Moonlight & Wages
Sir:
Re your July 22 article on "Moonlighting," (holding two jobs at once]: instead of doubling husbands' wages, fire all working wives. Result: happier husbands, wives and homes. Lower divorce rate.
JOHN BRADY
Detroit
Sir:
As a "moonlighter," I am "morally wrong," but I am willing to get back on the straight and narrow-minded just as soon as the Government organizes a "job bank" akin to its soil bank, and pays me for quitting my second job.
BEVERLY PLEMMONS
San Jose, Calif.
Sir:
A recent survey by this organization shows more than 50% of our 115,000 postal clerk members are indeed "moonlighters"--not by choice, but by dire necessity. And there's a darn good reason for it: one small pay raise in six years just isn't enough to live on!
E. C. HALLBECK
National Federation of Post Office Clerks
Washington, D.C.
Tips on Ticks
Sir:
With reference to the removal of a tick from a child's head [July 22]: "For parents removing ticks, doctors prescribe gloves, tweezers, and extreme care to get the tick's head out." A tick will back out when covered with grease--he can no longer breathe
C. G. ELLIS
Elsinore, Calif.
Sir:
I used a simple procedure in the tropical jungles of Mexico, where gloves, tweezers and sanitary precautions are practically nonexistent. Just light a match, and, when the head is red-hot, blow out the flame and apply it to the posterior of the protruding tick. It will back out almost immediately, head and all.
RALPH E. GRAY
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Sir:
Because the tick enters its head into the skin by a screwlike motion, it follows that to remove the tick, the tick should be revolved gently and slowly in an anticlockwise motion. This will just unscrew the tick from the skin, and the head will always come out with the tick's body. It takes about one-half to 1 1/2 turns anticlockwise to remove the tick's head.
W. C. MAYES, M.D.
Newport Beach, Calif.
Sir:
There is a great misconception that ticks bury themselves under the skin. I know of no tick that is capable of penetrating deeper than its biting mechanism.
W. N. REED, V.M.D.
Trenton, N.J.
P: But that is pretty deep. The jaws are a large part of the tick.--ED.
The Only Child
Sir:
I have always felt that the rules of the majority of adoption agencies are too rigid for the sake of the children involved. After reading in the July 22 issue that the Montgomery County Social Service League of Maryland will not allow Mr. and Mrs. Dameron to adopt a second child because the first adopted child has an exceptionally high IQ, I am not only convinced that many of the nation's adoption agencies should have a good going-over, but I am quite certain that the league's executive secretary, Elizabeth O'Malley, is committing quite a sin.
(MRS.) BERNICE SHECHTMAN
Philadelphia
Sir:
I was appalled to learn of the outrageous use of psychometric tests made by a Maryland social service agency. Granted that the test is valid (which is quite a concession for the age of 2 1/2), this cult of intelligence worshipers seems so bedazzled by a high IQ that it overlooks the fact that rearing a brilliant child without siblings (even though less bright) will not prepare the child for life in a world full of intelligent people. The agency perhaps does not realize that overprotection can be as injurious as rejection.
MRS. M. E. PINKNEY
Thedford, Ont.
Sir:
The league's executive secretary is one of those who are so preoccupied with the method that they lose sight of the result.
H. G. LINDALL
Los Angeles
Sir:
Your story omitted to say that there are ten couples applying for each adoptable child, and that the Damerons happen to be among the nine out of ten families whose requests cannot be met. Like all reputable agencies, we must select the one home that is best suited for each child. Our obligation is first to the child for whom we are seeking a home, and this must take precedence over all other considerations.
ELIZABETH A. O'MALLEY
Rockville, Md.
Pressure at the Faucet
Sir:
Dr. Louis Dublin's report [July 22] is another step proving the value of the recommended amount of fluoride content in the drinking water as a safe, effective health measure to reduce tooth decay. Educating the masses to the benefits and acceptance of health measures is a tedious task for professional groups and public health workers. It is a job that requires much outside assistance, such as your publication gives.
WM. A. JORDAN, D.D.S.
Minneapolis
Sir:
City fathers have no right to force citizens to drink water which any expert opinion considers dangerous, and which any citizens not subject to commitment for insanity strongly object to. People who want to drink fluoridated water are free to buy it.
BARBARA BETTERIDGE
Glendale, Calif.
Sir:
Your report on water fluoridation is a most valuable and timely contribution. This marks another milestone of public service in the history of your publication.
HARRY LYONS
President
American Dental Association
Richmond
Headwork in the Military
Sir:
That "white sidewall" haircut episode was the stupidest piece of bureaucratic nonsense I ever heard of. The Sepoy mutiny in India (1857-59) started because some silly ass in the British army ordered the Mohammedan native troops (who could not eat pigs) to bite off the end of a cartridge which had been waterproofed with pig fat. This mutiny cost the lives of thousands of troops on both sides. I'm not suggesting that we are starting a second Sepoy mutiny, but I'd like to point out that a lot of trained technicians are not re-enlisting in the U.S. Army and Air Force because, as one technical sergeant told me, "We don't like to be pushed around."
JAMES MONTGOMERY
Jackson Heights, N.Y.
Clear Voice
Sir:
TIME is to be commended for its presentation of the Supreme Court decisions in the Girard case, one of the few clear voices heard above the din of misrepresented facts and selfish desires.
ALBERT D. ALLEN JR.
Captain, U.S.M.C.
San Francisco
Ed & Steve
Your July 22 story "Self-Defeat" points up the ability of Nielsen Television Index to provide much more comprehensive measurement of TV audiences than mere "ratings." While it is true that there is some interplay of audience between the Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen programs, our research has shown that tune-outs are not excessive. We checked minute-by-minute viewing against the commercial placement for the night on which the particular study was made, and found no significant changes in levels of viewing at the times the commercials were presented. Therefore, your "sponsor-sobering conclusion, i.e., viewers are not looking at commercials in either case," is strictly unwarranted.
ERIC E. SUNDQUIST
Vice President
A. C. Nielsen Co.
New York City
P: The detailed Nielsen findings indeed suggest that Sullivan-Allen viewers are more prone to switch during entertainment than during commercials. Whether they look at the commercials at all is not indicated by the Nielsen system, which measures only what happens to the set, not the viewer.--ED.
Sir:
I wholeheartedly endorse your reference to the competition between Ed Sullivan and myself as "TV's most boring feud"--particularly since there is no such feud. What is boring, of course, is the endless talk and press comment about such issues.
STEVE ALLEN
New York City
Ineluctable Essence
Sir:
Thanks for the portrait of Russia's Man of the Hour. Smiling so benignly, who would doubt that he has a heart of gold?
LESTER C. MARSHALL
Los Angeles
Sir:
Seems to me Artist Baker caught the ineluctable essence of N.K.
JOSEPH N. MEYER
St. Louis
Sir:
When I received your July 22 issue, I promptly threw it in the wastebasket. Surely the cover should be reserved for people who have been worthwhile in the world? Please remove my name from your subscription list.
R. W. CAMPBELL
Chicago
Sir:
Get ready for the usual onslaught of mail from readers and new ex-readers who can't see that the selection for your cover indicates interest, not approval.
CHARLES L. SANDERS
Worcester, Mass.
Sir:
Any American TV fan could have told Comrade Khrushchev what game Malenkov & Co. were up to: they were, of course, playing "Stop the Muzhik."
T. J. DONAHUE
Bridgeport, Conn.
What to Give Up?
Sir:
When I asked my husband why he did not quit smoking in view of all the adverse reports about it, he said he needed "something of value" to replace it. What do you suggest?
ESTER HALLAMAN
Youngstown, Ohio
P: What does he suggest?--ED.
Sir:
Concerning "Smoking & Cancer (Contd.)": Like the man said, "I've read so much about smoking causing cancer that I've finally decided to give up reading."
MRS. R. H. MARTIN
Roselle, Ill.
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