Man of Space

Sir:

I fervently hope that Wernher von Braun, on reading the eulogy about himself in the Feb. 17 issue of TIME, will read farther--to the story on Anne Frank in the same issue. Perhaps her story, or that of the innocent millions like her who died in the inhuman, barbaric extermination chambers of the Hitler concentration camps, might prick his conscience--just a little.

JACQUELINE M. ARKIN

New York City

Sir:

I may be a bit premature on this, but I would like to nominate Dr. Wernher von Braun as TIME'S Man of the Year for 1958. Thanks be to God that he is on our side.

HOWARD D. SMITH Janesville, Wis.

Sir:

I cannot share the enthusiasm for Von Braun. All that can be said for him is that he's willing to do for us what he was willing to do for Hitler.

SAMUEL E. LESSERE Clearwater, Fla.

Sir:

Dr. Wernher von Braun confesses he flunked high school math ! Could it be that Dr. von Braun's teacher had had insufficient instruction in how to teach?

DOROTHY MASS-PROTZEN Minneapolis

Sir:

In this scientist-starved country of ours, one wonders what salary Wernher von Braun draws for his missile-expert job to shoot Alpha 1958 into orbit. Would he make more if he grew sideburns and played the guitar ? HANS W. SCHWARK Milwaukee

P: His salary is $16,000 a year. No doubt he would make more if he could send cats out of this world.--ED.

The Flight of the Explorer

Sir:

You are redeemed a thousand times by such writing as that which described Explorer's first flight [Feb. 10]. Rarely have I read a more exciting news story. I relished the beautiful choice of language and gripping imagery.

CHARLES A. TURNER Lowville, N.Y.

Sir:

Concerning your blow-by-blow-by-blow coverage of the launching of the satellite Explorer: less melodrama, more news!

PETER R. HAMBURGER JAMES M. BURGER

Mt. Hermon, Mass.

Sir:

If we had launched the first satellite, can't you see the U.S.S.R. newspaper headline:

U.S. MENACES AND POLICES WORLD FROM

SPACE.--And now what can they say?

JAMES G. SCARFF Oriente, Cuba

Sir:

The successful launching of the first American satellite is a memorable day not only for the U.S. but also for the lovers of peace and freedom the world over. At last, half of the world sleeps safer now.

J. GLASBERG Kfar Barukh, Israel

Paulists Pro & Con

Sir:

I take vehement objection to your implicit characterization of the Paulist fathers [Feb. 3] as an "American Missionary Group" employing "American techniques." Many prominent Catholics find their tactlessness and indiscretions revolting. Their real aim is to make every free nation a vassal state of the Vatican.

VINCENT SHEPPARD Brooklyn

Sir:

The Paulists have used the Sword of the Spirit for a century with dexterity and dutifulness.

You have given them a stab in the back.

DAN MOOR

Midland Park, NJ.

Smooth Flight

SIR:

KUDOS FOR ROUNDUP ON U.S. BUSINESS AVIATION FEB. 17. YOURS IS FIRST ACCURATE HANDLING OF THIS FASCINATING GROWTH STORY BY MASS MEDIA IN YEARS.

GEORGE E. H ADDA WAY EDITOR

FLIGHT MAGAZINE DALLAS

SIR:

SINCERE THANKS FOR AND HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR STORY "PRIVATE PLANES ON THE RISE." THIS LITTLE-APPRECIATED TOOL OF

OUR ECONOMY IS SURE TO BE GIVEN A BOOST BY 'OUR FACTUAL, EDUCATIONAL AND COLORFUL RESENTATION.

R. C. OERTELL

PRESIDENT

NATIONAL PILOTS ASSN. YORK CITY

Canine Teeth Sir:

What a pleasant experience to read "Vet erinary Revolution" and discover that so much excellent work is being done for pets >y vets [Feb. 3]. However, I don't think Vlissy's gallstone operation was so extraordi nary; last fall my 2 1/2-lb. Chihuahua had six gallstones the size of watermelon seeds and nine smaller ones removed.

NELSON W. MORROW llearwater, Fla. ir:

Every so often the fallacy that "dogs do not get tooth cavities" crops up. I would not allow the ordinary vet to experiment on my dog, but I was able to get the best dentist in town to oblige (with my vet doing the anesthetizing). She now has excellent fillings in two of her back teeth, and I no longer have to worry about her suffering from toothache.

P. L. HERON Sonora, Calif.

Below the Waist

Sir:

I no more helped in the composition of the Sweeniad as suggested in your issue of Feb. 10 than I wore a gold embroidered waistcoat in the Palazzo Grille, Rome, as reported in your issue of Jan. 6. Mr. [T. S.] Eliot is his own best parodist, and I would not venture to compete ; I am also conservative in my choice of waistcoats, and this one was the same oldfashioned, handmade striped Majorcan linen gipo with silver buttons characterized in TIME as "nondescript."

ROBERT GRAVES New York City

Contract for Collectivism?

Sir:

A lot of folks out here in the Middle West, the country's foremost hog-producing area, take strong issue with your Feb. 3 story, "Contract Farming."

First off, integration applied to the swine industry could lead to disastrous overproduction and, in turn, ruinous prices. Witness the ailing broiler business. Second, there are no guaranteed prices, simply prices pegged to the market and, in some cases, the so-called 50-c- premium is no premium at all. No. i hogs at Omaha and most other markets generally sell from 50-c- to $1 over No. 2 hogs. In other words, the normal differential is 50-c- and more.

Hog producers of the Midwest are not yet ready to give up being individuals and go collectivist, `a la integration.

R. E. CUNNINGHAM Omaha

The Charioteer

SIR:

THE BRILLIANT AND REFRESHING COVER STORY ON JOCKEY WILLIE HARTACK (FEB. 10) RATES BY FAR AS THE KEENEST REPORT ON AN OUTSTANDING JOCKEY AND GREAT ATHLETE THAT I HAVE EVER READ.

IZZY GOODMAN LOUISVILLE

Sir:

In the Delphi Museum there is a bronze statue of a charioteer made about 470 B.C. Jockeys don't seem to have changed much over the centuries--compare Chapin's Hartack with his ancient counterpart.

BARBARA FELIX Redwood City, Calif.

Sir:

Your horse age cover seems to me about 3,000 years behind the times.

FREDERIC BESSINGER Seal Beach, Calif.

Sir:

Willie Hartack started our Man o' War granddaughter, Bright Fate, to fame, broke her maiden and then the track record for one and one-sixteenth miles at Charles Town in 1954 after other jockeys had failed to bring her home in the money.

Besides Willie's skill and determination, we think he possesses the ability to communicate a sense of excitement and extra determination to the horse.

HAROLD D. MENKEN Upperville, Va.

Spare the Rod?

Sir:

I am not applauding Teacher Gayle Graner [who paddled a card-playing fourth-grader, TIME, Feb. 10], Was it not a school system that insisted on the strictest possible discipline which mass-produced Hitler's hoodlums not so long ago?

DOROTHY BLONDER Hollywood

Sir:

Cheers to Schoolmarm Gayle Graner. Too bad she can't use the same tactics on Roscoe's parents for the audacity of their $2,500 suit.

BARBARA G. COLONEY Charlottesville, Va.

Sir:

In these progressive times, there is another course open to Teacher Graner: she can play poker with eleven-year-old, fourth-grade Roscoe, and see just who beats up whom.

NANCY GLIDDEN THOMSON, M.D. San Francisco

Sir:

When a child in Switzerland would come home crying to mother that the teacher had given him or her a paddling, the chances are nine out of ten that mama would follow up with more of same. I suggest Miss Graner work over Roscoe some more.

FRANK H. STUCKERT Los Angeles

Sir:

I want to thank you for the fine article about me. I appreciated it very much and have had many gratifying letters from many of your readers.

GAYLE GRANER Park Hills, Ky.

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