The New Navy
Sir:
TIME, May 21 carries the finest statement concerning the U.S. Navy's program, plans, prospects and personalities that I have ever read. All the members of the board of directors of the Navy League of the United States join me in sending a hearty well-done. HAROLD A. WATERWORTH President, Philadelphia Council Navy League of the U.S. Philadelphia
Sir:
May I congratulate TIME on its portrayal of the new Navy and its appreciation of the superb leadership of Arleigh Burke? Last week President Eisenhower handed the Secretary of the Navy the highest award the Military Chaplains Association can present with this citation: "Recognizing the high quality of his moral leadership, his fine religious example, his dedication to the welfare of the men who serve under him, and his strong support of the work of his chaplains, the Military Chaplains Association confers upon the Honorable Charles A. Thomas, Secretary of the Navy, its Distinguished Service award."
MAURICE S. SHEEHY President
Military Chaplains Association Catholic University of America Washington, B.C.
Adlai & the West
Sir:
Cheers for the friendly and good-spirited report on Adlai Stevenson's visit to San Francisco [May 14]. As far as the myth of Stevenson's being a thin-skinned intellectual unable to face the facts of life is concerned, every American who knows him knows how unlike the real Stevenson this newspaper caricature is. TIME is to be commended for a good reporting job on a great American.
PALMER VAN GUNDY
Santa Monica, Calif.
Sir:
I read without interest some of the detestable things this man called Stevenson says about the President and the Vice President. I wonder if many, like myself, would vote for him as dogcatcher?
J. C. STARK
San Clemente, Calif.
The Golden Calf
Sir:
I would like to thank TIME, May 7 for the spread and the pasture scene on the Brahman herd. We have received many compliments about the picture and it was certainly a magnificent job, from making the picture to its publication. The article was excellent and I believe gives a true picture of the cattleman's problem in many details. G. A. FURGASON General Manager Norris Cattle Co. Ocala, Fla.
Shrinking World
Sir:
As head of the federal agency having a continuous iso-year history in development of scientific geodesy, I especially appreciated your May 14 article on the Army Map Service determination of the earth's size.
Your readers may be interested to know that several of the more recent determinations of earth's size are much closer to the Army Map Service figure than is indicated by your article. For example, a modern Russian determination gives an equatorial radius of 6,378,245 meters [3443.977 nautical miles --TIME, July 22, 1946]. At a 1953 geodetic meeting, U.S.C.&G.S. Mathematician Erwin Schmid announced a revised determination of the equatorial radius, 6,378,240 meters [3443.974 nautical miles], calculated solely from the latest adjustment of our surveys in the U.S. The new Army Map Service results thus confirm both within 20 meters or about 66 feet.
H. ARNOLD KARO Admiral
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Department of Commerce Washington, D.C.
Sir:
My thanks for the lucid report you gave on our new determination of the earth's size; your science editor made an excellent popularization of an intrinsically complex subject. I would like to point out that the new equatorial radius was determined not only by means of the arc from Finland to South Africa, but also from an equally long arc from Canada to Chile.
R. B. MOORE Lieutenant Colonel
Corps of Engineers, Army Map Service Washington, D.C.
Secret Weapons
Sir:
I enjoyed the May 14 article "Secret Weapons" and the picture that went with it. At first glance, the "posed cryptanalysts" looked quite innocent--until one realizes the intrigue that is involved in cryptography. I will look forward, however, to reading William and Elizabeth Friedman's book which will prove, by cryptanalysis, that the words of Shakespeare were written by Shakespeare.
DENNIS W. HALL
Omaha, Nebr.
Sir:
Your article carries an erroneous implication. Credit for the "priceless advantage in intelligence that led to such critical victories as Coral Sea, Midway and subsequent bold carrier strikes" belongs to the World War II Navy's, not the Army's, cryptanalytic bureau.
WILLIAM F. FRIEDMAN Washington, D.C.
Sir:
As any member of the American Cryptogram Association knows, the biliteral cipher invented by Francis Bacon consists of fivefold combinations of A and B for each letter of the alphabet (A is AAAAA, B is AAAAB, etc.). With the turned heads representing the symbol B, the picture of World War I crypt-analysts in TIME uses this cipher to spell "Knowledge is poee!" plus one B; the remaining four A's necessary to complete the letter R are missing. There should be 80 persons in the picture if "Knowledge Is Power" is to be truly represented. There are only 76. Somebody must have got his signals mixed.
WARREN T. MCCREADY Kingston, Ont.
M.M.
Sir:
Your superb character portraits of Malraux, Sinatra et al. as well as that of Marilyn Monroe are of great value to the psychiatrist in the character analysis of his own patients. Marilyn's success in the tawdry roles to which she has been assigned is not due to her anatomic structure, but is to be explained in that life force which cannot be concealed in any medium . . .
HOWARD D. MC!NTYRE, M.D. Cincinnati
Sir:
Turn in your couch, TIME, along with your amateur analyst's badge. That rundown of what makes Marilyn fun hit a new low in taste.
MARIAN PEHOWSKI Wauwatosa, Wis.
Sir:
I feel you have done an injustice to the orphans' home in Los Angeles where, as Norma Jeane Baker, Miss Monroe spent a short period of her tragic childhood. Surely any youngster with her unfortunate background would have been unhappy in any institution. I have been at this home when the dishes were being washed and often I have heard the youngsters singing and joking as they did them. From Miss Monroe's statement one might gain the impression that she did the 100 plates, 100 cups, 100 knives etc. all by herself. Granted cleaning up bathrooms is an unpleasant chore, but why should not children help in such work? Don't children who live at home often help their mothers at such work?
HARRY C. JAMES President The Trailfmders Banning, Calif.
Sir:
We urgently request information on how to make a four-year-old scrub floors. Could be the biggest boon to harassed mothers since the invention of the automatic washer. MRS. PHIL GRIFFITH MRS. DICK WYDMAN Wichita, Kans.
Sir:
Never have I seen such a detailed human story.
ROY PADILLA San Francisco
Sir:
Congratulations on your cover of Marilyn. That's the first human picture of her I have seen.
CLARE ADAMS
Burlington, Vt.
Sir:
Your attempt to justify Marilyn's posing nude was nauseating. As for her psychosomatic colds--has she ever tried wearing clothes?
MRS. JOHN SCANNELL Easton, Pa.
Sir:
Enjoyed the article on Marilyn, but what I liked most about the May 14 issue was the picture of vivacious Ginger Rogers and the new British looker, Diana Dors.
J. R. TENNILLE Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
Teeners' Hero
Sir:
For heaven's sake, leave Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe to the pulp magazines. They are both utterly nauseating.
MRS. FRANCIS McGuiRE
Arlington, Va.
Sir:
There must be some error, since in your May 14 issue I find Elvis Presley in the Music section. What does that idiotic howling have to do with music--except the fact that it is on records? Seems to me, the attitude to take would be one of ignoring the whole noise, hoping it will go away.
ARVYDAS BARZDUKAS Cleveland
Sir:
Don't worry--we all haven't gone to the dogs! I'm a redblooded, American, teen-age girl, and I think he's ghastly !
JUDITH TURICK Los Angeles
Sir:
That "Hi luh-huh-huh-huuv yew-hew" article: Are you sure that fellow's real name isn't Pelvis Presley ?
ROBERT E. JORDAN Seattle
Will Power
Sir:
I am writing with regard to the action taken by the school board of Louisiana's Bossier Parish, whereupon they banished
TIME, LIFE and Look magazines from school libraries [May 14]. I commend the school board of Bossier Parish. Each time I read one of your biased, distorted articles about our Southland, I vow vehemently that I will cancel my subscription. Unfortunately, I do not have the will power to do so. I adore your movie review section.
CAROLYN S. VOGHT Jackson, Miss.
Sir:
I see some very juicy meat for the carnivorous Commies in your report on Louisiana's Bossier Parish school board action. We are still laughing heartily at the Communist Party's difficulties in their attempt to debunk Stalin; however, it becomes a tragedy when American public schools resort to similar "educational" tactics.
WESLEY R. HOSTETLER Delaware, Ohio
Report on Puerto Rico
Sir:
My congratulations on a masterpiece of reporting about Puerto Rico [May 14]. Just one addition: Puerto Rico's tax exemption for the manufacturer is not only "if the industry he starts is a new one for the island and not a 'runaway' from the mainland"; the industry in which he starts can be an existing one in Puerto Rico, but the factory itself must be a new addition--to the whole U.S. economy, not merely to P.R.--rather than a plant relocation that causes unemployment elsewhere.
THOMAS F. HALLORAN Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.) Mainland Director of Industrial Development Commonwealth of Puerto Rico New York City
Longshoreman
Sir:
You have referred to me as an "ex-convict" in an article written in reference to the Inter national Longshoremen's Association [TIME, Jan. 4, 1954]. I have never been convicted of any crime and resent your reference to me in this manner. It is incumbent upon publishers of magazines and newspapers to report true facts. I am sure that you will be glad to correct this grievous error.
ANTHONY ANASTASIO Brooklyn, N.Y.
-1 TIME erred.--ED.
The Frogman & the Ghost
Sir:
Isn't that British Frogman "Buster" Crabb a strange revenant of that Stephen Crabbe of the 13th century who detected the invisible invasion ship of the piratical Eustace the Monk? He was the only one in England able to see the phantom ship, boarded it, and his companions saw him in the air above the waters, swinging his axe which slew Eustace, until he was torn to bits by demons allied with the traitorous Eustace.
ALFRED VAGTS Sherman, Conn.
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