Insulting Profundity

Sir: What a Sneaky Pete type of diplomacy the Chinese have resorted to in the Ping Pong incident [April 26]. What an insulting way to go about re-establishing relations with this country. This should really tell us something of the contempt in which we are held by our enemizs. The amount of space and profundity devoted to this insult shows how willing we are to absorb it.

LINKTY HESS LUTHER Buffalo

Sir: Your story "The Ping Heard Round the World" gives me hope that perhaps this world may make it. It is ironic that a Ping Pong team could do what no diplomat could. In the smugness of our homes we tend to forget that there are others on this planet. Not to recognize 700 million human beings is sheer stupidity.

PETER J. MOLAY Richmond Heights, Ohio

Sir: Wonderful. For the sake of maybe several hundred million dollars in trade, we now open the door to liars and butchers, and stab poor old Chiang Kai-shek in the back again. The love of money really is the root of all evil.

MRS. DON NEWCOMER Alhambra, Calif.

Sir: As a devotee of table tennis, I am sure that your coverage of the U.S.T.T.A. team in China was great for the game, but to be called a Ping Pong player is a standard insult to a serious competitor in the U.S. Why don't you say that Lew Alcindor plays "dribble drabble," and Johnny Unitas "punt punt"?

ALGIRDAS AVIIENIS Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Sir: This is a people-to-people movement. For God's sake, let's keep the politicians out of the picture, or it will be ruined. Can't you see what will happen once the President and Congress get their self-seeking fingers into this peaceful feeler?

C. DONALD BROWN Perry, Mc.

Hidden Mozarts

Sir: The TIME coverage of the advances made in the science of heredity and genetic control [April 19] was great. But there is one fiction that is always repeated: that one of the nobler objectives is the creation of more Newtons and Mozarts. A nation the size of ours must contain thousands of natural Newtons, Mozarts, Shakespeares and Van Goghs. Why aren't they recognized?

GEORGE STRONG Riviera Beach, Fla.

Sir: I was astounded to read that the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species was a "great" event in science. Evolution is neither a science nor a history, but rather an antiChristian, anti-theistic way of thought. It is nothing more than a theory. TIME would lead the reader to assume it is a proven fact.

BARBARA FAHLBERG Brookings, S. Dak.

Sir: If our ape ancestors had any inkling that their progeny would not swing from tree to tree, but from planet to planet in spaceships, they probably would have had the same fears and apprehensions as we have. And if these Miocene-era ape men had had the power and the will to halt evolution (as we seem to have the choice), we would not be here, but in the trees. If we see our state as superior and improved as compared to that of the apes, then why not let the improving process continue?

BOB WAIT Detroit

Sir: The difference between the dinosaur and man is that man is creating his own swift-changing environment to which he cannot adapt.

FRANK KUTYLA Detroit

Sir: It seems obvious to me that we need "cell banks" in which cells from endangered species of wildlife could be kept alive or preserved. Then if the species become extinct, they could be duplicated by cloning. If this idea is practical, it would seem prudent to start building up the banks as soon as possible, before more species become extinct.

JOHN R. MCDONALD Alexandria, La.

Sir: Man, who has thus far proved himself unable to build a better mousetrap, now presumes to build a better mouse!

BARRY FRICK Kansas City, Mo.

Life-Saving Potential

Sir: I shall have more faith in the combined sincerity and intelligence of the proclaimed peace-nikers [May 3] when they mobilize on Congress to pass legislation that will outlaw the manufacture or possession of an automobile capable of going more than 70 m.p.h.

The life-saving potential is 20 to 50 times that of ending the Viet Nam War, and we could accomplish the saving with no betrayal of our promises. Nor would we have to face the slaughtering of the innocents.

GORDON M. JONES Evanston, Ill.

Sir: Being knee-deep in the grave (having lost both legs) as a result of the war in Viet Nam, I vehemently support those veterans who recently turned in their combat medals. Their action will, unfortunately, bounce off humanity's conscience as easily as their medals bounced off John Marshall's head. I propose that a monument in the shape of a colossal garbage can with an eternal flame burning on top be erected in Washington to contain all the returned medals. This monument would then become a living memorial to those who rejected the concept of a personal grave.

GERALD A. WILLIAMS Durham, N.C.

Whose Progress?

Sir: In the story on Florence Luscomb [April 26] you state that she has "stood shoulder to shoulder . . . with Abbie Hoffman and the Black Panthers." Also that she has marched "to protest the Government's treatment of Angela Davis." A bit later, you describe her actions as "extensions of a life-long devotion to progressive causes."

I wonder whether you really believe that the activities of Abbie Hoffman, the Black Panthers and Angela Davis represent progress in America?

J.C. HEPLER, M.D. Glenside, Pa.

Misguided Lid

Sir: Getting More Power to the People [April 19] touched on the most volatile aspect of the fuel issue--the cost of natural gas. Foreign imported gas sells for 750 per mcf (million cubic feet) compared with 150 for Oklahoma gas of comparable quality. The Federal Power Commission's misguided lid on domestic gas prices has stymied Oklahoma's economy, inhibited exploration and triggered a fuel crisis. Consumers wanting clean fuel are willing to pay the price. Otherwise, imported gas at five times the cost of Oklahoma fuel would never sell.

DAVID HALL Governor Oklahoma City, Okla.

Local Untouchables

Sir: Kudos to Father Robert Duryea for not disappearing quietly following the disclosure of his marriage [April 26] and to his parish council for its supportive stand. Only when the Catholic laity realizes that celibacy in itself is not a vocation, and abandons its concept of the parish priest as the local "untouchable", will true religious reform take place.

JOAN M. SUTTON Reading, Pa.

Sir: Your story about Father Robert Duryea's attempted marriage fails to mention that clandestine marriage is prohibited for all Roman Catholics, not just vowed celibates. Many will find his ease at fraud more difficult to understand than his discomfort in celibacy.

RICHARD MAINE Baltimore

Sir: You say Father Duryea named his son Paul for Pope Paul VI.

I respectfully suggest that Father and Mrs. Duryea named their son Paul for St. Paul, who said, "It is better to marry than to burn."

BETTY DYER SORENSEN Visalia, Calif.

A Mite Older

Sir: So glad to see that Tricia Nixon rated Women's Wear Daily's "best dressed child" and "Goody Two-Shoes" awards [April 26]. Even though poor, aging Trish is now 25, the titles have too long been held by Jackie Onassis--who is, after all, a mite older.

MRS. KENNETH C. FETTY Pico Rivera, Calif.

Sir: I wonder who on the WWD staff has successfully shopped for adult styles made in size 3. I would like nothing better than to dress my age, but the clothing industry does not seem to recognize that maturity and large sizes do not necessarily go hand in hand. Am I destined to become a 60-year-old teenager?

(MRS.) JANE KELLEY Anderson, S.C.

Sir: The assassins of WWD who tore into 25-year-old Tricia Nixon had better wake up. She looks charmingly attractive, beautifully wholesome, and deliciously desirable. Another girl the same age wearing the same outfit might look ten years older and disgustingly blase. WWD ate sour grapes, and their teeth are on edge.

PAULINE O. DISERENS Cincinnati

To the Joy of Gnomes

Sir: After reading your article on "The New Room: No Furniture" [April 26], I believe the time is not too distant when whole populations will be living in "liberating cubes," which to me smacks of re-entry into the womb, and a sterile one at that. How sad that man has literally progressed himself back into a cavelike dwelling. Happily, plastic and light bulbs have replaced rock and sunlight--to the everlasting joy of gnomes, no doubt.

DAVID I. BROWN San Diego

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