Legend v. Performance

Sir: You are to be commended on your Essay "The Kennedy Legend & The Johnson Performance" [Nov. 26]. It's about time we had a true appraisal of Kennedy's "merit" and Johnson's "deeds." I do feel, however, that the press and television media are responsible for the misjudgments because of their continual praise of the Kennedy image and the Kennedy family.

(MRS.) JEAN KESTEL Rego Park, N.Y.

Sir: Congratulations on your very sensible and tell-it-as-it-is Essay. Kennedy thrilled, stimulated and motivated me. Johnson reminds me of reading a phone book--no character, no plot.

FRED L. MAVES St. Paul

The Greatest?

Sir: Cassius Clay has himself confused with the guy who really is the greatest --Jim Brown [Nov. 26].

NEIL MURRAY Cambridge, Mass.

Sir: I read and thoroughly enjoyed your article on Mr. Football, Jim Brown. One thing does worry me though. If the famous TIME "jinx" holds true, my favorite football player will either sustain a serious injury in the near future or will be the "goat" in the N.F.L. championship game. If any of these things do come to pass, consider my subscription canceled.

JOSEPH A. DURLAK Chicago

That Night

Sir: I challenge those few critics who still differentiate between "literary" and "journalistic" writing to read your Nov. 19 cover story on the big blackout. It's poetic. SISTER MARY ROSELYN, R.S.M. Department of English Mercy College Detroit

Sir: After reading your cover story on the biggest blackout, I, too, feel as if I had spent "that" night in New York.

A. H. LAY Manila, Philippines

Sir: Kudos to you for shedding light on a dark story!

JONATHAN RUSSELL

Syracuse

Sir: After hearing stories of crime, indifference, riots and violence in our largest city, the nation is grateful to read about the general response of the citizens of New York during the great blackout. New Yorkers as a whole have redeemed their city from the impression, created by a few, that they couldn't care less when hoods attack people while their neighbors ignore their cries for help.

DAVID CRAWFORD Pastor

The Presbyterian Church Soda Springs, Idaho

Sir: TIME almost always succeeds in reporting events in correct terminology. But your story on the electrical blackout contained a bit of faulty terminology. You said that "the power output surged from 1,500 mega volts to 2,250." Power output is measured in watts or megawatts (millions of watts), not in megavolts. And anyone with a feel for electric power systems would immediately recognize 1,500 megavolts (1,500,000,000 volts) as an impossibly high voltage in any case. TIME was not alone in having this problem. Your account was more accurate from the standpoint of terminology and general understanding than most of the television coverage and newspaper accounts of the event.

JAMES G. EKSTRAND Operations Manager Consumers Public Power District Lincoln, Neb.

Sir: History does indeed repeat itself. In your account a rescue-team member called out to some people trapped in an elevator in the Empire State Building: "Are there any pregnant women aboard?" and received the well-timed answer: "Why we've hardly even met!"

In Britain, during the blitz, special airraid shelters were created for pregnant women and invalids. One night, an airraid warden called down into the depths of the Piccadilly Circus tube station: "I say, are there any pregnant women there?" Instantly came back your answer: "Gorblimey, guv'nor, give us a chawnce--we've only been here seven minutes!"

T. A. JARVIS Regina, Sask.

Students & Viet Nam

Sir: Your report on student views toward the war in Viet Nam [Nov. 19] is the first balanced reportage on the subject to appear in recent months. American college students have been underestimated by the Fourth Estate. Our experience during the past six months with hundreds of campus groups confirms your report that the vast majority of those with views on the Vietnamese struggle support the American commitment. It is also true that the largest percentage of American students remains uncommitted or undecided. The point is that the very vociferous minority opposing the American commitment has been overpublicized and overemphasized by the American press.

GILBERT JONAS Executive Vice Chairman American Friends of Vietnam New York City

Sir: You did not mention the University of Illinois Blood Crusade. When the drive was completed, 2,125 pints of blood had been collected for U.S. servicemen in Viet Nam. This three-day project stands out as one of the most dramatic efforts of students on any campus.

TOM GIRARD Senior

University of Illinois Urbana, Ill.

Sir: Owing largely to the efforts of an individual student, John Leavitt, Marquette University sent the first telegram to American forces in Viet Nam showing "appreciation for their efforts in fighting for freedom." Within five days, 2,047 students of Marquette, which has a total enrollment of fewer than 13,000, signed the telegram.

JAN OSBERGER Marquette University Milwaukee

Sir: Within a few days of being initiated, a petition supporting the Administration's stand in Southeast Asia had been signed by 1,080 (70%) students at Franklin and Marshall College. Eight members of the student body traveled to Washington to present the petition to Dean Rusk.

ROGER E. SHAMEL '67 Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, Pa.

Sir: Every day I read articles about protests and demonstrations against U.S. policy in Viet Nam. After reading about the Americans' battle at Chu Pong Mountain [Nov. 26], I can honestly say that I would be proud to be an American G.I. in Viet Nam.

ROBERT LANGTRY Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

Sir: Your choice of names in "The Spectrum on Viet Nam" is quite unfortunate. Certainly most of your readers would prefer to look upon themselves as human beings rather than some species of bird. And of the three remaining categories--Viet-nik, apathetic, and pragmatic--there is little question that the last of these is in some sense most desirable. In the light of recent events, it is my feeling that a truly pragmatic man should question the lack of zeal of the State Department in negotiating peaceful settlement in Viet Nam. The "My country, right or wrong" sentiment reflects little in the way of active thought process, much less pragmatism.

BRIAN E. FORST Graduate Student Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y.

St. Louis Arch

Sir: As a St. Louisan who has spent far too little time in that city recently, I thrilled to your magnificent photograph of

The New Spirit of St. Louis," the Gateway Arch [Nov. 19]. The accompanying irticle accurately captured the reviving empo of activity, highlighted by Saarinen's achievement. My only regret is that you failed to acknowledge the author of so much of what is now coming into fruition: ormer Mayor Raymond Tucker. More han anyone else, Mayor Tucker can >roudly point to each new development in he city and claim a lion's share of credit 'or its conception and growth.

JAMES S. GOLDEN Washington, D.C.

Amerikantsy

Sir: Re your Nov. 12 Letter from the Publisher: the accompanying picture entitled "Russians at TLI Advertising Presentations" may be misleading to some of your readers. In order to assure friends at home that we have not defected, it should be pointed out that three of the more attentive "Russians" in the photo are in fact Counselor for Economic Affairs Abraham Katz, Second Secretary James M. Ealum, and Second Secretary Gifford D. M alone, all of the American embassy in Moscow.

JAMES M. EALUM Second Secretary of Embassy Moscow

Vote Getters

Sir: In connection with the off-repeated but incorrect statement that Congressman John V. Lindsay won by the biggest margin of any Republican in the 1964 Goldwater debacle, the record should show that Congressman Alphonzo E. Bell Jr., Republican incumbent in California's 28th District, won in 1964--against the statewide tide--by 97,621 votes as compared to Lindsay's margin of 91,274. I believe this is the largest winning margin of any GOP Congressman in the country. TIME did, however, amend the record correctly by indicating that Lindsay's 71.5% [TIME cover, Nov. 12] topped Bell's 65.5%.

HOWARD SEELYE Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.

Rhodesian Independence

Sir: What makes the British government reluctant to use force in Southern Rhodesia [Nov. 5 et seq.]? Did it not do so in British Guiana to displace the government of Cheddi Jagan? Did it not use force in Suez? Did it not rush British soldiers to bolster King Hussein when the Iraqi revolution toppled the monarchy in that country? Does it use force only against nonwhites?

GERALD WICKREMESOORIYA Colombo, Ceylon

Selective Giving

Sir: Your story "The Price of Conviction," [Nov. 19], by citing only instances of the withholding of funds because of the "Churches' strong commitment to civil rights," obscures the fact that selective giving is being practiced by increasing numbers of individuals and congregations because of the increasing participation by high-ranking prelates in purely partisan politics--e.g., admission of Red China to U.N., conduct of the war in Viet Nam, the reapportionment amendment, repeal of 14-B of Taft-Hartley. The civil rights issue is used by some as a smokescreen to justify these actions, and to condemn as bigots those who oppose them; it is as inaccurate to attribute all "selective giving" incidents to any proper civil rights issue as it is to attribute none to it; failure of ranking prelates--or TIME--to recognize the distinction over the long run will be far more divisive than the civil rights issue itself, which probably will moderate or disappear in time.

R. CLYDE HARGROVE Shreveport, La.

Spring Thaw

Sir: Your note on "The Loved One" [Nov. 19] reminded me of an amusing story that leaked out of Russia shortly after Lenin's death. According to the story, while excavation for the foundations of the mausoleum was going on, some sewer pipes were damaged. It was winter at the time, and the leaking fluid froze instantly, sealing the leak. When the spring thaw came, frost melted, and the sewage flooded the tomb, body and all. By the time it was rescued, it was beyond repair, and the only thing to do was to replace it with a wax figure.

To mark the occasion, the witty Muscovites coined the following lyric:

Perished unrecognized messiah,

Under the guns' and mortars' din.

Ungrateful Mother Russia,

To him erected a latrine.

The song, though it was not encouraged by the authorities, was quite popular nevertheless.

STANISLAW KOWNACKI Los Gatos, Calif.

Song Sleuth

Sir: Sigmund Spaeth, the "Tune Detective" [Nov. 19], was always a favorite of mine when I was a child, so I remember many of his musical conclusions. Actually, deduced that Yes, We Have No Bananas came not only from the Hallelujah Chorus, but also from a variety of old songs, viz. :

Yes, we have no (bananas)--"Hallelujah!" We have no bananas today--"Oh, bring

back my Bonnie to me"; We have string beans, and onions--"I dreamt I dwelled in marble halls"; We have Long Island tomatoes--"I was

seeing Nellie home";

Rhode Island potatoes--"In an old-fashioned garden";

So . . . Yes we have no--"Hallelujah!" We have no bananas, today. "Oh, bring

back my Bonnie to me." According to Mr. Spaeth's deduction, the only original notes that came from the songwriter were the three that carried banana!

MRS. KENNETH BREEZE Glenside, Pa.

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