The Senator from Maine
Sir:
Senator Margaret Chase Smith's proposal [TIME, Aug. 24] to use the atomic bomb to end our frustration in the Far East hardly does justice to what is ordinarily a fertile mind. Some 350 years ago, the Spanish ambassador to England, alarmed at the aggressive plans of the English in North America, wrote his solution in a letter to Philip III: "I hope," wrote the ambassador, "you will give orders to have these insolent people quickly annihilated."
DAVID D. MARCH
Fulton, Mo.
Sir:
Senator Margaret Smith has long made me ashamed of my sex, as have many of her sisters in Washington and the public eye. They seem to pattern themselves after Mme. Defarge. Women were supposed to improve the world when we got the vote, but we seem to be more bloodthirsty than men . . . not one woman now in Congress has poured oil on the troubled waters of the world storm or denounced our foreign policy of expediency . . .
YONE U. STAFFORD
West Springfield, Mass.
Theology & Ideology
Sir:
It is heartening to know that Reinhold Niebuhr not only has at last seen the evils of Marxism but has been man enough to confess it [TIME, Aug. 24]. On the other hand, the harm he has done to the American Protestant clergy is incalculable, for not only is he the key man at Union Theological Seminary, but the outstanding leader in the revival of theology in most of our denominations. Thousands of ministers have been soft toward Communism because of their own Marxist illusions. It is to be hoped that many of them will now follow Dr. Niebuhr in his repentance as they did in his crusading for socialism.
JOHN CLARENCE PETRIE
Vicar
St. Martin's Episcopal Church
Clewiston, Fla.
Sir:
. . . Pastor Niebuhr's confession implies a dislike for congressional investigations. I like them ... If it had not been for these investigations, it is doubtful if such "confessions" would have ever seen the light of day.
F. R. WOOD
Enola, Pa.
Upstairs Plumbing
Sir:
Your Aug. 24 story of Captain Austin King's use of salad oil to solve his hydraulic problem over Seoul in his C46 recalled the time our 6-24, Sweet Sue, took a German flak burst amidships early in '44, which pierced several small holes in our hydraulic lines.
With the pinkish hydraulic fluid spurting in our faces--and with no salad oil aboard to refill the draining hydraulic system--we stopped the leaks with chewing gum, reinforcing our handiwork with Band-Aids from the medical kits.
ARTHUR SHAY
Des Plaines, Ill.
Future Eyesore?
Sir:
Surely a group of outstanding Americans, including Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Messrs. Milton Eisenhower, Sulzberger, Clay and Lewis, could find a better use for $25 million than a granite monument in Georgia [TIME, Aug. 17], which only a small percentage of the population will ever see. Wouldn't $25 million worth of medical research centers, rural libraries, history scholarships and the like prove a more fitting monument to American history than this eyesore at Pine Mountain?
R. S. CANFIELD
Pacific Groves, Calif.
The Adventures of Billy Bunter
Sir:
I was very interested to read your Aug. 24 article on the Magnet and illustrations from it. I used to follow the adventures of Billy Bunter, as well as all the others you mention, for many years before I came to Canada in 1925 . . . but during the war I lost touch with such mundane matters. Although I am older than the oldest number of the Magnet, your story has brought back a desire to see for myself just what Bunter & Co. are doing now . . .
D. C. RIVETT
Beebe, Canada
Sir:
Through your article I learned that friends still live whom I have long thought dead . . . I shall be most grateful if you can tell me if the Magnet is still being published . . .
JOHN A. MAXWELL
Minneapolis
P: It folded early in World War II, a victim of Britain's paper shortage.--ED.
Sir:
Even here in South Africa Frank Richards was a most popular name. The exploits of Harry Wharton & Co. in the Magnet were followed with intense eagerness by schoolboys between the years 1910-20. Our lives were actually influenced by the characters. In my own family, as youngsters, we didn't play "cowboys and Indians" ... we assumed the characters of the Magnet and Gem . . . We developed a sense of decency and honor which has lasted all our lives. Even now . . . none of us smoke ... I only wish our own children had been influenced by such good, healthy reading instead of the dreadful comics, which inspire them to aggressiveness only.
J. TANNENBAUM
Johannesburg, South Africa
Rita & the Bad Girls
SIR:
YOUR CINEMA EDITOR, IN THE AUG. 31 ISSUE, ANNOUNCED THAT RITA HAYWORTH HAS JUST COMPLETED "THE STORY OF MARY MAGDALENE." HE IS SEVERAL MONTHS AHEAD OF OUR SCHEDULE. SHE IS NOW COMPLETING TITLE ROLE IN "MISS SADIE THOMPSON," SOMERSET MAUGHAM'S CLASSIC . . . "MARY MAGDALENE" AND "THE KING'S MISTRESS," THE STORY OF LOLA MONTEZ, ARE BOTH ON HER FUTURE SLATE . . .
JERRY WALD
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
COLUMBIA PICTURES
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.
Whale to Seagull, Over!
Sir:
Has the Navy ivory tower now grown so tall that the big brass not only can't see the trees but are fast losing sight of the forest itself? Of course it is the height of giddy conceit to think that a seagull can be made the bull to a school of whales. The appointment of a naval aviator, Rear Admiral Frank Akers, as ACNO for undersea warfare [TIME, Aug. 24], seems to be forcing just such an arrangement. In their effort to keep apace with the Air Force in projecting themselves into the pushbutton future, the Navy has apparently relegated to the second team its most effective weapon in the Pacific melee--the submarine. Perhaps some boning up on naval history will remind the Navy that both the Kaiser and Hitler came very close to winning two entirely different world conflicts with the U-boat ... It would be prudent and appropriate for the Navy to put at least equal emphasis on undersea warfare that it is now placing on aviation . . .
J. H. HENNESSY JR.
Springfield, Ohio
Sir:
I wonder just how many airmen serve as guiding lights for Russia's 300-odd submarines? Our submarine service, like our Marine Corps, is a small, elite corps of specialists who deserve the very best in equipment and leadership that can be given them, and in leadership I include the right to be led by men who have been trained and served in their particular branch of the service.
CHARLES W. ARNOLD III
Andover, Mass.
Sir:
Your article gives an erroneous picture of the attitude of the Submarine Force toward the problems encountered in connection with its postwar new-construction program ... I believe that I am reasonably well qualified to reflect that attitude, since I was the commissioning executive officer in Harder and have been commanding officer of Trigger, another of the new class . . . The overall design of these new attack submarines is excellent, and many of their capabilities represent large advances over previous submarine standards. The "novel lightweight diesel engines" are a legitimate attempt on the part of the Navy to develop a more efficient diesel . . . Since January of this year, Trigger has steamed over 15,000 miles with these engines, and has not failed to meet a single commitment because of engineering difficulty. I am not attempting to make the case that we are out of the woods with these engines but to state emphatically that we, as operators, feel that the development of new submarine engines is a worthwhile and legitimate operation . . .
JAMES F. CALVERT
Lieut. Commander U.S.N.
c/o Postmaster
New York City
The Women (Cont'd)
Sir:
Women have been lying to men for several thousand years; Doc Kinsey must be an egomaniac to assume they'd tell him the truth . . . The most interesting thing about your Aug. 24 review was the picture of all those suffragettes . . .
R. G. OGLESBY
Dallas
Sir:
Professor Kinsey's undertaking reminds me of Mark Twain's story about the dinosaur that was reconstructed from three bones and 20 barrels of cement.
FRITZ STEIN
Cleveland
Sir:
Any man who could get that much straightforward information from one, let alone nearly 6,000 women, should be TIME'S Man of the Year.
"R. C. TOMLINSON
W. Orange, NJ.
Sir:
The Kinsey Report challenges a reply: This is the first time in my life I have been made aware that it takes a college education to interpret sex. I always thought the animals in the country gave the most natural demonstration of sex--at least they do not read books and they do not abuse the business . . . The garbled trash that is flouted upon our youth today in the name of education is responsible for the demoralization of the group . . .
ANNE SCHLESINGER
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Sir:
. . . You are to be complimented on giving such a comprehensive account . . .
Dr. Kinsey feels that the information he has gathered will help people to plan for happier marriages. I believe he is right. As people consider the statistics ... I believe there will be more marriages between older men and young women, [and] older women and young men ... I have fallen in love with a younger man and am looking forward to a delightful marriage and a long life . . .
ELIZABETH ROSSER
Chicago
Sir:
I couldn't resist commenting on your "intelligent" syllogism supporting Dr. Kinsey's contention that anything which a lot of people or animals do is normal. I'd like to offer another which makes just about as much sense: 1) Man is an animal; 2) some animals when angered by an enemy will bite that enemy; 3) since animals are natural, this action is natural and it is perfectly normal for human beings to go about biting their enemies. Both syllogisms have an apparent weakness in their major premise, which, of course, renders their conclusions invalid. The important point overlooked is that man, while being an animal, possesses a God-given intellect. It is this intellect which distinguishes him from a beast, since it enables him to control his animal instincts. Unfortunately, too many "human" animals chose to ignore the purpose of the intellect . . . This seems to be true of Dr. Kinsey and other advocates of the philosophy that sex urges, because they are natural, need not be held in check . . .
KENNETH ALBERTSON
Branford, Conn.
Sir:
Alfred Kinsey's tie on TIME'S cover should have been embossed with $$$$$$ instead of the mirror of Venus . . .
JOSEPH G. GRACA
Ames, Iowa
Sir:
Re the Kinsey Report:
The Polyp is the architect of Gothic reefs of coral; And it can change its sex at will and not be thought immoral. The Polyp can be male or not, whichever is its pleasure; Or even a hermaphrodite if it can find the leisure.
BYRON D. STOKES
Pasadena, Calif.
Well-Dressed Candidate
Sir:
Your Aug. 24 article on Filipino Presidential Candidate Ramon Magsaysay told of Magsaysay hurrying home and changing his grey business suit for slacks and an "aloha" shirt. Having been a resident of both the Philippines and Hawaii, I can assure you that the shirt he is wearing in the picture accompanying the article is not an aloha shirt. Magsaysay and his buddies are wearing "barong fcagalogs," which are considered to be the national dress shirt in the Philippines.
These shirts are very expensive and are usually elaborately embroidered. The peasants would surely think that it was kaululan (madness) if Magsaysay were to do his campaigning in an aloha shirt . .
R. L. BRIAND
Lanikai, Oahu, T.H.
Our Daily Bread
Sir:
Paul Kiepe's letter [Aug. 24] on bread is a mouthful, and not of America's present-day loaf, either. Why, it won't even get stale ! Whenever the bakers of this country -- excusing the independent souls in our small towns who still know what bread is -- stop turning out stuff that is absorbent cotton in the mouth and lead in the stomach, bread will become once more a part of America's diet, reducing or otherwise.
GEORGIA BALL
Sanford, Fla.
The Coin for the Boyne
Sir:
Lest you give the impression that there is any "Scotchness" about the Irish, I should like to point out for the record as an Irishman who traveled on the Dublin-Belfast train that the custom is to throw a raol into the Boyne when passing and not a meager penny as you said [Aug. 24].
VINCENT E. KENNY
Montreal, Que.
Out of Joint
Sir:
If Shakespeare said, "Vanity thy name is woman," it must have been in an exclusive interview for your Aug. 31 article on women's clothes. "Frailty, thy name is woman !" said Hamlet . . .
AARON B. EPSTEIN
New York City
This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.