$1,000 Melodeon

Sirs:

In your account of Cardinal O'Connell, TIME, Dec. 24, you say: "In another basement likewise ... he found a broken-down melodeon. Some of the pipes would sound, however. . . ." I do not know who told you that melodeons have "pipes," but it is a considerable mistake. They have reeds, and bellows, just like a common house-organ. They are encased, though, in a body similar to, but very much smaller than, the old-fashioned "square" piano. There are two treadles but they are not like the treadles of the organ, being rods run from the foot to the upright rod that connects with the bellows. The right foot is used to pump air; the left is used to increase the sound.

There is in my home today a melodeon of solid rosewood, purchased for my mother in 1860. It has had several new bellows, and minor repairs, and is in fine repair today. It is keyed to what used to be called "concert pitch," which, I understand is obsolete today, all instruments being tuned very much lower. My mother was offered $1,000 for it about 1887. It has a five octave, seven key keyboard, which is longer than the usual melodeon, which had, I believe, only five and a half octaves, or possibly only five.

E. BERYL ROBE

Huntington, W. Va.

Not Sad

Sirs: I take exception to a few words in your notice of Ethel Barrymore and her Kingdom of God: "the hushed, sad peacefulness of cloistered life." I don't know whether your writer or Miss B. is responsible for that sadness, but there isn't any such atmosphere in convents or monasteries. I ought to know, for I've been in and out of both for a good many years. Life in a convent isn't so wild and hilarious, of course, as in a night club, which must be about the saddest spot on earth. But I never yet saw a nun who wore a long face except one, and she had the cramps. Too much Christmas candy, and the dear old lady dissipated. I visited a convent recently, and I came away with a bright memory of a "lot of girls." But they are mighty aged girls for a' that. The Sister who cooks is around 80, and she told me gleefully of the monster turkey somebody had sent for Thanksgiving. How she kept dishing it up in various guises for a week. She laughed till her false teeth--if you ever beheld 'em!--fell down. Every time I think of convents, it renews my faith in human laughter. FATHER WILL WHALEN Old Jesuit Mission, Orrtanna, Pa. Father Whalen recently wrote a short story about a mediocre actress, popular in small towns. It was labeled "Twinkle, Little Star" and appeared in the New York Daily News (tabloid).--ED. Marching Yorkers

Sirs: You evidently have a large list of readers in York, Pa., for much comment has been aroused by your article in TIME, Dec. 24, on ''Hexes.'' Scores of feature writers from the metropolitan press have given York super-sensational publicity the country-over. It's the kind of stuff about which these '"artists" can give their modern but characteristic vocabulary free reign. By adroit manipulation of words they give the average reader the impression that York is a backwoods community, unintelligent and saturated with superstition. They seek to create in the reader's mind general conclusions by featuring few and isolated instances. Your article is much more fair, however, for you do not attempt to single out York as the only community where belief in the powers of darkness exists in some fraction of the population. You also give due credit to Chicago, New York and Atlantic City. It is very strange, however, that even in your article you mention beliefs which you consider current of which we who have lived here for years have never heard. Neither I nor any of my friends have ever seen the barbers take care of the harvest of hair in the manner you describe. Neither have we found any shortage of black cats in our last rural cat census. . . . No people as generally superstition ridden as Yorkers have been described could march along in the forefront of civic achievement and industrial leadership, as York is doing. Witness a model Y. M. C. A. building costing $800,000, a new hotel worth $1,300,000, a new $1,200,000 hospital now building--all the funds being raised by popular subscription within the last five years. All this gives the lie to hex and witchcraft publicity artists. In industry York has the proud distinction of national leadership in the production of refrigeration machinery, water turbines, bank vault doors, artificial teeth, wall paper, baker's machinery and auto tire chains. For the real facts of the characteristics of York County's population, we recommend our critics to read Caret Garrett's authoritative article in the Saturday Evening Post of Oct. 13 in which, after an exhaustive investigation, he says that York County is one of the two bright spots in the entire country where agriculture and industry are uniformly prosperous. E. A. null Secretary York Chamber of Commerce York, Pa. TIME would not state that those who save their shorn locks, lest a bird build her nest with them and bewitch the rightful owner, are the same men that have marched York to prosperity.--ED. Potbellied, Red-nosed Sirs:

Your article on Christmas in the issue of TIME Dec. 24, was good as far as it went. Why didn't you, assuming that you know it, tell of the group of Anti-Christians in Europe a few centuries ago who substituted "X" for Christ, and finally Xmas the feast of "X," in place of Christmas, the feast of Christ and how careless and indifferent Christians actually use this blasphemous term?

Why didn't you discuss the fact, and deplore the fact, that old potbellied, red-nosed Santa Claus with his ridiculous reindeer have been substituted for the Christ Child, the Virgin, the Three Wise Men with so many unthinking Christians?

If a few centuries hence a group of Americans, with the idea of destroying patriotism, began denying the fact that Geo. Washington had ever lived and started calling the twenty-second of February "Xington's Birthday," and in the celebrations used a black cat with seven tails as a symbol of the day what would you think? This compares well with what we so-called Christians are doing.

A few days before Christmas the writer was looking over a large stock of cards which he wanted to send to friends and less than ten percent of these cards featured anything that had to do with the Christian tradition. This, The Coming of Christ, is by far and away the single event of greatest importance that has ever happened during all time.

Surely on Christmas, the greatest of anniversaries, it shouldn't be lost sight of.

TIME seldom overlooks a bet; but I think you fell down this time to the tune of the above.

J. J. POWER Laguna Beach, Calif.

Hand of Dyer

Sirs: In this week's issue you make mention of Coolidge shaking the "hand" of a "flea-hound"-- but make no note of his shaking another hand-- less hairy, more skillful--which during the last year has flown airplanes for 1,251 hours without accident of any kind to plane or personnel, and directed 107 individuals to fly successfully. Lt. J. E. Dyer, U. S. N., was awarded the Herbert Schiff Memorial Trophy for safe flying by President Coolidge on December 15. His record exceeds by nearly 500 hours that of any other winner of the trophy. There's a "hand" for you. A. A. DOYLE

Sacramento, Calif.

Atchison No President

Sirs: Steuart H. Britt's letter in TIME of Dec. 31 is not adequately answered by your comment. Students of history should be informed that in reality Atchison was never President of the United States. Polk was President until midnight (not noon, as Mr. Britt says) of March 3, 1849, and promptly thereafter Taylor became President. The Constitution provides, concerning the Presidents: "Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath. . . ." President Taylor took this oath at noon on March 5 because he had no occasion to enter on the execution of his office before that time. In contending that Taylor did not become President until he took the oath, Mr. Britt stops himself from claiming that Atchison ever became President--because Atchison never took the oath. The presidential succession law did not apply to the situation on Sunday March 4. Under the law then in force, the president pro tem of the Senate (Mr. Atchison) was to succeed only in case of the removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President and Vice President; inability, that is, "to discharge the powers and duties of the said office." But Taylor was not unable to serve thus as President. If some emergency had arisen demanding presidential action without delay, Taylor no doubt would have taken the necessary oath--his first duty as President--on Sunday. And if Taylor had really been unable to serve, the Vice President, Millard Fillmore, was next in the line of succession-- not Atchison. S. A. T.ORRANCE Yonkers, N. Y. Bartholomew Columbus' City Sirs:

In your always interesting publication, issue of Dec. 3, 1928, page 19, column 3, Peru, aren't you in error when you state "the first Capital city founded by Europeans in any of the Americas was Lima?" Santo Domingo City, now the Capital of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) was founded August 4, 1496 by Bartholomew, brother of Christopher Columbus, and is therefore, necessarily, the first permanent European settlement in the New World (incidentally it is and always has been a Capital--official residence of Spain's first Viceroy in the Americas). Francisco Pizarro was a young soldier of fortune among the early Spanish conquistadores, a contemporary of and under Columbus, who went out from Santo Domingo on his history making conquest of the Incas. WM. E. PULLIAM

General Receiver of Dominican Customs, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

College Humor

Sirs:

Well! That was quite a blast that you had in the Dec. 17 issue of TIME under the heading of "Education." The instigators of this must have thought quite well of themselves in being able to spread misstatements and false impressions.

We [College Humor, monthly magazine] take particular exception to the attack made on the promotion book we published this year called "An Approach to the College Market." It has helped and is helping to bring advertisers into the college publications as well as our own. . . . Nowhere in the book--will you find COLLEGE HUMOR'S advertising rates published. Therefore when it is stated by anyone, as you have in your column, that by "tacit inference an advertiser can cover substantially the same field for a less amount," it becomes apparent that someone is trying to start something. . . . Relative to the convention held at Minneapolis we have heard from seven of the members who have said they wanted our friendly relationship to continue. One of the members states it thusly: "We have not, do not, and will not support any action against COLLEGE HUMOR as passed by the convention of the MidWest Association. We have never had any but pleasant relations with COLLEGE HUMOR; we feel that you render us valuable service in opening up the college field to national advertisers; your pay checks for material used are a welcome addition to our income, and we appreciate the publicity which our magazine receives through COLLEGE HUMOR. We are ready to resign from the MidWest Association rather than support its action against COLLEGE HUMOR, which we consider absolutely unwarranted." There are over one hundred college comics in the country and with the exception of less than ten per cent, we are enjoying close contact with all of them. . . . J. M. LANSINGER

Publisher

COLLEGE HUMOR Chicago, Ill.

Meaning of Realtor

Sirs:

... In the Dec. 24, issue of the TIME on page 14 under the heading "China" reference is made to "Realtors" in that country. These statements would indicate that the writer is not fully cognizant of the true and strict meaning of the term "Realtor." We are glad to call this meaning to your attention because the term is a tradename and it is of vital importance to us that the public at no time attach to the term some other meaning than it has as such tradename.

The term "Realtor" was coined in 1916 and defined by the National Association of Real Estate Boards to mean a person engaged in the real estate business who is an active member of a Member Board of the National Association of Real Estate Boards. . . .

The term has an ethical content and has come to symbolize the effort that is being made by the National Association to raise the standards throughout this country and Canada of the real estate brokerage business. Tremendous progress has been made in this respect and a great deal if not most of it is due to the effectiveness and value of the term "Realtor" in symbolizing this effort.

It is for this reason that we call to your attention the restricted meaning of the term in the hope that in the future you will endeavor to assist us in the work we are trying to do by giving full observance to this restricted meaning of our tradename and symbol.

NATHAN WILLIAM MACCHESNEY National Association of Real Estate Boards, Chicago, Ill. Let subscribers note well that TIME will invariably designate "active members of member boards of the National Association of Real Estate Boards" as "Realtors." In conformance with general usage, TIME may also refer to any person who traffics or dabbles in real estate as a "realtor." Thus, while all "Realtors" are "realtors," not all "realtors" are "Realtors."--ED. Camel & Chesterfield Magazine Sirs: Your excellent publication might easily be termed the Chesterfield of magazines--"it satisfies," and from my personal viewpoint the word Camel would certainly apply for "I'd walk a mile for a copy." ^

*An error. Blind Senator Schall's police dog Lux is no "flea-hound."--ED.