U. S. Newshawks in Chile
Sirs:
Recently the local papers heralded the coming of three prominent newspaper men--Leo Kieran, W. Morehouse and Van Deusen.--
We, of the American colony here in Santiago, looked forward with pride to this, for we anticipated a visit of three men whom we could call countrymen --our own people. The most of us had not heard of these men before, but they represented well known periodicals from home. We knew not the object of their visit, but felt it must be one of importance to Chile, and we so talked to our Chilean friends and associates. Our humiliation and disgrace was complete. . . . Their insults and . . . actions in and about their hotel leaves a trail impossible to eradicate. God help us if American newspaper men number many in this class. . . . British, French, Italian and German representatives act quite in the opposite manner, and these are the people with whom we are competing for Chilean business. . . .
D. A. HATHAWAY
Santiago, Chile
Burial at Night
Sirs:
Your report of the midnight burial in Kansas City has made me change my will. Old folks like me aren't much to look at any way and I have written, "Just close the coffin and put me down in the ground quietly without anyone having to see more than necessary of this sadness." Death is going to be mysterious, I know, and if my friends are afraid to follow me to a graveyard at night I don't want them there, I'll go it alone. For anyone who does care to go, it ought to make my passing more impersonal and happy. I'm surprised people haven't thought of this idea long ago and am grateful to TIME for having brought it to my thoughts.
STANLEY L. ROBINSON
St. Louis, Mo.
Sirs:
Far too many people have never stopped to consider whether or not they wish to be buried at night. I am glad to see the subject receive its merited place in TIME (April 27). It may interest you to know that on my father's side we have all been buried at night for the past four generations.
Personally, however, I feel that I shall break this family tradition. To me, and I have given the matter much thought, the moment when the sun sinks below the horizon is the right moment. What do others think?
It may interest you to know that my little daughter Doris was born precisely at dawn. If she should be buried at sunset I think that would be beautiful and appropriate. In fact it was her birth that set me thinking.
JOHN WILLIAMS
Philadelphia, Pa.
Sirs:
Christ was buried at night, so the Omaha mortician who put away the remains of Franklyn R. Rees after dark had excellent authority for his ceremony (TIME, April 27). Matthew records (XXVIII-57) that the "even was come" when Joseph of Arimathaea begged the body of Jesus from Pilate, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb. John records (XIX-39) that Nicodemus came to the body of Jesus ''by night" with myrrh and aloes and only thereafter was it buried in the sepulchre.
Despite this supreme precedent of night burials, I doubt if the custom would ever become popular in the U. S. Of course, it has its advantages: a convenient hour when friends can come without missing their work, a dark privacy for personal grief, a hushed solemnity. But are not pomp and ostentation an integral part of most funerals and is not daylight necessary to parade their magnificence? The Negroes of the South who take long days from their field and house work to commit their dead amid lugubrious festivities are not radically different from their white masters in this respect. For both, a burial is a show which the night would shroud and destroy. To most of us the earth is black enough already without darkening the sun on our last journey.
H. K. ARTKINSON
Savannah, Ga.
Canned Rattlesnake
Sirs:
The time I have devoted to TIME as a subscriber, reader for many years encourages me to believe that its editors are not victims of that most common and unfair prejudice which would cause them to frown upon the item of novel interest I am submitting.
The prejudice referred to is the almost universal antipathy of editors to reptilian news.
The clippings enclosed will give you the gist of the matter referred to. The interest is not in the fact that rattlesnake was the piece de resistance at a dinner enjoyed by a party of Legion Hairs'' but that this rattlesnake was put up preserved in commercial tin cans. As one of the articles states, this is the debut of a new industry for the utilization of one of Florida's unique natural resources. The writer believes that he is the pioneer in this phase of the canning industry. One thing more, not covered in the articles --most of the guests at the Tampa dinner passed their plates for second helpings of rattlesnake. Furthermore they all knew what they were eating inasmuch as the writer at the beginning of the feast presented the photo [see cut] of the particular monster sacrificed to the cannery. . . .
GEORGE KENNETH END
Arcadia, Fla.
The rattlesnake steaks were served on toast, garnished with lettuce. The flesh resembled salmon. Reported the "Gulf Gleam" column of the Tampa Tribune: "We thought our comrades must have been bitten by a bottle of Tampa liquor and were taking the rattlesnake as antidote."
Frogs in Cream
Sirs:
I wonder if all our English visitors must recite that carry on tale about the frogs in the cream vat and the pat of butter. Here Cosmo Hamilton repeats it (TIME, May 4). I heard that English-Aesop fable delivered during the War by an English clergyman spouting to the Catholic Actors Guild. But the reverend gentleman said the two that hopped into the cream were mice, not frogs. A frog wouldn't die in cream, would he or she? Unless she or he ate till he or she sank? A mouse would drown.
WILL W. WHALEN
Orrtanna, Pa.
Discontinued: Prosperity
Sirs:
I am enclosing a paragraph from today's News & Observer which I thought might interest you.
(EDITOR) JOSEPHUS DANIELS
The News & Observer Raleigh, N. C.
Excerpt from arch-Democratic Editor Daniels' paragraph:
"The Postal Bulletin, issued under direction of the Postmaster General, in its latest issue contains the following: "Discontinued--Fourth Class
"NORTH CAROLINA Prosperity. Moore County, 18407. "Effective Apr. 30, 1931. Mail to Hishfalls."
--ED.
Paul Bunyan's Cornstalk
Sirs:
In your issue of April 20, p. 17, under heading "Fall of Michigan," you state that when this tree crashed some of the pieces were hurled 500 yards. Some trees! Some crash--to hurl pieces of the tree more than a quarter of a mile!
Are you sure this was a sequoia tree and not a sprout from Paul Bunyan's famous cornstalk whose top, when it was cut, whistled through the air for six weeks before it hit the ground?
JAMES B. HENDRYX
Suttons Bay, Mich.
TIME took the word of honest Californians that pieces of "Michigan" flew 500 yards. ED.
Albert at Annapolis
Sirs:
TIME issue of April 27, p. 62, reports interestingly about Japanese Prince Takamatsu's visit to the U. S. Naval Academy* amnesty for refractory midshipmen* "First time in the history of the U. S. Navy."WRONG, TIME! When benevolent, generous Albert, King of the Belgians, visited the U. S. after the World War, he requested that the Academy's strict regulations of punishment be set aside the day he reviewed the regiment of middies. Several hundred Navy alumni, many TIME readers, remember joyfully King Albert's thoughtfulness.
KENER E. BOND Middletown, N. Y.
Touring Hosei
Sirs:
Your articles on Japanese baseball in TIME, April 6 and April 27 very interesting. At the present time, Hosei University, 1931 Champions of Japan, are touring the U. S. playing the leading colleges and universities, having games scheduled with Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, Washington, Luther, Navy, Pennsylvania, Fordham, Holy Cross, Boston, Yale and Harvard, and several others.
The Hosei Nine are a formidable aggregation of individual stars and are clean cut, aggressive young players that do honor to their nation. With such international competition annually, there would be little need for outstanding diplomats, as these "messengers of good will" do more to establish friendly relations and better understanding between the common people of their nations than any number of letters of state or diplomatic visits. . . .
LEON K. KNIGHT
Decorah, Iowa
Last fortnight at Ann Arbor, Mich., the score stood 5 to 0 in Hosei's favor after the fourth inning. Came seven Hosei errors and the University of Michigan won the game 12 to 5.-- ED.
Soul of a Spaniard
Sirs:
In your April 27 issue of TIME, p. 27, under heading of "Church and Land," you state that 99% of the people of Spain owe spiritual allegiance to ROME. This is in its essence incorrect. Spanish women are devout Catholics, and while it is true that the Spaniard lives against a background of eternity and his outlook is more religious than philosophic, spiritual allegiance is a patrimony of the soul, and the soul of a Spaniard belongs to God alone.
While the Spanish people feel respect and deference for spiritual orders, they have no use for church politics, always considered the Papal Nuncio in Madrid as an intruder and the clericalism of the Crown was what caused the rapid spread of liberalism and the consequent overthrow of the Monarchy.
PETER BORRAS Host
Restaurant Madrillon Washington, D. C.
Equipment
Sirs:
The enclosed marker is placed on the spot where B. Young's house stood and his birthplace. It is in the town of Whitingham, Vt. This town is in the southern part of Vermont. . . .
C. E. WHITE Shelburne Falls, Mass.
The inscription on the marker: "Brigham Young, Born on This Spot 1801, a Man of Much Courage and Superb Equipment.--ED.
*Of the New York Times, New York Sun, Pan American Airways Inc., respectively.--ED.
/-Error. It was in Omaha, well before midnight.--ED.
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