"Barbarous" Italy Sirs: If because of "emasculation, not only of adults but of boys and babies captured during raids, and commerce in eunuchs, which is still flourishing," Baron Aloisi, Italian representative at Geneva, condemns (TIME, Sept. 16) the Ethiopians as a barbarous and uncivilized race-what about the vaunted civilization of the Italians, who, for profit and gain during the centuries before the accession of Leo XIII to the Papal Chair, in 1878, castrated 3,500 Italian boys annually? Many died from the horrible operation; but the castrati, who survived and whose voices acquired the proper and desired timbre, were trained to be sold as sopranos, not only for the choruses in theatres, but also, strange to state, for the choirs of the Catholic churches of Italy, where their unnatural voices were highly prized, and found ready sale. Those castrati whose voices did not attain merchantable pitch and tone, became useless and valueless commodities in Italy, and they were shamelessly sold into slavery by the so-called civilized and Christian Italians to serve as eunuchs in the harems of the Infidels of Northern Africa and Turkey. Following Pope Leo's comparatively recent ban upon the use of castrati in the choirs of the Catholic Church, this vile, inhuman Italian commerce in mutilated boys died. Nevertheless, the indisputable fact that Italians, for centuries, had been engaged in the abominable traffic of emasculating Italian boys, stamps Italians, according to Baron Aloisi's own formula, equally as uncivilized and barbarous as their fellow-Christians, the Ethiopians. . . .

CHARLES C. BULL Los Angeles, Calif.

Castrati were employed not only in the papal choir, but also in the Italian theatre, because the Church forbade appearance of women in both places. Force of public opinion drove the castrati from the Italian stage about 1800. But, in the indignant words of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th Edition), "they remained the musical glory and moral shame of the papal choir till the accession of Pope Leo XIII." Last great castrato was Professor Alessandro Moreschi, who entered the papal choir in 1883 at the age of 25, remained 30 years.-ED.

Bakenhus for Backhouse Sirs: I think you have made an error in your Sept. 30 edition; under Foreign News on p. 17 you publish the photograph of a naval officer captioned Admiral Sir Roger Backhouse . . . commanding officer of the British Home Fleet. The picture which you show is not that of a British Admiral. . . . The characteristic of the sleeve markings of an officer of His Majesty's Navy is the "curl" or loop in the top stripe. The officer in the picture, however, has a star above his stripes which characterizes him as an officer of the U. S. Navy. The writer . . . would hazard the guess that your "morgue" has played a trick on you and given you a picture of Rear Admiral Bakenhus, U. S. N. instead of a picture of Admiral Sir Roger Backhouse, R. N. C. F. BLANCHARD New York City . . . There are two manifest reasons why this could not be a picture of Admiral Backhouse of the Royal Navy; one, the uniform is that of an American Naval Officer; two, no British Naval Officer wears only a mustache, they are all either clean shaven or wear both mustache and beard. The picture shown is that of Rear Admiral Reuben E. Bakenhus, Civil Engineer Corps, U. S. Navy. J. K. TAUSSIG Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy Washington, D. C.

Sirs: . . . Looks like a Yankee to me.

A. G. OSBURN Vancouver, B. C.

Sirs: ... As Admiral Backhouse happens to be my uncle-my father's twin brother-I feel that I may be allowed to correct what is obviously a case of mistaken identity. I can assure you that the photograph shown is not that of Admiral Backhouse. . . . ROGER BACKHOUSE Montreal, Canada A thoroughgoing rebuke to U. S. picture agencies for supplying mislabeled photographs. To all concerned, apologies. Herewith a true likeness of Admiral Sir Roger Backhouse.-ED.

Big Hearted Bryan Sirs: William Jennings Bryan's talks for Coral Gables were not entirely out of a good heart (gratis), as you state in TIME, Sept. 30, if we are to believe M. R. Werner in his Bryan: "He also devoted part of his time to delivering lectures for a Florida real estate company at $250 a lecture. Bryan sat in an arm chair on a float and talked to the crowd that lined the shore of a lagoon. A narrow strip of water separated Bryan from the crowd on shore. A large cotton umbrella sheltered his bald head, and sometimes he wore a broad-brimmed white hat. He joked with his audiences about his frequent campaigns for President, and he spoke to them of the general glories of the Florida climate. After the address, which lasted about one hour, people crowded up to shake hands. Then Gilda Gray danced for the same real estate company." In the 1924 Democratic convention Bryan was a delegate from Florida (after the Hollywood, Fla., News had suggested that ''that would give Miami two or three million dollars' worth of printer's ink free"). The Great Commoner suggested Dr. A. A. Murphree, president of the University of Florida, as a candidate. Mr. Werner states that Bryan later confessed that "he had never been so humiliated in his life" as at the convention. He suggests, however, that Bryan may have received consolation in this letter from Dr. Murphree: "I appreciate your faithfulness and your friendship. The advertising that came to the University through your generous proposal concerning me has shown results in greatly increased correspondence with prospective Florida settlers from all sections of the United States." J. E. SWAIN JR.

New York City Right is Reader Swain. Ballyhooer Bryan was paid at the rate of $75,000 a year for two years by George E. Merrick, promoter of Coral Gables. He received $100.000 cash, $50.000 in real estate. Mourned Promoter Merrick: "I wish I had him now."-ED. Same Meat Sirs: Need Hitlerite "Bait" Rosenberg waste all those words to explain a concept of holiness [TIME, Sept. 30]? Twenty-one years ago, it was compacted into the simple phrase, "Gott mit Vns." The world understood it then and still does understand it. And no matter how thin Spiritualist Rosenberg may slice it, it will always taste the same, and will always be recognized as the same ill-served, German-adopted variety of meat. RALPH C. WELCH Schenectady, N. Y.

Hauptmann in Wax Sirs: Adding to TIME'S pithy paragraph pertaining to posthumous phonographic poesies [TIME, Sept. 30] may I suggest for a bellylaugh, Jack Kapp's Decca platter, End of Public Enemy No. 1, reverse side being Bruno Hauptmann's Fate, wherein the singer refers to the Teuton in the past tense. He fails to reveal however, whether Mr. H. becomes a celestial or takes one of Hermes' personally conducted tours. Me, think Buck Nation should have consulted Bruno's wishes in the matter.

LESLIE M. EMERSON, 2ND Playhouse Boston, Mass.

3% Manchester Sirs: In the "Foreign News" of TIME for June 17, I was interested in the article dealing with the bankruptcy of the Duke of Manchester. You say: "The Lords of Appeal, topped by puffy Lord Chief Justice of England Baron Hewart, last week saved from languishing in jail 3% of Britain's dukes-i.e. one, His Grace the Duke of Manchester. . . ." What interests me is this: Inasmuch as the Duke of Manchester is only one person and if he is 3% of Britain's dukes and my calculations are correct, this gives Britain a total of 33 % dukes. I shall be pleased to hear your comments on this matter.

REX VIVIAN Kabul, Afghanistan Britain has 26 dukes. To Reader Vivian, apologies for an error of .84615384615384615%.-ED. Cardinal & Congress Sirs: ... I bought the issue of Sept. 30, because of the picture of Cardinal Hayes on the cover. I turned with eagerness to your article on the Cleveland Eucharistic Congress. Greatly to my surprise I found such statements as these: "Once, roaming alone through nearby woods, he encountered a band of hooded Ku-Kluxers. The Cardinal muttered a prayer to his namesake St. Patrick." "The Church of Rome once was apprehensive of the apparently upstart tendencies of Catholicism in the U. S. However successful the 'American brand' of Catholicism was, there remained some nervous concern in 1924 when Patrick Hayes arrived in Rome to receive his red hat. . . . And he shocked many a Roman when he preached his first sermon in his titular church in English." These are just a few samples of the sneering superior tone of the article. . . . The Catholics of N. Y. are used to all kinds of insults but the spirit of meanness manifested by you in the article on the Congress reacts on yourself not on the Catholic body. So I hope you'll mend your manners in future issues. . . .

JOSEPHINE WOODLOCK New York City Must dash off this note of admiration re the cover of this week's issue. Sat entranced at the beauty of color and richness of tone, until its fullness was absorbed. Cannot recall anything so fine on any previous issue of TIME -or any other magazine, for that matter.

ELLIS NISSELSON Brooklyn, N. Y.

Cardinal's Ring Sirs: Can all-wise TIME make clear for me the meaning of the green ring on kindly Patrick Cardinal Hayes's ring finger [TIME, Sept. 30]? You are to be congratulated on the beauty of that cover, but that one bit of green on a field of red intrigues me. Does it have a symbolic meaning and is the ring of every other Cardinal an exact replica? My best wishes to TIME, may your style never change. CHARLES DE BARBRIE JR.

Painesville, Ohio The ring in the picture is turquoise, a gift of a friend. Any ring worn by Cardinal Hayes is an Episcopal ring, a sign of his office.-ED. Effete Creole v. Virile Cajun Sirs: Of Wade Martin as "a fiery, gun-toting Creole" [TIME, Sept. 23]. Martin coming from St. Martinville, probably has no Creole blood and would, even if he has, undoubtedly prefer being called a "Cajun" (Acadian). The pure Creole is of French-Spanish blood, practically extinct, found mostly in and around New Orleans. The Cajun, Nova Scotian-French blood, very much alive, centres around St. Martinville. The former denotes an effete aristocracy, the latter a virile untutored stock.

JOHNNY O. LEBLANC Xew Iberia, La.

Louisiana's Public Service Commissioner Martin, no Creole, calls himself an Acadian (i. e. descended from Acadian exiles). But nobody except a jesting friend or a bold enemy would call him "Cajun," a term usually applied to semiliterate or illiterate poor folk of French descent.-ED. No Shorts Sirs: On Sept. 23, p. 13, you stated in your publication that Airs. Franklin D. Roosevelt "spent a morning at her brother Grade Hall Roosevelt's cottage on Brown's Lake near Jackson, Mich., while neighbors with field glasses ogled the First Lady disporting herself on the beach in shorts." We assume that this report is based on information which originally appeared in the Citizen Patriot and later was carried on press association wires. We now are convinced that the "neighbors" who thought they saw Mrs. Roosevelt in an abbreviated beach costume were in error and that neither she nor any other women in the party appeared in shorts. . . .

CARL M. SAUNDERS Managing Editor The Jackson Citizen Patriot Jackson, Mich.

Rambling Rounsevell Sirs: I enjoyed your interesting article captioned "N. R." (TIME, Sept. 30) and wish to commend you for your good judgment in featuring the man instead of the libel suit, which is nothing unusual for Nelson Rounsevell. I spent a year on the Panama American, 1931-32, and have the distinction of being one of the few persons to leave Rambling Rounsevell's service without being fired. "N. R." in my opinion is the most fearless and independent living publisher. He started the P. A. practically on a shoe-string and has overcome opposition that few publishers have ever been forced to contend with. . . . "N. R." . . . has shown an utter disdain for advertisers. His favorite expression, when confronted by me with the announcement that he was losing business because of attacks he made on our best advertisers, was "to hell with them," and he meant it. I never knew him to smooth over an advertiser even if he knew he was wrong. . . . One of the most interesting phases of Rounsevell's personality ... is the fact that during his lifetime he has adopted three generations of children. When he was nine years old he persuaded his mother to adopt a baby orphan girl, which he cared for and raised at sporadic intervals in his career. When the child grew up she married and became the mother of a baby girl which Rounsevell in turn also adopted. This second adopted child is now grown and the mother of adopted Barbara Rounsevell. Because of an old quarrel with the Colon steamship agents, resulting in the loss of two full pages of daily advertising in the Panama American, "N. R." is now bending every effort to establish an intercontinental road through Panama. The completion of this road will afford Publisher Rounsevell a great deal of pleasure, especially if it results in a loss of business to the shipping companies.

WILLIAM K. DORMAN Business Manager Bay County Herald Panama City, Fla.

Sirs: . . . No one familiar with military affairs expected anything else than a "whitewash" of the charges by the Government. I had a son in Panama-Fifth Infantry, during the World War. He is now totally disabled at Camp Custer, Mich.-military neurosis. He was totally disabled when discharged in 1920, yet his discharge pronounced him in good health. He received an honorable discharge and is now service connected. What I would like to know is-what has this publisher's former habits to do with the facts in the case? . . . Your article impresses me that it is propaganda to discredit N. R. in public opinion and "to cover up." EARL S. HALL Milwaukee, Wis.

For further news of Publisher Rounsevell see p. 42.-ED. Jury Roll Sirs: Re Night of January 16, TIME, Sept. 30: In accompanying cut labeled; "Doris Nolan (on stand) & Audience Jury (in box)": Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Bridge Tycoon Ely Culbertson, front row, second from the left? Is that ukulele-playing Cinemactor Cliff Edwards, third from the left, second row? And maybe that's Radioldster Dr. Lee De Forest, right end of front row. . . .

ALFRED ROCHESTER Editor The Seattlite Seattle, Wash.

Subscriber Rochester's sharp eyes rightly spotted Bridgeplayer Culbertson and Cliff ("Ukulele Ike") Edwards. But the end man was not Dr. De Forest, but William A. Badger, president of Lafayette Garments Inc. Also in the jury box were Artist Henry Clive, Author Carleton Beals, Lawyer Francis Stark (General Solicitor for Western Union).-ED.

Squirming Doctor Sirs: Am writing you this note with considerable distress because of an article that appeared in the columns of TIME of Sept. 23, under the caption Medicine. The article in question refers to statements of many men who attended the convention [of the Congress of Physical Therapy]. ... As regards the statements purported to have come from my lips, they are so garbled and untrue that I squirmed in mental distress. In order that my comments contain my own opinions, I gave the reporter a reprint of an article that I had published in the Archives of Physical Therapy, Xray, Radium. . . . Moreover, I gave him a conservative opinion that there was too much of a furore about short waves in medicine-that the profession was becoming too hysterical about it and should wait for authentication of the opinions advanced abroad. I note that you quote me as using such an inelegant term, "the medical world has gone crazy"-a quote that I could not and would not have used because this is untrue to fact and to my sincerest belief. ... I am the last person to wish to convey misinformation for the benefit of charlatans and the confusion of a most honorable profession. . . .

DISRAELI KOBAK, M. D.

Chicago, Ill.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.