Death of a Patriot
SIr:
"He that findeth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Robert Taft may have lost all his greatest battles, but in the losing he proved himself a man for the ages . . .
He was more than a great politician. He was a very great statesman and patriot. Your picture of him [in the Aug. 10 issue] on crutches is the saddest picture I have ever seen . . .
JESSIE SPROAT CHAPMAN
Bethel, Me.
Over the Wonderful Wahless
Sir:
Mr. Malcolm Muggeridge's attack on so-called monopoly broadcasting [in the Aug. 3 issue] includes an attack on my work for the BBC which could be extremely misleading to your readers, since it is based on a grossly willful avoidance of the facts . . . "On the air," he moans, "there are not other voices...
I want others to be heard."
The fact is that the BBC employs three
full-time American correspondents, one at the
UN [and] two from Washington . . . The
BBC also airs a weekly 15-minute political
commentary (called American Commentary)...
also a regular feature called Recorded in
'New York, which gives absolutely free rein
to a wide variety of distinguished Americans.
Altogether, this service provides a far more
varied, responsible and serious coverage of
the U.S. than our combined networks do
about Britain for America. I come in once a
week with a 15-minute nonpolitical talk . . .
I confidently trust ... the Americans who
hear them rebroadcast over ABC to judge
far better than Mr. M. whether they make
up an "essentially misleading" picture of
American life.
To this self-denying John the Baptist, standing in the middle of Times Square and begging to be rescued from his wilderness, the only sensible answer seems to be: "Turn on your wahless, you damn fool."
ALISTAIR COOKE
San Francisco
Portrait of the Artist
I was rather disagreeably surprised that there was no reproduction of a Kokoschka... in your Aug. 3 issue. Certainly it would have made the article still more interesting.
Louis TAS Amsterdam, Holland
P: Herewith Expressionist Kokoschka's 1937 self-"Portrait of a Degenerate Artist."--ED.
Morning into Day
Sir:
May I call your attention to an error in translation of Malay ... in which you state that Mata Hari means "eye of the morning." Mata means "eye" and Hari is "day." The two together, Mata-hari, are translated as "the sun," or the "eye of day." In similar fashion, Mata-sapi, literally a "cow's eye," means a fried egg. Incidentally, the Malay for morning is Pagi . . -
S. AUSTIN JONES, M.D.
Glendale, Calif.
Sir: Legend has it that Mata Hari . . wore a beautiful fur cloak on the . . . morning of her execution. As the command rang out and the muskets were leveled, she unfolded and tossed back her cloak--her sole and only garment. Unshaken, the French marksmen never wavered--which may be attributed either to their splendid discipline or many evenings at the Folies . . .
MALCOLM R. WILKEY
Houston, Texas
P: Contrary to the lively legend, Mata Hari died wearing a neat, tailored suit especially made for the occasion, plus a pair of new white gloves.--ED.
In Name Only
Sir:
In reading your Aug. 3 review of The Selected Letters of Lord Byron, I was rather surprised to see myself mentioned. The lack of a capital letter was somewhat disappointing, but nevertheless, I was there.
I must admit that I am a Sexsmith in name only. As of today absolutely no women have ever stabbed themselves with scissors because of me, or burned me in effigy. However, I suppose that wherever there is a sexsmith there is hope.
DAVID R. SEXSMITH
Niagara Falls, Ont.
Cloak & Dagger Business
Sir:
. . . TIME'S article on Allen Dulles, the OSS and its successor agency, CIA ... is a superb report, and does credit to the calm genius of Allen Dulles for this work . . . What supremely fits Dulles for this work is that he is a civilian, and he thinks like a civilian . . .
DONALD DOWNES Paris, France
Sir:
Thirty buildings full of spy personnel in Washington alone! Has anyone ever tried to compute the number of people who would be out of work if the world suddenly became trustworthy . . .
LORNA NORMAN
Montreal, Quebec
The Honest Loaf
Sir:
The decline in Americans' use of flour [TIME, July 27] stems principally from our having gradually lost contact with the art of bread baking. Commercial bread has become the outstanding food fake of the era ... If pinched U.S. flour millers would revive their flagging enterprise, let them teach the American housewife once again how to bake the honest loaf.
Once upon a time, a slice of bread was considered food; with a little butter, goose-grease or jam it might make a man's supper Grandpa thrived thereon, but he would starve to death on today's commercial loaf, that finespun matrix of fibre glass interlaced with 50% water and 49% air.
What's truly wrong with America's bread today can't be reduced to a relevant catchword, so an irrelevant one pops up--"calories." What people are trying to say ... is not that today's bread makes them fat, but that it leaves them hungry.
PAUL KIEPE Riggins, Idaho
Sir:
... I was disturbed to see the statement in the Aug. 10 issue: "The worried American Bakers Association is spending a good part of its $1,000,000 advertising budget to plug bread as a reducing food" ... We consider bread, as it has been considered for centuries, the staff of life. We consider that bread forms a vital and necessary part of a well-balanced diet. We realize that obesity is a serious problem. Our point is that those people who need or desire to lose weight should consult proper medical authorities .
GEORGE L. MORRISON New York City
Calcutta's Pride
Sir:
Re the July 27 story, "A Mad Race": I am a humble citizen of this great city "which lies beneath its flies, swollen and unhealthy." Your country is supposed to be God's own country, free from flies, sacred cows and D.P.S from Pakistan, yet I love Calcutta with its dank tenements and narrow alleys. I am proud of Calcutta, as a New Yorker is proud of New York City. As yours is God's own country, you are supposed to be free from any mental disequilibrium. To keep the mind of His favorite children on an even keel . . . you are provided with the largest number of psychiatrists. Unfortunately, we have only one psychiatrist who can surpass all of yours . . .
Your . . . version of the rioting incidents in Calcutta will, no doubt, help the Indian Communists . . . May I suggest you . . . print . . . unbiased news ... or you may be branded as a yellow-bellied imperialist agent.
MIHIR KUMAR Calcutta, India
Catholics & Tolerance
Sir:
Thank you for printing the statement [Aug. 3] of Cardinal Ottaviani on the subject of Roman Catholic intolerance. It is in agreement with the history, doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. It is good for all ... who love religious liberty to understand that this harsh principle of Roman Catholicism has not been changed, and is put into oppressive execution where their majority is great enough.
(The Rev.) C. A. GAERTNER Dallas
Sir:
As a convert to Catholicism, I am constantly being faced with this question of tolerance. I hope His Holiness the Pope will see fit to issue a statement . . . clarifying and denying such allegations so that our Protestant friends and enemies may be satisfied and so that Roman Catholics themselves may have something definite to quote in their attempts to combat . . . the harm done by such words.
HELEN A. McCARTHY Groton, Mass.
Sir:
I have shed my last tear (crocodile excepted) for those Catholic martyrs who have suffered and died at the hands of the Chinese Communists. With only few minor changes, Cardinal Ottaviani's smug explanation for Protestant suppression in Italy and Spain might well have been used for the Chinese Communist persecution of Catholic priests . . .
EUGENE FRIEDMAN North Hollywood, Calif.
Sir:
As an American and as an attorney, my congratulations to Cardinal Ottaviani on setting the record straight with respect to Roman Catholic policy throughout the world ... It seems to me that all Americans of every faith are entitled to such a clear-cut statement of worldwide policy, but so far as I can ascertain, we do not get it from our American cardinals.
JOHN G. GRANT New York City
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