Malingerer

Sirs: Is TIME a sawmill; does knowledge come in aw logs, and do all the skidroads lead to TIME/ As a taxpayer and a centre of knowledge is TIME interested in the following?

I enlisted in the Army in June, 1928, served wo years, was discharged by purchase. Hall of my time in the Army, approximately, was served n post guardhouses at Ft. Logan, Kelly Field, Rockwell Field. Just before my last court-nartial my defense counsel, Lieut. Xissley, told me that I had been more expense to the Army, due to court-martials, etc., than I could ever repay, even though I should serve the Army 30 -ears. Yet, by reason of my service, I am entitled to this privilege: board, room, clothing, complete medical and hospital service the rest of my ife--which I hope to extend through the rest of this century. By malingering was I admitted twice to this Soldiers' Home. By malingering I can stay. Three times already have 1 malingered through medical examinations. My symptoms were entirely subjective, actually nonexistent. This will give you an idea as to how "Uncle Shylock" gives the Dole. There are thousands who, in addition to the above, get compensation and pensions--by malingering. Thousands like me, young, healthy, have run on to this simple solution of living without working. Of course, being a wise old Uncle, he gives the dole to his fighting men. Perhaps we are a part of his standing army. When I think of the Deficit and Mr. Hoover's problems and the thoughtless waste of money on the undeserving, and the waste that goes on of materials in government kitchens, etc., the excessive personnel, I wonder how it can be. It is astonishing. The mess hall is accessible to outsiders, little or no check-up being made on those who come in to eat. . . . This looks like disloyalty to those who have acted in my interest instead of the taxpayers. But I have no sense of loyalty to persons. There is an outside loudspeaker in the home grounds. (We get free entertainment, too: radio, theatre, movies.) Each Friday when the "March of Time" comes on, a hush falls over the crowd of listeners. They like it. Last night at the Home Theatre, two comedians came on the stage, one a Democrat, one a Republican. The boys interrupted their dialog to cheer loud & long--for the Democrat. J. F. WALTON

National Military Home, Calif.

Youngest Congressman

Sirs:

In TIME for Jan. 4, you state that Representative Clarence John McLeod, of Michigan, is the youngest man ever elected to the House of Representatives. Someone has imposed on you.

William Charles Cole Claiborne, Representative from Tennessee, was born in 1775; elected to the House in 1797; re-elected in 1798-It can be seen that he was only 22 when first elected; just barely 26 when he went out of office in 1801.

John Young Brown, of Kentucky, born June 28, 1835; elected to the House in 1858. He was not old enough to be sworn into office until June 28, 1860. Compared to these two men, Mr. McLeod is an old, old man.

E. E. PATTON

Knoxville, Tenn.

In Who's Who in America Congressman McLeod writes of himself: "The youngest man ever elected to Congress up to that time ." William Charles Coles Claiborne (1775-1817) was elected to fill out the term of Andrew Jackson. The Journal of Congress reports: "Oath to support the Constitution was administered him by Mr. Speaker [Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey] Nov. 23, 1797, in the city of Philadelphia." No official explanation is made as to how Claiborne, three years under the Constitutional age, was permitted to take his seat. Ansel Wold, compiler of the Biographical Directory of the American Congress, last week announced that he would reinvestigate Claiborne's birth date in Virginia, amend the Directory's next issue to read that Claiborne's service "was in contravention to the Constitution of the United States." John Young Brown took his seat Dec. 3. 1860, the second session of the 36th Congress, when he was 25 years, five months, five days old. Clarence John McLeod took his seat in the 66th when he was 25 years, five months, three days.--ED.

Phelps A Failure

Sirs:

Your usually accurate statements were inaccurate, when, in your issue of Jan. 4 you said that when I was asked, as a director of the Broadway Bank in New Haven, for my personal note, I refused and resigned. I could not have refused, for I received no request, no suggestion, no intimation, for my note or signature. I had resigned as a director some months before any difficulties connected with the Bank had appeared. And I still possess all the stock I owned.

WM. LYON PHELPS

New Haven, Conn.

Heartwarming

Sirs:

An unfriendly attack of bronchitis, following the strenuous weeks culminating in the formal dedication and opening of the new Oriental Institute building here at the University of Chicago (TIME, Dec. 14), has delayed this expression of real appreciation of the generous space and friendly treatment accorded to the foregoing occasion by that remarkable monument to your own indefatigable energies and vision, TIME.

Orientalistic, or indeed any humanistic researches are perforce so remote from the American scene as to leave their participants with a feeling of isolation and loneliness from which it is heartwarming to be suddenly recalled by such cordial tributes as that in TIME. Please accept my sincerest thanks. . . .

JAMES H. BREASTED

Oriental Institute University of Chicago Chicago, 111.

Different Advts.

Sirs: Ordinarily I don't pay much attention to advertising and I don't suppose anyone ever writes to an advertiser to tell him he likes his advertising. I write now because, after reading with so much enjoyment so many of the ads in your Dec. 14 issue, I have decided they are a different kind of ads. I, for example, never heard before of one magazine paying money to another to advertise itself and the magazine in which it is advertising--i mean the New Yorker's clever ad. And the Stutz ad is revolutionary, with its headline, "No General Excitement Was Caused By Our Announcing 3 New Stutz Lines." Also excellent is the Real Silk Go.'s series of ads written by famed writers. The descriptive message in Guerlain's (perfumery) is horrible, but the striking color illustration more than redeems it. ...

RICHARD GEORGESON

Boston, Mass.

"Particklar"

Sirs:

TIME of Nov. 2 arrived today. Read with interest your reply to Reader Jones answering his curiosity as to where Gandhi secretes his dollar watch. Verily, TIME knows all things. Enjoyed the annihilating completeness of the data given. No doubt was left that the watch was not in Gandhi's hair, nor in his socks, nor up his sleeve, but safety-pinned securely to his No. i shawl. The only fault I found with the reply was that you did not state whether the watch was worn on his right side or on his left, as this would affect its timekeeping qualities. It may be news to your readers (perhaps not to TIME) that an unjeweled watch (such as the "dollar" kind) will go fast in the morning if worn on the right side and slow in the afternoon if worn on the left side. . . . Temperature.

Your reply to Inquisitor Jones reminds me of a shark story. A windjammer sailor was telling a yarn of how, when his ship was becalmed in the Indian Ocean, he went in swimming stark naked and was attacked by a shark, whereupon "he whipped out a knife and disemboweled the man-killer." One of his hearers wanted to know how it was, if he were stark naked, that he could whip out a knife, and the old salt's reply may be passed on to TIME'S interlocutors: "Oh, you don't hafta be so darned particklar!"

ED. GALLAHER

Olongapo, Philippine Islands

Mr. Gandhi wears his watch slightly to the left.--ED.

So Ding-dong

Sirs:

Will you kindly explain why Chinamen of high standing are referred to as Mr. So Dingdong? Also, why do they adopt such un-Chinese names as George, Eugene, etc.?

A. 0. AMBROZ

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

If John Henry Smith were a Chinese name it would be written Smith John- Henry, the reason being that Chinese consider a man's family name more important than his given names and therefore write it first. Mr. Chen Yu-jen, famed Cantonese statesman, thinks that Yu-jen (his given names) sound exactly like Eugene. He therefore urges the Occidental press to call him "Eugene Chen" which it gladly does.--ED.

Dead Doyle, Live Lodge

Sirs:

One of the keenest of magazine editors questioned a piece of our copy with "But isn't Sir Oliver Lodge dead?" Dead? When? Oh, six months or more. Our face was red and with faint hope we passed the question around the office Invariably the answer was a quick "Yes, and invariably followed a pause and a qualification "Well, now--Doyle is dead, that's certain. So we took to the telephone, late in the afternoon A press association, the British Library of Information, the British Consulate, one after another, said, "Yes," hesitated, qualified: Maybe we're thinking of Doyle"--and asked us to call in the morning. Well, we found out. This suggests a TiMEly test which TIME readers might enjoy. The perfect score is made when four out of five answer: "Doyle is dead." And in the meantime, TIME, without going to your files, is Sir Oliver Lodge dead or alive?

HAROLD MATSON

President

Beacon Syndicate

New York City

As every TIME-reader should know, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died, aged 71, in July, 1930 (TIME, July 14, 1930), whereas Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge. 80, was alive and alert enough last July to felicitate Nikola Tesla on the latter's 75th birthday (TIME, July 20), has not died since.--ED.

Deja's Dance

Sirs:

In a December issue you have the statement "unauthorized groups have used the name of 'Wigman' in Boston, Cleveland, and Seattle" (TIME, Dec. 7). Since we are the only Seattle group who have used the name of Wigman in any way it is not surprising that we take exception to this statement. . . .

Dancers have a great interest in the Wigman School and it is very damaging to our School for the opinion to get abroad that we are misrepresenting Miss Lore Deja. . . .

Feeling sure that you have no desire to make a misstatement in this matter, we will appreciate it very much indeed if you will correct the error.

NELLIE C. CORNISH Director

The Cornish School Seattle, Wash.

TIME was misinformed. Lore Deja's dancing instruction is authorized by a diploma from Mary Wigman's school.-- ED.

Ampersand

Sirs: I have lived a half-century without ever knowing that dingus--"&"--was called the ampersand! (TIME, Dec. 14.) Wasn't there a famous & fashionable hotel in the Adirondacks by that name? If so, perhaps some of your readers might know who gave it that name & why. R. H. JOHN

Bronxville, N. Y.

Famed & fashionable in Franklin County, N. Y. was the old Ampersand Hotel, built in 1888, razed by fire in 1907. Today on Lower Saranac Lake stands a new Hotel Ampersand. The name is taken from an Ampersand Mountain, an Ampersand Lake, an Ampersand Brook, probably a corruption of "amber sand" on the lake shore rather than a learned comparison between the brook's crookedness and &. --ED.

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