First Widow

Sirs:

In TIME, Jan. 31, you State that Marietta McGregor Payne, in announcing her candidacy for the Texas State Legislature, became the first U.S. hero's widow of World War II to run for political office. For your information, I wish to state that in a contested election, held in October of 1942, I was elected to the State Legislature of Connecticut from the city of Bristol.

My husband, Captain Edmund Peter Zbikowski (803rd Engr. Bn. Avn.) died on April 2, 1942, of wounds sustained in battle. He was a hero of Bataan and Corregidor.

May I, through TIME, convey my kindest and best wishes to Mrs. Payne in her political career.

HELEN W. ZBIKOWSKI Bristol, Conn.

> Legislator Zbikowski (see cut), Democrat, mother of one, sister of U.S. Infantry Captain Edward Wozenski, one of the heroes of the Sicily campaign (TIME, Aug. 9, 1943), beat her Bristol opponent (a World War I veteran) neatly in a forthright no-punches-pulled campaign.--ED.

When Is News News?

Sirs: I must write to someone of my deep personal disapproval of the method behind release at this time of such news as that of atrocities occurring in Philippine prisons. If we American people cannot be trusted to "back our boys with war bonds" without such rank propaganda, we are unworthy of the sacrifices made by the men on Bataan and by men every day in all theaters of the war.

We want to know news such as that at the time it is news. Such withholding until circumstances are auspicious -- to stir up public feeling during a war-bond drive-- makes me sick, and must make thousands of other American citizens extremely cynical and unhappy at the evident mistrust held by responsible authorities of the average American citizen. . . .

PRISCILLA MEDLER

Albuquerque, N. Mex.

Sirs:

What does Washington think we are? . . .

The news of Jap treatment of our boys was no news to us. ... I could have thought up better propaganda for bond sales. . . .

T. M. DAVIS

Salina, Kans.

Sirs:

In the hysteria and excitement arising from the Jap atrocities report let's not forget our other enemy. I hold no apology for the report. There could be none. But already I have heard people say: "Well the Germans are not that bad." Yes they are just as bad. Let's not forget Warsaw, or Lidice or the massacre of the three million Jews. Can there be anything worse than that? . . .

W. R. KIMBALL Ogden, Utah

"Jealousy"

Sirs:

In TIME, Dec. 6, 1943, which an American soldier gave me, there are some remarks on the attitude of Englishmen towards the U.S. men. I was very sad to read of this, and I want, if possible, to try and explain the position from our standpoint.

I think the whole situation can be summed up in the word "jealousy." ... (I am a member of the Women's Land Army, age 22, am a tractor driver and steam shovel operator, and until two years ago I was a shorthand typist.)

Most of the feeling against the G.I.S is from our own men. The womenfolk think them most friendly, charming, generous and cheerful. The menfolk are jealous. Why? Because the girls like to be friends with the Yanks and, I suppose, naturally our soldiers feel mad because they don't get a chance with the girls. . . .

The average Englishman only comes into close contact with the Americans in public houses and in cinemas, which are not always the best meeting places.

We have had several Yanks at our house and all of them have been most charming and interesting. I always put in a good word for your boys and will not tolerate any ridiculous criticism. . . .

BARBARA HARRIS

Newbury, Berks England

Soldiers and Religion

Sirs:

It was a pleasure to read the realistic statements of Dr. Bernard Iddinge Bell in TIME, Jan. 31. Being a member of the armed forces, I can vouch for the validity of his appraisal. It seems to me that there have been too many false impressions conveyed to the public by photographs of large numbers of servicemen at Mass and services, and by overoptimistic statements of touring ecclesiastical authorities.

There is no true picture of the religious attitude of soldiers to be gained from such representations--even conceding the truth of pictures and statistics. It is easy enough for soldiers to attend services when there is nothing else to do. I have seen them attend from sheer boredom.

The true criterion of religious spirit is to be found in the individual's own appreciation of objective ethical and moral precepts, as dictated by his own particular church and rooted in his conscience, and the translation of the same into action in his personal life.

This is acquired through education and practice in the early years. . .

To hope for a religious renewal in large numbers of servicemen is folly. That is the work of peace and a mighty contributing factor in the prevention of future wars.

(SERVICEMAN'S NAME WITHHELD) New Orleans

Goof

Sirs:

From whose whiskey bottle did your reporter get that story on steelhead fishing (TIME, Jan. 31)?

Never have I read such a funny story, and I've fished for steelhead (and caught a few) in Oregon and Northern California. I have yet to see anyone using "walnut-sized gobs of goof" for bait and a "fetid turkish towel for wiping hands after fixing the bait." Sounds" too much like cleaning a stopped sewer.

Your reporter should see the artistry that goes into the tying of flies in preparation for the steelhead season. He should have a warming hot toddy with the boys when the day is done. Of course, those are prewar seasons I have in mind. Maybe the sport has deteriorated. . . .

GEORGE WALDNER ist Lieutenant Los Angeles

> Let Fly Fisherman Waldner stop laughing into his toddy. Probably 99 44/100% of the winter steelheaders of Oregon and Washington, capital zone of the sport, are goofers.--ED.

Whose B26?

Sirs:

Your recent article on the B-26 Marauder (TIME, Jan. 31) was very interesting. They are doing an excellent job on Occupied France and the Low Countries. However, the article leaves the impression that the B-26 has been proved a great combat airplane in these operations. I take exception to that impression.

I was a member of the first American group of B-26s to go into combat against the Germans and Italians. This took place in North Africa soon after the invasion. We learned the hard way, trying first one tactic and then another, until we found the way to use them best. . . .

In 81 missions we lost one crew--after we had arrived at the right way to use the B26. . . .

I am not trying to take any credit away from the boys in England, because we are proud of them as we trained a great many of those crews. But I do think we deserve the credit for proving the B-26 a great combat airplane. And we are gratified to see the Marauder, at long last, get the recognition she deserves.

MILES L. GLAZNER Lieutenant, A.A.F. Barksdale Field, La.

> The B-26 performed well in the Southwest Pacific, better still in Africa. But it required large-scale operation in the vast operation from England to take the last tarnish off "The Flying Prostitute."--ED.

How Now?

Sirs: Talk about Rex Stout's reporting. In his letter published in your issue of Jan. 24, Mr.

Stout wrote: "Germans like Paul Wohl and Prince Lowenstein start a campaign (in the New York Herald Tribune) to put over Erwin Bumke as a 'good' German with whom we could deal in confidence." [Author Stout also said: "In the anatomy of the German rattlesnake, the rantings of Hitler are merely the rattle; it is men like Bumke . . . who share their views and their disease, that carry the deadly poison of Pan-Germanism."--ED.]

I have not seen Prince Lowenstein since 1936 when he briefly called on me in Paris. I disagree with almost everything he said about Erwin Bumke in his letter to the Herald Tribune--and so wrote him. . . .

... I have no connection whatever with any German group, and have tried to avoid even personal contact with Germans for the last five years--not as a matter of principle, but as a matter of taste. . . .

PAUL WOHL

New York City

Tarawa Typewriter

Sirs:

Just read . . . "Best-Covered Story" by Robert Sherrod [TIME, Dec. 13]. He says reporters "never try to rush onto a beachhead typewriter in hand." I wonder where Richard Johnston got his?

The last time I saw Mr. Johnston [at Tarawa] he was pecking away on what I'm sure was a portable. Of course, the way things were at that time I could have been mistaken, maybe he was playing a piano. . . .

KENNETH J. PAGAN ist Lieutenant, U.S.M.C. Corpus Christi, Tex.

> U.P. Correspondent Johnston's featherweight Swiss portable was the exception that proved the beachhead rule.--ED.

To Know the World

Sirs:

Regarding your decision to increase Canadian news coverage, may I be allowed a word of congratulation. Canada is not an important country, terrestrially speaking, but economically and politically the destinies of our two countries are bound to become increasingly interwoven. Therefore it is essential that we understand each other. These bitter days were in a large measure induced by insularity, by the failure of supposedly adult nations to know the world and the peoples therein--their ideals, their culture, their hopes and dreams.

If more widely circulated American publications start on an educating crusade such as TIME has begun in a very modest way, they should . . . bring to most Americans an understanding of the other peoples of the world that may vanquish intolerance. And, thus, your nation will lead the world in providing the antidote to these periodic growing pains such as afflict the globe now. After all, they have never given education a chance. . . . Anyway, thanks for making a start.

J. S. CARMAN

Lieutenant Canadian Army Overseas

Scandal v. Chitchat

Sirs:

I am writing to make the most emphatic protest about the reference to the Daily Sketch in TIME, Dec. 27. The writer ... is either blatantly ignorant of British newspapers or mischievous about the Daily Sketch. The Daily Sketch never was, in any sense, a scandal sheet. . . .

H. N. HEYWOOD

Chief London Editor and Director Kemsley Newspapers London

>For the blatantly American word "scandal" TIME apologizes, substitutes "chitchat."--ED.

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