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.

Facts

Muskogee, Okla.

Jan. 12, 1924

TIME

New York, N. Y.

Gentlemen: In speaking of the death of Alvin Sherman Wheaton, TIME, Dec. 29, 1924, p. 32, you say there are but two men living who witnessed the assassination of Lincoln. I saw it stated in Forbes Magazine that Robert Lincoln witnessed this event; and also the assassination of McKinley and Garfield. What are the facts?

W. DUNLAP.

P. S. How old is Robert Lincoln? Where does he live?

According to Nicolay and Hay's Abraham Lincoln, crowds rushed from the theatre after the assassination to the White House, burst "through the doors, shouted the dreadful news to Robert Lincoln and Major Hay, who sat gossiping in an upper room." Born Aug. 1, 1843, Robert Lincoln lives at No. 3014 N. Street N. W., Washington, D. C.--ED.

Lauds Independent

Cleveland, Ohio

Jan. 5, 1925

TIME, INC., New York, N. Y.

Gentlemen:

This seems to be the open season for writing letters to TIME about errors in its colnmns, and reading the letters of other subscribers incites me to write one, although I have no particular error to which I wish to call attention. Once in a while I see one and feel like writing to you about it and then am too lazy, and find ultimately that it was not important enough to make a fuss about or that somebody else has written you about it.

My real reason for writing is to say how much I appreciate TIME after several months' reading of it. I am amused occasionally at some of the criticisms of other subscribers-- the most amusing being those by someone whose ox has apparently been gored. I do not recall any weekly magazine, or monthly, either, for that matter, which has ever given so good a digest of current news, except, in a measure, The Independent, a number of years ago when it ran a weekly department of about eight pages in which it digested the week's news, but even it was not so good as TIME because it contained no expression of editorial opinion and was rather dry.

I want especially to congratulate whoever it is who writes your book reviews and theatrical criticisms. He succeeds, (or they succeed, as the case may be), in making the criticisms more interesting, frequently, than the thing criticized, and, contrary to the gentleman who writes you from Havana, Cuba, whose letter is quoted in today's number of TIME, I especially enjoy your Sports Department. That may be because I have no particular interest in sports and therefore like to have them written about in a semi-humorous way.

Of course, you can't please everyone, but I sincerely hope you will "live long and prosper." If you are in any danger at all from the standpoint of the contents of the magazine, it is that of letting top much editorial opinion creep in under the guise of statement of fact. It is impossible, of course, and would be undesirable, to keep out altogether some indication of the trend of the editorial mind, but especially in those departments which retail current news, as distinguished from those which include criticism, I think you ought to be very careful that you do not get more than just enough of the editors' opinions to seaSon the news a little. Thus far, you have avoided this pitfall very well, I think. As an illustration of what I mean, take the recent discussions of the situation in Spain. Personally, I like what your editor said about King Alfonso and I have no doubt most of it can be substantiated as matter of fact, but I can very well understand how someone who takes the other side of the controversy might sincerely think that you were not stating facts but expressing editorial opinion. I merely suggest the danger which, of course, you have appreciated long ago, and trust that you will be as skillful in avoiding it in the future as you have in the past.

JAY P. TAGGART.

Subscriber Taggart's letter is the longest ever printed in TIME--and one of the sanest.--ED.

Grand Jurors

TIME Cleveland, Ohio

New York, N. Y. Jan. 10, 1925

Gentlemen:

Brevity is a virtue, but sometimes your brevity only irritates my desire to know more. Why, for example, in your issue of Jan. 12, when you excited me with an account of grand juries in an article under "Law," did you not tell me how grand jurors are selected? how many sit on a grand jury? how long they must serve? how much they are paid? I ask you, why not?

ISAAC KLOPP.

The questions put by Subscriber Klopp well merit answers. These answers vary from state to state, but in general: 1) Grand Jury lists are selected from petit jury lists by a sheriff or some other county official; from this list the names of grand jurors are drawn by lot; 2) a grand jury has 13 to 24 members; 3) it usually sits throughout a court term; 4) pay is nominal, i.e., $2 to $5 a day.--ED.