In 1884

Herewith are excerpts from letters come to the desks of the editors during the past week. They are selected primarily for the information they contain either supplementary to, or corrective of, news previously published in TIME.

TIME Madison, Wis. New York, N. Y. July 14, 1925. Sirs: In your editing article on Sir William Osler (TIME, July 13, 1925), you say that at the Barrie Grammar School he "threw a cricket ball 115 yd. --a throw never beaten, at least by an amateur.' " I beg, modestly, to offer a correction. At the field day sports, University of Wisconsin, in 1884, I threw a baseball 384 ft. 1 in., or 39 ft. 1 in. farther than the Osler record. Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison papers of that day published the fact; and before me is a copy of The Colonel's Daughter, a novel by Captain Charles King, on the yellowing flyleaf of which the author--now Brigadier General Charles King the of Milwaukee--penned the following:

"To O. D. Brandenburg, University of Wisconsin. Souvenir of the longest baseball throw ever made any collegian. Distance 384' 1". Date 1884. With the regard of his old friend and former member of the faculty."

It is but fair to add that a cricket ball may be very slightly heavier than a baseball, the rule specifying that it must weigh "not less than 5 1/2 oz. nor more than 5 3/4," while a base ball must weigh "not less than 5 oz. nor more than 5 1/4." In circumference, the balls are the same. The utmost possible difference of 1/4, to 1/2 oz. in weight should not, I am reasonably sure--, at any rate not 39 ft. affect and over. Probably, with a cricket ball, slightly heavier yet with no more atmosphere resistance, I might have thrown even farther. Field day exercises were held on the old state fair grounds, now Camp Randall, the throw down the level racetrack, on a day devoid of wind, in the presance of a large assemblage. If this record ever has been equaled by amateur or collegian, I never have heard of it. However, unlike young Osler, I never slaughtered a pig with a stone behind the ear, though in boyhood at Baraboo I let fly a potato at a bibulous shoe merchant just as he was turning into a saloon far down the alley, hands crossed behind back; and had he but shut the outer hand opportunely, he would have found himself in unexpected possession of a perfectly good tuber. It is needless to observe that, during the rest of my boyhood, I had register absent whenever that surprised worthy appeared in the offing. O. D. BRANDENBURG.

Unusual

TIME Chicago, Ill. New York, N. Y. July 15, 1925.

Sirs:

In your issue of June 29, Page 19. your statement concerning Emanuel Swedenborg is so fair and illuminating that it moves me to acknowledge the spirit in which it was written.

It is very unusual to find anyone not a professed follower of Swedenborg with so clear an appreciation of his place in history.

EDWIN A. MUNGER.

''Honest & Strenuous"

TIME Chicago, Ill. New York, N. Y. July 15, 1925.

Sirs:

In your issue of June 1, Page 10, you mention "Karl Radek, notorious Bolshevik propagandist."

When TIME loses enough provincialism to make casual reference to "Calvin Coolidge, notorious economy propagandist," more readers may welcome its honest and strenuous efforts to bale the news.

CARL HAESSLER.

Overall Pocket

TIME Pittsburgh, Pa New York, N. Y. July 14, 1925

Sirs:

As a colored man and an Original Subscriber, I am taking the liberty to let you know that TIME is making its impression among unusual readers. A week ago, a Negro sat down and proceeded to draw out of his overall pocket a copy of TIME and read steadily for over a mile. I finally asked him where he had gotten a copy of TIME and he explained that he subscribed for it, because to him it satisfied his desire for world news better than any other magazine. He was a combination of a fireman and porter in an office building.

I thought this might interest you. JOHN T. CLARK.

TIME does not consider the humble fireman-porter to be an unusual reader. Fine clothes do not an intellectual make, nor are all men who earn their livelihood by honest toil necessarily dull fellows.--ED.

Tapir

TIME New York, N. Y. New York, N. Y. July 18, 1925.

Sirs :

On Page 18, July 20 issue, you define the lay tapir as a pig, thus: "Before the white men lay crackly tidbits of wild tapir (pig)." As this appears under the heading of "Science," a protest seems justifiable. However, you seem to be unnecessarily hard on yourselves in using the subtitle "Dark America."

As a matter of fact, the closest living relatives of the tapir are the horse (cow) and the rhinoceros (giraffe).

HORACE ELMER WOOD II.

As everyone knows, a tapir is no pig. Nor did TIME say that it was. The word (pig) indicated merely that tapir meat much resembles pig in taste.--ED.

Predicts

TIME July 19, 1925. New York, N. Y. Leonia, N. J.

Sirs:

A friend, with justifiable enthusiasm, has been reading to me from your remarkable magazine. I marvel how, in so small a space, you can give so complete a reflection of current life and thought and yet retain both the depth and the sparkle of it. . . .

. . . I know of nothing else in the periodical line that so much needed to be done and I predict a million circulation for you and that before long.

Will you put me on your subscription list at once, please?

FRANCIS B. ATKINSON.

Makes a Suggestion

TIME Paris, France New York, N. Y. July 1, 19,15.

Sirs:

May I make a suggestion for your cinema department? I would appreciate it very much if you would indicate when a cinema production had been made from a novel. For example, some time ago you ran a review of a film entitled I Want My Man. You never suggested where it came from and, had I not met Mr. Struthers Burt personally and learned the facts from him, I should never have known that it was taken from his novel The Interpreter's House. In the issue of June 15, Page 13, you review the film I'll Show You the Town. I presume that that had been made from Elmer Davis' book by the same name, but you do not suggest that it was.

When one has read a certain novel, he may be interested in seeing a film made from that particular tale; but, as the title is often changed, how is he going to learn the facts unless you give them? I depend upon your column for all the information I have of the cinema world. . . .

I am living abroad, and depend on TIME for my knowledge of American events. TIME and green celluloid eye shades are the only things I have to import from America.

DALE CARNEGIE.

Subscriber Carnegie speaks well. Wherever possible TIME will follow out his suggestion. But it is not always possible: A) often the program fails to indicate from what novel the movie came, B) often the cinematized plot has little-or-nothing in common with the novel.--ED.

Ends

TIME New York, N. Y. New York, N. Y. July 18, 1925.

Sirs:

In your issue of July 13, Page 6, reference is made to Governor Smith's birthplace as "beneath the island end of Brooklyn Bridge." Are not both ends of the bridge on islands?

JOHN P. BREE.

Yes, Manhattan Island and Long Island. Alfred E. Smith was born on Manhattan.--ED.

Anchors

TIME Garden City, N. Y. New York, N. Y. July 15, 1925.

Sirs:

Vol. VI, No. 2; page 7--"The Arrow," par. 2, you say: "up anchored?" Should it not be "upped-anchor?"

ROGER B. WHITMAN.

Either "up-anchored" or "upped anchor" is good usage. There would be no hyphen in the second case, since "anchor" would there be the object of the verb. TIME used "up-anchored" as a compound verb.--ED.