Lonely but O.K.

Sirs:

"Women" (TIME, Feb. 26) is the most refreshing and encouraging thing I've read in months. Previous to this we all had been led to believe that we were wanton, loose females. . . .

Our women need the encouragement of the people in trying to make the most of a very abnormal situation.

NELDA N. SIEGMUND Greenwich, Conn.

Sirs:

. . . Reading these columns was like looking into a mirror, and many a man will find here the confirmation of what is written between the lines of letters from home. . . .

DOROTHY C. SCHATZ New York City

Sirs:

TRIPE?tripe is the word to characterize your article. . . .

American women come from the same pioneer stock as American men. Any picture of them weeping on the nearest shoulder, exchanging embroidery stitches, mooning and moaning over trivialities is mere fiction.

MARJORIE YOUNG GIFFORD

Chairman

Officers' Wives Club Boston

Sirs:

... I'd like to tell you what 657 officers' wives are doing to fill lonely hours.

We have organized the Minneapolis Army-Navy Officers' Wives Club. . . . There are groups for bridge, skiing, skating, golf, discussion of current events, etc. In fact, there's an activity for every night of the week if one has the stamina! . . .

Of all 657 of us, I don't know of one who is stepping out.

MRS. CLIFTON G. HOLMGREN

Minneapolis

Ehrmantrauts v. Human Race

Sirs:

The enclosed from a letter of a friend of mine casts an interesting sidelight on the Ehrmantrauts' experience (TiME, Feb. 12):

"TIME didn't give the whole story on that farmer who took in those stranded motorists. It seems a family by the name of Ehrmantraut, just outside of Churchville, took in not less than 182 snowbound motorists one night, many of whom were unable to leave until the following afternoon. The Ehrmantrauts served coffee all night and what food was in the house. Some of their furniture got well wrecked and how much do you think was contributed when a hat was passed around? Believe it or not, these rescued wayfarers were so frozen up that the total shakedown reached the grand sum of $27.50. The average was less than 20-c- each. I wonder what the Ehrmantrauts think now about the human race?"

H. WILDER OSBORNE Los Angeles

P: Well, apparently; and TIME hopes it's mutual. Says Mrs. Ehrmantraut: there were 108 motorists; they put $38 in the hat, wrecked only one baby's highchair, already rickety. The ration board supplied 200 extra red points. Last week Mrs. Ehrmantraut received the Good Neighbor Orchid from Blue Network's Hollywood Breakfast Club.?ED.

Matter of Conscience

Sirs:

As members of the conscientious objectors' camp at Germfask, Mich, we would like to comment on your story (TIME, Feb. 19). . . . There is a real news story here. It is the story of the American Government's first experiment with unpaid forced labor. . . .

NICHOLAS MIGLIORINO JOHN LEWIS RICHARD LAZARUS JOHN MENEZES CHRISTIAN H. KEHL Germfask, Mich.

Sirs: . . . With the exception of the C.O.s in three Government camps, the men in Civilian Public Service have paid their own expenses or have been supported by church bodies. . . .

In the main, conscientious objectors serve the Government faithfully and well. . . . More than 2,300 men are caring for the insane or working in training schools for the mentally deficient, serving as orderlies in general hospitals or in public health projects. . . .

Five hundred men have volunteered for medical or scientific experiments, including attempts to find cures for jaundice, pneumonia and malaria and testing various methods for preventing typhus.

JOHN F. RICH Associate Secretary American Friends Service Committee Philadelphia

Sirs:

. . . The Selective Service Act ought to allow these citizens to do some work of national importance outside the U.S. . . . The marines would . . . make useful men out of them. . . .

RICHARD R. DEUPREE JR. Lieut. (j.g.), U.S.N.R. % Fleet Post Office San Francisco

Sirs:

... I do not believe in war as a desirable way to settle international disputes. I recognize the right of conscientious objectors to refuse to bear arms. . . .

However, there is a limit to all things. For . . . the "Tobacco Road Gang" I would suggest ... a parachute and an airplane trip?and let them float gently down onto the soil of Japan. Oregon, Ill. RAYMOND BUKER

Sirs:

The conditions under which men serve in Civilian Public Service camps [justify] protests and reform. The men are not given work of national importance as prescribed by Congress. Although granted a status by law equivalent to that of soldiers, they receive no pay, no dependency allowances, no compensation for injuries. . . .

Selective Service . . . should correct the evils. It could arrange for pay without further legislation. ... It can seek authority from Congress to pay dependency allowances and compensations for injuries.

ROGER N: BALDWIN Director

American Civil Liberties Union New York City fl In both church and government-operated camps, some 9,000 C.O.s receive free food, lodging, work clothes and medical attention, plus a $2.50 to $5 monthly allowance. Though Congress has authorized pay and dependency allowance for C.O.s, it has never appropriated money for the purpose.?ED.

Undertaker's Doorknob

Sirs:

Please send us an undertaker's doorknob (TIME, Jan. 29). No, don't bother; just describe one to us, and tell us where it differs from any other doorknob. . . .

WILLIAM BERG Publisher

Mortuary Management Beverly Hills, Calif.

P: It's on an undertaker's door.?ED.

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