The Good Life

Sir:

I would like to give a word of hope to college graduates of '49 [TIME, June 6] ...

We have been married less than ten years, have three healthy, intelligent children, a city home furnished and paid for, a car, and have just bought a country place with 15 acres of land--fishing and swimming available--which should be paid for within five years; and we have done this on less than $5,000 a year (we could have made more but we want time to enjoy the good life . . .).

Of course I don't own a pair of stockings to my name, my husband has sometimes had only one pair of threadbare trousers, but we have always had meat every day, plenty of eggs, milk, and real butter to eat, and TIME to read.

MRS. A. PETER EMIG Houston, Texas

Subjective Sunset

Sir:

Re Horse-Painter Munnings and Subjective-Artist Matisse [TIME, May 23]:

Suppose we have a dog who is a subjective artist. He is greatly moved by a sunset and transfers his emotion to paper in the form of a vague line which to him means the father and mother of all bones. This interpretation of the sunset is strictly subjective; it does not attract and may repel non-dogs who do not share the artist's experience and digestive system.

Subjective art is imperialism; the painter insists that everyone's reaction should be the same as his--a childish piece of egotism. The objective artist is democratic; he keeps his personality out of it. He does not say: "This is what I saw." He says: "This is what was to be seen."

SAM O'DONNELL Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland

Democratic Wrangling

Sir:

Midst the myriad of brickbats flying in the direction of the various Armed Forces [TIME, June 6], may I toss one tiny little rose?

It seems to me that the interservice wrangling is a healthy democratic sign. We taxpayers should be pleased that our Armed Forces are fighting for the privilege of giving us what they think is the best possible protection. We will have to start worrying about defense ourselves when the branches of our Armed Forces stop worrying for us.

F. GERARD WILKIN Jackson Heights, N.Y.

No Pork in Perkins Cove

Sir:

Senator Paul Douglas is justified in attacking the "pork barrel," but he picked a poor example. "Dramatically he whipped out a Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass and mockingly searched over a map of Maine for the Josias River, which was listed in the bill for a $33,000 dredging project. He couldn't find it" [TIME, May 30].

The story of the $33,000 is more dramatic than Senator Douglas, for it portrays the old Yankee doggedness that built New England. For ten generations the fishermen of Ogunquit and Perkins Cove (as the Josias River vicinity is known) had no harbor, and were forced to drag their boats over the rocks to safety during storms. Need for a sheltered basin grew as the fishing industry expanded.

Shortly before World War II, the Army Engineers approved a project calling for dredging a four-acre swamp in the river. The congressional bill to provide the necessary $33,000 was vetoed. Thereupon a majority of the voters, some 200, gathered at the Fire Station and decided to build the harbor themselves, and to date they have spent over $40,000 on it. The Coast Guard used the harbor as a wartime base for patrol craft, and there is an active Coast Guard auxiliary unit there today.

Ogunquit . . . urgently needs help in enlarging and maintaining this useful monument to Yankee spirit that the Government sees fit to use but will not contribute to . . .

DAVID STRATER York, Me.

A Coyote in the Canyon

Sir:

Professor Dobie's The Voice of the Coyote, which was reviewed in TIME, May 16, might cause some people to write their Congressmen and demand that the Fish & Wildlife Service stop killing coyotes.

I'll agree with Professor Dobie that the coyote is one of the most interesting of animals. He is a natural as a "story-maker." A friend of mine in Colorado saw a coyote trot boldly into his farmyard in broad daylight, whereupon his big collie gave chase, was ambushed by two accomplices of the decoy, and killed by the three of them within 200 yards of the house.

Just last week a lion hunter in the Verde Valley told about a young coyote that joined up with his pack of hounds in a lion hunt. When one old hound got a bellyful of such impudence, he turned on the interloper and chased him into the bottom of the canyon. Shortly after the old hound had rejoined the hunt, the young coyote was on his tail again, thus proving that he was set on learning the trade, and he knew that he could learn more from an old experienced dog than from a young pup.

He is a smart varmint, but I can't share the professor's love for him. The Western ranges have to carry several million head of cattle and sheep as well as antelope, deer and elk. We simply don't have enough grass to produce meat for America, ERP, and the coyotes that range all over the West . . . J. McK. PARDEE Secretary

Gila Game Protective Association Miami, Ariz.

S-F for Dreams

Sir:

May I congratulate you on your recognition of science fiction in your review of A Martian Odyssey [TIME, May 30] ? It is seldom that an S-F book receives mention in publications not exclusively devoted to this field, even though interest in science fiction has been increasing at a rapid rate . . .

But as ... for dreaming . . .' remember that almost all modern inventions, including radio, television, the atomic bomb, airplanes, autos, etc. were once dreams . . . Science fiction is where many scientists and engineers dream ... If an engineer, for example, has an idea which does not, at the moment, seem practical, he can write a story about it. Someone else, reading the story, might contribute a further step in the realization of the dream. But if that same engineer should write the "impossible" idea into a technical article, it probably would not be published, and if published, might mean his professional ruin . . . Louis E. GARNER JR. President

Washington Science-Fiction Assn. Washington, B.C.

Funk Footnote

Sir:

YOUR ATTENTION CALLED TO ERROR IN FOOTNOTE [TIME, MAY 23]. FUNK BROTHERS SEED

COMPANY OF BLOOMINGTON, ILL., WHICH HAS BEEN PRODUCING AND SELLING HYBRID SEED CORN SINCE 1916, IS WITH ITS ASSOCIATE GROWERS ONE OF THREE LARGEST AND IS THE OLDEST HYBRID SEED CORN COMPANY IN THE U.S. EDWARD J. FUNK & SONS OF KENTLAND, IND. IS NOT CONNECTED IN ANY WAY WITH THIS FIRM . . .

EUGENE D. FUNK

President

Funk Brothers Seed Co. Bloomington, Ill.

P: A seedy footnote indeed.--ED.

Stopped Cold

Sir:

In his weekly and serious perusal of your admirable publication, my 21-month-old son has posed his first unanswerable question. His face a study in bewilderment, he pointed earnestly to the sculptured blobs in TIME'S May 30 Art section.

Obviously, he wanted me to tell him what they were, and, just as obviously, I was stopped cold--especially by that Cello Player.

ELINORE KOMAR

Chicago, Ill.

Sir:

Frequently I have noticed the inaccuracy with which many of our present-day artists name their creations . . . For example: David Smith's Cello Player. Would not Untidy Disposal of Scrap Metal be much better? . . .

You mention that Cello Player is the work of a onetime welder. If Mr. Smith was a good welder it is unfortunate that he did not stick to it. However . . . they probably had a lot of trouble with him welding the wrong things on in the wrong places . . .

Muskogee, Okla. HUGH A. WHITE

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