Khrushchev and his gang, he took time off to sit in at the United Nations as a spectator to see if the cast of characters lived up to the picture. Said he: "Just about what I expected."

IN a half-column MEDICINE story in the Sept. 12 issue, TIME reported on a new, synthetic penicillin called Staphcillin which has proved effective in clinical tests against dreaded "hospital-type" Staphylococcus aureus. South Miami Nurseryman Luke Whitlock read the story and showed it to his doctor. Whitlock's wife Jo, 46, had suffered for 16 months from a staph infection that resisted all antibiotics and vaccines. Recounted the doctor last week: "I decided that while it is not my normal practice to be influenced in such matters by nonprofessional magazines it was worth a try."

The try was worth it. The physician called TIME'S Miami bureau, asked where he could get a supply of Staphcillin. His request was forwarded quickly to New York, where Medicine Researcher Jean Bergerud routed it on to Bristol Laboratories, U.S. manufacturer of the product. "In less than three hours," said Mrs. Whitlock's doctor, "I had a commitment from Bristol to air-express me the Staphcillin. When it arrived, I gave it to the patient immediately. Within four days the improvement was tremendous."

Last week Miami Bureau Chief William Shelton stopped at the hospital to find out how Mrs. Whitlock was getting along, learned that she was out of danger, happily packing to go home. He also found an old TIME association. Mrs. Whitlock. it turns out, is the daughter of the late Lieut. General Frank M. Andrews, for whom Andrews Air Force Base was named, and who, on Sept. 1, 1941, was on TIME'S cover.

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