Dreiser on Tacoma
Sirs:
In the Book Review Section of TIME for the week of Feb. 8, the following statement was quoted from the book Tragic America by Theodore Dreiser.
". . . in Tacoma, Wash., 'on Feb. 19, 1931, . . . 16 men were poisoned by food from the Volunteers of America soup kitchen, from which four died.' "
... I need hardly tell you that this statement, appearing in your magazine even as a quotation, will do untold hurt to our work. The Volunteers of America are feeding 4,000 people a day in Seattle, Wash., and at least 2,000 in Tacoma. This work is supported by public donations and those who give to it will be greatly shocked by the statement appearing in Mr. Dreiser's book.
I must ask you to publish a prominent statement in your magazine that will offset the injury done our Organization by this quotation, as we are feeding hundreds of thousands every day throughout the country.
MAUD B. BOOTH
The Volunteers of America
New York City
TIME gladly, swiftly prints correction of a statement for which Author Dreiser refuses to name the source. TIME deeply regrets any hindrance to The Volunteers of America caused by quotation of Author Dreiser's loose remark.--ED.
Obsolete Joke
Sirs:
In the Feb. 29 issue of TIME on p. 15 you state that "The citizens of Charlotte, N. C. shrieked with ignorant delight when he [Gov. Murray] cracked an obsolete joke which the audience thought was an original Alfalfaism."
Will you be kind enough to explain how you knew that the citizens shrieked in ignorance and how you knew that they thought the joke original?
This statement is a direct insult to the intelligence of the citizens of Charlotte, N. C. and I think it calls for an apology.
FORD M. MEYERS Thomasville, N. C.
Sirs:
The particular point in this article which riled me was the untrue statement made in regard to the joke which Mr. Murray told in his speech at Charlotte, N. C. stating that President Hoover is a great engineer. "He has dammed, ditched and drained the country in three years." ... I heard Mr. Murray's speech on that particular night and I enjoyed it and the joke very much. But the statement as to the joke being obsolete does not apply, as the dictionary defines obsolete as out of use. So evidently the joke is not obsolete or else Mr. Murray would not have used it and thousands of others since then. I am wondering if the gentleman who wrote this article is an authority on jokes. If so, it probably would be a good idea for you to have him write an obsolete joke column in TIME so that the ignorant people could be kept posted and refrain from telling or laughing at them. The statement as to the people being ignorant is a more important one to me. It is a grossly misrepresented statement, as can easily be seen from the impartial viewpoint of thousands who have visited our city and State. How could the people of the South be ignorant and still play such an important part in the Liberty, Growth and Development of our country? . . . C. W. BlNGHAM
Charlotte, N. C.
Governor Murray declaimed the joke with as much gusto and as little apology as if he had just invented it. Only by damning the joke with a faint titter could the Charlotte audience have shown that the joke was as stale to them as it was to him. Since, however, the audience shrieked, the joke did not prove to be obsolete for that occasion. Thus TIME erred.--ED.
Congratulations on Quitting
Sirs:
From the letters printed on p. 24 and 25 ot the Feb. 29 issue of TIME, I am sure that the "Yes'' people have given you the wrong impression about your "March of Time." I have my radio paid for and do not intend throwing it out the window because you are off the air.
Do you think that if Pepsodent discontinued advertising, people would quit cleaning their teeth? I have listened to your "March of Time" quite a lot. during the past year and must admit that the entertainment was very mediocre. I certainly do not think that it has been a public service. . . .
If you have been spending $6,000 per week for this "March of Time" program, I want to congratulate you on discontinuing it because it hasn't been worth it.
I like TIME, but I didn't like the "March of Time." I am an original subscriber to FORTUNE and I like it and think it is getting better with each issue. Please don't start a. "MisFORTUNE" broadcast.
CLAUDE M. SWINNEY
Columbus, Ohio
Grim Progress
Sirs:
Your article in the issue of Feb. 29 explaining your departure from radio advertising is unwarrantedly bigoted and mean in its tribute to radio. Your blatant self-praise reminds me of a little boy thumbing his nose at a street car conductor after having reached his destination by hanging onto the rear end and raising hell. In plain words, your article is disgustingly ungrateful, and "loaded propaganda" for more TIME advertising. After having taken advantage of radio's hard-earned facilities, you top off your pound of flesh with sour grapes. . . .
What TIME needs is a radio department to comment intelligently on new developments in radio, whether in re artists, sponsors or technology. Turning a deaf ear to radio won't stop its grim progress. Why not give credit where credit is due? . . .
ARTHUR J. SALTMAN
Boston, Mass.
(Continued on p. 8)
Offer to Subscribe
Sirs:
In this western city, the self-respecting, discriminating and high-minded adult, who is not at home during the middle of the day, as most such adults are not, can count regularly on just this much out of his radio during the week--a half-hour sonata recital on Monday morning, "The March of Time'' on Friday evening and the Philharmonic concert on Sunday afternoon. In addition there are occasional delights such as the superb broadcasts of the Philadelphia Symphony-Orchestra, some of the international programs, the present Metropolitan Opera series, etc. But the three periods a week are all one can be sure of. ... In discontinuing "The March of Time,'' you not only cut down again on our tiny quota, but you deprive us of the only informational program that has been tolerable; and it has been much more than tolerable--it has been magnificent.
. . . The programs mentioned above are, I suppose, subsidized. If no philanthropist is willing to subsidize "The March of Time,'' could we not subscribe to it, as we subscribe to the printed magazine? That is the point and purpose of this letter. Broadcasting supported by advertisers may be practical, but it is not successful. Would it not be possible to reserve one station with a national system for such programs as we might be able to enjoy, and let it be supported by a reasonable monthly or annual subscription from the respectable thousands of us who, having invested in more or less expensive equipment, would now like to have some use for it?
DOROTHY SCOTT SHAW
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Such a plan, even if practical, is more than TIME could undertake to organize. Meanwhile other plans are pending.--ED.
Troubles
Sirs:
Two weeks ago I sold a few radio receiving sets to several subscribers of TIME who were tired of going out every Friday night to find a place to hear "The March of Time.''
A few minutes ago, I had four telephone calls from my clients complaining that you just announced that "The March of Time" goes off the air next Friday [Feb. 26].
If you do so, I shall have troubles to collect the radio bills, and I would have to blame you. Please continue! . . .
FRANK VADILLO
Merida, Mexico
Oklahoma's Alice
Sirs:
In the interest of TIMEly truth, I believe one or two statements in your Alfalfa Bill Murray article (Feb. 29) should be corrected.
TIME said, "For a wife he picked Mary Alice Hearrell, half-white, half-Indian.'' ... "a quiet, dark woman,'' etc.
If she were "half-white, half-Indian," or even all Indian, she might be just as charming, for Oklahoma does have some very cultured and intellectual full-bloods, particularly among Alice Murrav's tribe--the Chickasaws.
Actually, Mary Alice Hearrell Murray is seven-eighths white, one-eighth Indian and she would be better described as a quiet, Nordic type, for her eyes are blue and her skin is light. As for her Chickasaw blood, she, like all Chickasaws, is proud of it and she would be proud to possess more of it.
The Chickasaws--believed to be of Toltec origin--possessed an enviable culture when they were discovered by LaSalle and De Soto in their comfortable towns in Mississippi. We have no record to show that they were ever savages. When the white man brought his own conception of education to them, they took him seriously and practised his teachings even more assiduously than did the white settlers. . . .
Alice Murray was educated at Bloomiield Female Seminary, in Indian Territory--a Chickasaw school--then taught in the same academy. Friends have known her domiciled in log cabin and in luxurious mansion and have found that she graced any environment, that she has always been a tactful, loving wife to a most unusual husband, a devoted mother and a woman of remarkable intellect and social charm. If Fate should place her in the White House. Washington snobs would be forced to admire and respect Alice Murray's unpretentious manner--her calm confidence in" the purity and security of her own background that precludes any need for ostentation.
Incidentally, let's set aright another error: You quoted Will Rogers, "I guess he (Murray) ain't got much chance.'' Here's a clipping of Will's statement to a Daily Oklahoman reporter:
". . . By the way, son. I was quoted in a telegraph story in Tulsa as saying Bill Murray didn't have a chance. I never said no such thing. And I want a retraction, an old fashioned 'Beg Your Pardon.' because you are the first newspaper reporter I've seen on this trip."
Has one who admires you muchly been too long-winded? A thousand pardons. But please do right by our Alice Murray, for she deserves the best of everything.
GORDON HIKES
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Alice's Weekly
Sirs: CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR GLITTERING "TIME-WORTHY" CAMEO OF "ALFALFA BILL" [TIME, Feb. 29] STOP TIME FALTERED ONLY IN COMPARING MURREYS RUGGED HONESTY WITH THAT OF CLEVELAND STOP DO YOU THINK THE GREAT GROVER WOULD PUBLISH A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SEND BLACKJACK ADVERTISING SOLICITORS TO PATRONS OF THE STATE BOARD OF AFFAIRS ADVISING THEM TO ADVERTISE IN WORTHLESS MEDIUM AT HIGH RATE IF THEY DESIRE TO CONTINUE TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE STATE.
WALTER M. HARRISON
Managing Editor
Oklahoman and Times
Oklahoma City, Okla.
The Blue Valley Farmer, with a claimed circulation of 80.000 and no free list, is owned by Oklahoma's Governor William Henry Murray, his wife Alice, his cousin Cicero. In answer to the widespread charge that Murraymen capitalize on it; owners' official position to solicit advertising and subscriptions, Governor Murray has announced that he would dismiss any employe so doing. Many a Blue Valley Farmer advertiser reports satisfaction with results.--ED.
Heart Rended
Pardon an old lady of 78 addressing the editor of famous TIME.
I had to do it after reading the heart-rending story of "Death on Porcupine River" (TIME Feb 29). The picture of Albert Johnson shows a kindly face. Without the slightest doubt, in the beginning, he thought only of the wretched suffering animals caught in the cruel traps.
His heart turned to them and against man who probably had been cruel to him. The seque; calling Johnson "mad," driving exhausted dogs
100 miles in 20 hours. Police, trappers, posse with airplanes, bombs, after one weary mai How I wish he might have reached Alaska.
MARY THOMPSON
Tampa, Fla.
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