No Smoking

Sirs:

Re TIME, July 7, "A Laboratory Flies": I am surprised that the U.S. Army would permit a picture to be taken of a test pilot with a cigar in his mouth. What's the answer?

SADIE EPSTEIN Houston, Tex.

> The Army rule is that there shall be no smoking within 50 ft. of an aircraft, but the rule is constantly and ubiquitously ignored, and Air Corps authorities, who can occasionally compromise

with human nature, accept the situation. Many military planes have ash trays in them. But as for crack Test Pilot Stanley Umstead, if Reader Epstein had scrutinized his picture closely (see cut], she might have seen that his cigar has no ash on it. Umstead smokes a good deal, but often sticks an unlighted cigar in his mouth and simply gnaws it.--ED.

Comrade Stalin's Tea

Sirs:

There is something which always amazes me about TIME, and that is the intimate detail in which you describe incidents which happen in Tokyo, London or Moscow. I will illustrate my meaning with a verbatim quotation from TIME, July 14: "Taking to the microphone with a big pitcher of tea at his elbow, Comrade Stalin saluted his fellow comrades in patriarchal tones." Now what I want to know is how does TIME know that Stalin had a pitcher of tea before him? . . . My question boils down to this: Was that story actually cabled from Moscow or was it made up in Manhattan ? I dare TIME'S Letters editor to publish this letter and an answer to it.

HOWARD J. ARCHIBALD Roxbury, Mass.

> As all TIME stories are, the story was written in Manhattan, but on tho basis of a cable from a correspondent in Moscow, who was standing near Red Square watching the reaction of the crowd as the Red Dictator's words came to them over loudspeakers. During the silence of a dramatic pause in Stalin's speech, the sound of a liquid being poured into a glass near the microphone could be distinctly heard. Tea happens to be the fluid with which Stalin eases his throat when he speaks publicly. He doesn't care much for plain water.--ED.

The Memphis Incident

Sirs:

I have been following with a good deal of interest, not to say disgust, the hullabaloo raised over the action of Lieut. General Ben Lear, in disciplining a detachment under his command, for conduct unbecoming to men wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army (TIME, July 21).

I have known Ben Lear since he began his career in the U.S. Army, as a sergeant in the First Colorado Volunteer Infantry in the Philippines. His rise from such a start to his present position speaks for his devotion to the service, and his qualities as a soldier. Now he has a job to do, and is doing it in his own way, and who should know a better way ? . . . HARRY J. AMPHLETT

F Company

First Colorado Volunteer Infantry

Buford, Ga.

Sirs:

. . . Now, discipline in our Army is absolutely necessary. I hope we all understand that. However, I have a son who is willing and will serve his country in any needed capacity, and when he does, I hope to God he does not serve under a nitwit.

J. C. ZOLNOSKI Casper, Wyo.

Sirs:

... I think that General Lear was trying to show off in front of the women in the shorts. He needs a bigger hat for his big head. . . .

HENRY CONN Kankakee, Ill.

> Hard-boiled Lieut. General Ben Lear is no nitwit and no showoff. But most of the many readers who wrote to TIME about The Memphis Incident thought his disciplinary action was too harsh.--ED.

Gags & Dollars

Sirs:

IN YOUR CINEMA DEPARTMENT OF JULY 7, YOU OMITTED, IT SEEMS TO ME, SOME OF THE MOST FASCINATING FACTS IN THE LIFE AND CAREER OF MY FRIEND BOB HOPE. YOU NEGLECTED TO MENTION THE 20 YEARS HE SPENT IN ALCATRAZ FOR KICKING LITTLE CHILDREN AND BEATING DOGS. IT'S NOT VERY OFTEN I GET MAD, BUT TO SPEAK OF THE "APPEALING AVARICE" OF HOPE, THE ONE MAN IN THE BUSINESS WHO DOES NOT DESERVE SUCH SNIDE REPORTING, IS FANTASTIC. I'M GLAD TO BE INTERVIEWED ANY TIME ABOUT ANY OF MY FRIENDS AND PARTICULARLY WHEN IT'S FOR YOUR FINE MAGAZINE BUT PLEASE, PLEASE LET ME TALK TO A REPORTER POSSESSING SOME SENSE OF HUMOR. THOSE QUOTES ABOUT HIS BEING KNOWN AS "A HARD MAN WITH A DOLLAR" ARE MINE. THE GAG ABOUT HIS QUITTING PLACING $2 BETS AFTER ONE OF HIS ENTRIES FINISHED OUT OF THE MONEY IS MINE. I KID ABOUT BOB HOPE IN THE "SAME WAY THAT HOPE SPEAKS OF CROSBY AS "THE LITTLE FAT MAN WHO SINGS." AND WHEN A TIME CORRESPONDENT WALKS UP TO ME AT LAKESIDE GOLF COURSE AND WANTS SOME REMARKS ABOUT HOPE, I EXPECT THEM TO BE USED IN THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THEY ARE GIVEN. . . .

BING CROSBY Hollywood, Calif.

> Actor Crosby is a loyal friend and Actor Hope has many good qualities. (He has played some 1,000 benefits in the past four years.) But TIME had, besides Crosby's "gags," reliable sources that indicate that a certain amount of friction is present when dollars leave Hope's fingers.--ED.

Facts v. Propaganda

> To TIME'S query as to whether it should bowdlerize or expurgate its Air Express edition flown to Latin America (TIME, July 7; July 28), a total of 305 replies had been received when these columns went to press. Of these, 246 were against any expurgation; 35 hedged; 24 favored expurgation. Some further replies follow.--ED.

Sirs:

It seems to me that it is much better to send the news to Latin America than to gloss over any facts fit to print. . . .

But I don't think you should unnecessarily hurt the feelings of our good neighbors.

H. A. WALLACE Office of the Vice President Washington, D. C.

Sirs:

The question you propound . . . answers itself. TIME subscribers must be a mature group and would, therefore, resent being victimized by having TIME converted into a propaganda sheet.

PAUL G. HOFFMAN

President Studebaker Corp. South Bend, Ind.

Sirs:

. . . Under ordinary circumstances I would have said that it would have been perfectly all right for the editions to go down exactly as they are published here in this country, but conditions are not altogether normal, as you and I know, and the sentiments of some of the South American countries are not as rosy toward us as perhaps one would wish.

This being so, perhaps it would be better to use discretion and endeavor to pour some oil on the troubled waters or at least not to pour oil on hot places. . . .

A. R. LILLICRAPP Dixie-Vortex Co. Easton, Pa.

Sirs:

Any attempt to issue an expurgated edition of TIME will, I am certain, undermine confidence in your excellent publication.

LEO S. ROWE Director General Pan American Union Washington, D.C.

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