Vandenberg & Morgan
Sirs:
YOUR STORY ON SENATOR VANDENBERG [TIME, Oct. 2] BEST REPORT OF U. S. POLITICS IN WAR CRISIS I HAVE READ. BUT DON'T YOU EMBARRASS THE SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN BY CLAIMING HE IMPLICITLY BELIEVES J. P. MORGAN HELPED ENGINEER AND RUN WORLD WAR I FOR HIS OWN BENEFIT AND THAT MORGAN IS IN THE SENATOR'S OPINION A MERCHANT OF DEATH. ALONE OF THE SENATE MUNITIONS COMMITTEE VANDENBERG CONSPICUOUSLY AND WARMLY SHOOK HANDS WITH MORGAN . . . AND THERE ARE POSSIBLY MORE PICTURES IN EXISTENCE OF VANDENBERG AND MORGAN TOGETHER THAN THERE ARE OF MIDGETS SITTING ON MORGAN'S LAP. HOW MANY PICTURES CAN YOU FIND OF SENATORS SHAKING J. P. MORGAN'S HAND?
R. A. CHILDRESS
Cincinnati, Ohio
> At least three: Fletcher (died, 1936), Barbour (defeated, 1938) and Vandenberg, pictured above with J. P. Morgan at the garden party for England's George and Elizabeth.--ED.
Miraculous Butlers
Sirs:
TIME lives up to its name. It is timely. It knows and prints things that are not found elsewhere. This week [Sept. 25] under the word Prodigy it has a notice of Nicholas Murray ("Miraculous," he deserves it) Butler's autobiography, in which it states that he comes from an ancestry of "preachers, educators," etc.
Now, could you tell whether one of those immediate ancestors was a Rev. Nicholas Murray ("Miraculous" would come in here) who left his sect and became a Roman Catholic priest and afterwards relapsed, so I have heard. Does TIME know if this is so?
You say this big man, one of our truly big Americans, is pro-British. Why? All the big Butlers, the poet W. Butler Yeats, General Butler in the World War I, Justice Butler of our Supreme Court, to name a few, were and are Irish. . . .
GORMAN M. DELHEY
Altoona, Pa.
> 1) Nicholas Murray Butler's maternal grandfather, Rev. Nicholas Murray of Elizabeth, N. J., was a lifetime Presbyterian and onetime Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church. Says his grandson: "So marked was his leadership and so great was his authority that he was often humorously referred to as the Presbyterian Pope."
2) Dr. Butler's ancestors were predominantly Scottish, miraculously changed their name from Buchanan to Butler when they immigrated to the U. S. in 1835.--ED.
St. Elmo's Author
Sirs:
Mr. Robin Lampson, author of the recently published life of General William Gorgas entitled Death Loses a Pair of Wings, describes in a recent issue of the California Monthly (alumni magazine) his phenomenal good fortune in receiving 528 responses to a letter published in TIME, in which he requested readers who had information on General Gorgas to communicate with him.
Congratulations to TIME for this answer to a scholar's prayer!
Are you game for another try? ... Nature of my research: the life and works of Augusta Evans Wilson, author of St. Elmo, a best-seller for a half century. I am interested in the following kinds of material: letters by and to Mrs. Wilson, authentic anecdotes about her life, the names and dates of newspapers and magazines containing information about her and her books, signed and unsigned magazine articles by Mrs. Wilson, and any suggestions which might reasonably lead to information about this author. . . .
WILLIAM FIDLER
Assistant-Professor in English University of Alabama University, Ala.
Holton Plan (concluded)
Sirs:
In TIME, Sept. 11, a letter from Mr. E. P. Holton, Los Angeles, Calif., suggests that Great Britain cede her possessions in the Western Hemisphere to the United States and grant independence to Canada as full payment of her war debt.
It's an excellent suggestion. However, there may be many in the South who think a better idea would be for Great Britain to exchange Canada for the thirteen Southern States and grant them independence. Relieving the South of economic strangulation due to New Deal experimentation, regimentation and unequal freight rates would be the outstanding humanitarian act of all time. . . .
By all means, if there is to be any land trading, let's give consideration to the Canada-Dixie swap.
F. HERRINGTON
Braxton, Miss. _
>TIME records 61 votes for Reader Helton's plan, 82 against, closes the poll.--ED.
Honorable Business
Sirs:
Mr. J. T. MacElroy of Philadelphia writes, "Bermuda is far too lovely to ever be prostituted by Americanization." Prostitution seems to me an honorable business compared to biting the hand that feeds one. That won't worry such pretentious nest-foulers as this. It may worry him that he split the infinitive.
EDISON MARSHALL
Augusta, Ga.
Funariphobia
Sirs:
Brother, did my blood boil after reading that crazed blurp in your Letters (TIME, Sept. 25) concerning Italy by that misfit calling himself Antonio Funari.
If he thinks Muzzy's land is so wonderful (and powerful!) why isn't he over there basking in its security instead of staying in the good old U. S. A. and accepting American dollars in his pay envelope?
Although I've never seen this crackpot Funari, I hate him thoroughly. . . .
GEORGE FISCHER
Hartford, Conn.
Sirs:
Antonio Funari's brain storm is really funny and should be featured among your comics. . . .
MAX BRENTON
Omaha, Nebr.
Sirs:
After reading the letter written by Antonio Funari in your Sept. 25 issue, my ire and blood pressure hit an all-time high. People like that ought to have a good swift kick in the pants and run out of the country, and believe me if I lived up there, I'd be the first to kick him. . . .
WILLIAM STEWART INELLS
Cheyenne, Wyo.
Sirs:
Tell that wop Antonio Funari that is advertising Italy in the Letters Column of Sept. 25 that boats are still leaving every day for his Utopia and Mussolini is waiting to use him as cannon fodder. . . .
WALTER H. WILLIAMS
Chicago, Ill.
Sirs:
It is surprising that TIME accepted such insulting letter from that stupid and idiotic Antonio Funari (TIME, Sept. 25). What about that statement Italy "Neutral on the Spot," Funari (TIME, Sept. 11)? Don't you like true facts? Why in the hell do you read them? You call the Editor a low-down scoundrel, as are all the Jews. What have the Jews got to do with Italy's neutral on the spot?
It is true Italy is one of the nations which gave the civilization to the world but not such uncivilized, blood-thirsty crazed man like you. What do you know about France's and England's strength? And you still say Italy is neutral because Germany alone is more than able to administer to the two thieves of Versailles?
You better shut up, you stink.
JACOB S. BECKER
Mt. McGregor, N. Y.
Sirs:
Kindly send Reader Funari at my expense of course, TIME'S timely "Background for War." Perhaps this will enlighten him.
EDDIE BERNSTEIN
Philadelphia, Pa.
Sirs:
Will send crate to pack Reader Funari back to Italy.
C. G. BRADSHAW
Whitman, Mass.
Last of Leo
Sirs:
In your Sept. 4 issue . . . you report the tragi-comic account of a lion hunt aboard the Royal Netherlands liner Amazone, concluding your article by solemnly burying the beast at sea. . . .
The beast did not remain so solemnly buried. The unfortunate lion's body, completely denuded of hair and bloated to grotesque proportions, was washed up several days later opposite the coast guard radio station at Bethany Beach, Delaware.
Twice the corpse was pushed out to sea and twice returned. Solemn burial was finally held on land when Leo was hauled away and interred by a local resident.
Thus concluded this leonine episode which I pass along as of possible interest to other readers.
A. S. HICKS
Williamsport, Pa.
Lindbergh's Sire
Sirs:
Anent your statement ". . . his [Lindbergh's] father, who died in 1933" [TIME, Sept. 25], I well remember that Charles Jr., an up-and-coming aviator, flew over the Lindbergh homestead and dropped his father's ashes several years before he made his well known solo flight to Paris in 1927.
H. W. RATHMANN
Bridgeville, Pa.
Sirs:
TIME, Sept. 25, on p. 14 says Chas. Lindbergh Sr. died in 1933. Chicago Public Library card index says 1924. Who's right? ROSE L. FUCHS
Chicago, Ill.
> TIME was wrong, Readers Rathmann and Fuchs and the Chicago Public Library right.--ED.
Lindbergh's Knife
Sirs:
TIME erred (perhaps only slightly) in saying that Col. Lindbergh in his broadcast speech represented "everybody." Although this is of no interest to the Colonel (or to TIME, or posterity) I beg to say that he did not represent me.
Neither I nor any other veteran of the First World War can quarrel honorably with the Colonel's sincere pacifism. But his choice of a simile, "We must be as impersonal as a surgeon with his knife," seems to me singularly unhappy. It is an insult to the medical profession.
If surgeons were truly impersonal (or, one might say, truly neutral) they would not heed the calls of distress from suffering humanity when they themselves were otherwise engaged in watching the ticker, or playing bridge, or writing thoughtful treatises on the insanity of their fellow men. They would not go to the considerable trouble and risk of using their knives to remove the malignant growths in the body of civilization. They would always find comfortable refuge behind that ancient question, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
What Col. Lindbergh should have said is, "We must be as impersonal as the professional mourner, who doesn't lament the seriousness of the plague, or the number of fatalities, as long as it helps his own business."
ROBERT E. SHERWOOD
The Playwrights' Company,
New York City
Greely's Crabs
Sirs:
You state on p. 61 in TIME^ Sept. 25, that the Atlantic blue crab has never been successfully canned, yet, as far back as 1883, McMenamin and Co.'s canned crab meat was awarded a medal and a Diploma of Honor at the International Fisheries Exhibition in Denmark. The canned blue crab continued to win medals and certificates; at London in 1883, at Paris in 1900, at Jamestown in 1907, at San Francisco in 1915.
The following letter, written by Greely on his dash to the Pole, may be of interest to you:
WAR DEPARTMENT Office of Chief Signal Officer Washington, March 17, 1885 Gentlemen:
It affords me much pleasure to inform you that of our canned articles none stood in higher favor than the crabs canned by you. I regretted that a larger quantity had not been taken by me. The last cans used, some two years after reaching Conger, were as fresh, palatable and satisfactory as the first. Yours,
A. W. GREELY United States Army Messrs. McMenamin and Co. Hampton, Va.
The company was founded by my grandfather, James McMenamin, in 1878, its object being to overcome the difficulties of transportation of fresh meat by packing it in sealed cans. This was done successfully for a great many years. Today, however, by modern, fast transportation, we ship fresh crabmeat every day as far inland as Chicago, though it is still packed in hermetically sealed cans for a few old customers.
ANN MCMENAMIN
Hampton, Va.
Youth & War (confd)
Sirs:
It seems to me that Mr. Bronson P. Clark [TIME, Oct. 2] has solved the problem of how to interest American youth in being blown to pieces in World War II. To him is dedicated this joyful little stanza: A young man who died in the fray Said, "I'm glad that I'm going to decay. My bones may be shattered, And my blood may be spattered, But my coffin is marked 'U. S. A.'"
ALFRED MEYERS
San Francisco, Calif.
Ships for War Debts
Sirs:
. . . Has anyone suggested that the United States take the Queen Mary and Normandie as a token payment on the War Debts?
MILTON DAVIS
Washington, D. C.
>Publisher William Griffin of the New York Enquirer says he suggested it to Winston Churchill and President Albert Lebrun of France in 1936, got roundly snubbed for his pains (TIME, May 8). Last August the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin reported that in a transatlantic telephone interview Winston Churchill said he had never heard of William Griffin. Last month William Griffin sued Winston Churchill for slander.--ED.
Apposite Boileau
Sirs:
Here is a translation from Boileau, the appositeness of which needs no comment:
"Thus of Pyrrhus inquired his old tutor and friend: These elephants, soldiers, and ships, to what end?
Pyr.: To a siege, for I've oft been invited to come. And with glory to conquer all-conquering Rome.
Tut.: I agree, that great glory from thence would ensue, And 'tis worthy alone of Alexander or you. After such an exploit there's no more to be done.
Pyr.: Yes, the countries that border on Rome must be won.
Tut.: Any more?
Pyr.: Don't you see Syracuse is so near?
Tut.: Any more?
Pyr.: Give me that, and to Carthage I steer.
Tut.: Now I see you're resolved to be master of all, The near and the distant, the great and the small; And I plainly perceive you will not be at rest, Till you've conquered all lands, both East and West. So Egypt is yours; your ambition then ranges, And bears you away to the Tigris and Ganges. But when crown'd with success, and with glory you tire us, What's left to be done when return'd to Epirus?
Pyr.: Why, to feast on good cheer, and good liquor to quaff, ' And forgetting our labors to sit down and laugh.
Tut.: Then why should we travel to Egypt or Rome? Who forbids us to laugh without stirring from home?"
J. C. MCGREGOR
Washington and Jefferson College Washington, Pa.
Absinthe-Minded, Plunderbund
Sirs:
Tell me whether your writers chuckle to themselves with a delicious feeling of superiority when they put something unexpectedly extra on the ball, as for example:
"four doves of peace with no place to coo" (TIME, 9/18/39, p. 30, col. 3) ; "pulpitation" (ibid, p. 63, col. i); "plunderbund" (ibid, p. 76, col. 2) ; "absinthe-mindedly" (ibid, p. 80, col. 3).
I cannot believe that human nature, even as concentrated in TIME'S editorial rooms, can attain the objectivity and detachment required to escape getting a distinct kick out of such cerebrations. An honest answer would be greatly appreciated.
W. GORDON Ross
Berea College
Berea, Ky.
>One chuckled, one sighed absinthe-mindedly, the other two just went on writing.--ED.
Wartime Price-Fixing
Sirs:
In your "Background for War" issue, p. 28, you say "Speculator Baruch himself headed the War Industries Board which fixed the prices." Whatever you may call me, that I or the board over which I presided fixed the prices is not true.
In critical times like this accurate statements are more important than arresting or interesting methods which result in misconceptions. We have enough to contend with in the Fritz Kuhns and Coughlins who always are ready to pick out things appearing as accurate statements from supposedly reliable sources.
BERNARD M. BARUCH New York City
>TIME herewith sets right a misconception which Mr. Baruch has been trying to clarify for 25 years. The Price Fixing Committee of the War Industries Board, which fixed prices on such commodities as aluminum, concrete, cotton fabrics, was appointed by and responsible to the U. S. President. Mr. Baruch, while Chairman of the War Industries Board, was only an ex-officio member of the Price Fixing Committee, and was, by Presidential instruction, "governed by the advice" of the committee "in the determination of prices."--ED.
Proud Pedestrian
Sirs :
It is distressing to a proud pedestrian to find TIME on p. 2, Oct. 9 issue, including Daniel Morgan in its list of "Brainy Cavalrymen." . .
At the beginning of the Revolution, Morgan raised a company of 96 fellow Virginians and marched them to join Washington before Boston, making the 600 miles in 21 days, averaging 28 1/2 miles a day, and not a man fell put.
"Cavalrymen" my eye! What do men like that need horses for?
ARTHUR GUITERMAN Arlington, Vt.
Father's Fan
Sirs:
It is hard to believe that TIME (Oct. 2) the national magazine that has given hot jazz music the most recognition, is guilty of such an error of judgment regarding the review of the Earl Hines Album. . . .
Earl Hines is to the hot piano what Louis Armstrong is to the jazz trumpet. The Father's influence is felt by many of today's greatest pianists. . . .
Let TIME'S reviewers listen to Just Too Soon or A Monday Date again before they say "Hines on these sides does not do so well for himself."
GROVER SALES
Allston, Mass.
Sirs:
Although I do not consider Hines as capable a Jazz swingster as Basic, Waller and others, I cannot see how the reckless, grinning, flashy, corny, and colorful "Father" Hines can be described as "metronomic" and "implacably austere."
A. H. SCHAAF JR.
Fort Wayne, Ind.
>TIME'S reviewer listened before he wrote, well aware that his appraisal of the Hines album would not find unanimous consent in the jazz cult.--ED.
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