Epitaphs
Sir:
Your article "The Passing of McCarthy" [May 13] was well written, well documented and objective. His last years must have been like those of Boyle and Joxer Daly, those other two friends of John Barleycorn in Juno and the Paycock. They, too, saw "the whole worl's in a state o' chassis."
CLAUDE DE CRESPIGNY Houston
SIR:
AMERICA LOST ONE OF HER HEROES, WHO WAS CRUCIFIED ON A STONY PATCH OF BIGOTRY AND POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY. GOD REST HIS SOUL. JAMES A. BOULES PASADENA, CALIF.
Sir:
Joe McCarthy's friends will not like your story of his passing. Never a friend of McCarthy, neither did I. "Have you left no sense of decency?"
JANE A. HAMM
Shaker Heights, Ohio
Sir:
After the maudlin sentimentality with which our newspapers treated the demise of a man who occupied one of our Senate seats for eleven years, TIME'S account was like a breath of fresh, clean air.
N. J. NICHOLS Milwaukee
SIR:
A DAY OF RECKONING COMES FOR EVERY MAN. NATURALLY, JOE'S CAME EARLY.
WILLIAM D. HARRINGTON JR. LINCOLN, MASS.
Sir:
Senator Joseph McCarthy has just performed his greatest public service.
J. N. JENSEN San Leandro, Calif.
Sir:
I sincerely hope that the vilifiers and detractors of Senator McCarthy have as few mistakes to answer to God for as Joe has. EDWARD CLARKE The Bronx, N.Y.
Middle East Maelstrom
Sir:
That King Hussein cover [May 6] was the best TIME has used since I forget when.
ROBERT H. KILLWYN Los Angeles
Sir:
For the first time I can now say that I understand what is really going on in the Middle East.
EDITH L. NORTON Findlay, Ohio
Sir:
I am happy that King Hussein has apparently thwarted the Egyptian-Syrian plot against him. Let us hope that Hussein's new-found power does not go to his head.
JOHN NEUFELD Detroit
Sir:
Your insistence on accusing Egypt of being a pro-Communist country, which is not true, will move Egypt closer to the Soviets. Egypt is pro-itself.
MUSTAFA EL-RIFAI
Norman, Okla.
Hidden Treasures
Sir:
Highly appreciative of your fine article in the May 6 issue on ''Masterpieces of Chinese Art," and especially of the reproduction of Cowherd, I am prompted to send you the following quotation from a poem by Tu Fu (712 to 770 A.D.) concerning Han Kan, the T'ang Dynasty painter of Cowherd. The poem, A Song of a Painting (in my English version* from the literal English text of Kiang Kang-hu), is addressed to General Ts'ao, who was a painter of war horses preceding Han Kan. Tu Fu, easily one of China's greatest poets, would apparently not have agreed with your estimate of Han Kan as being "China's greatest painter of horses":
. . . Han Kan, your follower, has likewise
grown proficient
At representing horses in all their attitudes; But picturing the flesh, he fails to draw
the bone--So that even the finest are deprived of
their spirit. You, beyond the mere skill, used your
art divinely--And expressed, not only horses, but the
life of a good man . . . Yet here you are, wandering in a world
of disorder And sketching from time to time some
petty passerby.
*The Jade Mountain, an anthology of T'ang Dynasty poetry, translated by Poet Bynner from the texts of Kiang Kang-hu.
People note your case with the whites
of their eyes. There's nobody purer, there's nobody
poorer. . . . Read in the records, from earliest
times, How hard it is to be a great artist.
WITTER BYNNER Santa Fe", N.Mex.
Sir:
Thanks a million yuan for "Masterpieces of Chinese Art." The reproductions were on marvelous paper that will hold up well in my collection of art clippings from TIME & LIFE.
MARTIN RIES New York City
Sir:
I have never seen such exquisite paintings in my life, especially the one entitled Mist in Wooded Mountains. How I would love to have one like that to cover one wall of my living room.
EMMA J. JONIS
Taunton, Mass.
Fallout
Sir:
Concerning the article on "The Peril of Strontium 90" [May 6], I feel very strongly that we should heed Dr. Schweitzer's warning.
If our world remains uncontaminated by radiation (or is it too late for that?), there is always the possibility of making peace with our enemies. But you can't make peace with a world infiltrated with fallout.
EMMA W. RENNER Ambler, Pa.
Sir:
Thank you for the tranquilizer prescribed by gentle Dr. Libby. It is a vast relief to know that we may dismiss from our minds the fears that have haunted Dr. Schweitzer. Surely it is needless to face fearful facts when playing ostrich is so much more comforting.
MARJORIE M. MACBAIN
Elm Grove, Wis.
Sir:
Libby's deductions are unsound, untrue and dangerous. Our H-bomb testing is matched by Russia's, and so the race goes on, and will and must lead to war, i.e., to a destruction of our civilization.
T. W. GARVE
Columbus, Ohio
Good Company
Sir:
I think St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Writer Rufus Terral [who parodied President Eisenhower's mixed metaphors--TIME, April 2 2.] should know that Ike is in good company. In Hamlet we find Shakespeare writing: "Take arms against a sea of troubles."
R. J. SANDERS Winnipeg, Man.
Sir:
Give me a man who has the courage of his convictions no matter how they are expressed--and I mean Mr. Eisenhower.
MRS. H. L. CUNNINGHAM Honolulu, T.H.
Jackson's Aide
Sir:
The great painting of The Last Meeting of Lee tind Jackson, appearing in the book section [ May 6], belongs to the estate of the late Colonel J. B. Sinnott, C.S.A., an aide and bodyguard of General Stonewall Jackson.
Colonel Sinnott, beardless, is depicted in the painting as the youngest of the three escort horsemen in the background. The colonel was riding next to the general when Jackson was accidentally shot, and was the one who went for the doctor.
J. B. SINNOTT III New Orleans
P: For the portrait of Reader Sinnott's grandfather, see cut.--ED.
Jingle Jangle
Sir:
In your story on singing commercials
[May 6] you stated that the White Owl
Cigars' commercial, using Composer Loesser's
music from The Most Happy Fella, "sold not
only White Owls but tickets to the show."
In Florida some of us are unappreciative of the finer things. We detest Mr. Weede and company and all colors of owls. I take sadistic pleasure in turning off the sound.
C. C. CASH Orlando, Fla.
Sir:
Frank Productions would seem to be a misnomer for a jingle firm. The name Loesser Productions would be more appropriate.
BOB McCuRDY East Lansing, Mich.
Advice to Americans
Sir:
Mr. Coulter [who characterized Americans as money-mad neurotics--TIME, April 29] is typical of those incredibly stupid people who are so vocal in England. It is to the Americans' credit that they show continued tolerance in the face of articles full of half-truths, designed for the consumption of a section of the unthinking British public.
D. TOMLINSON Sydney, Australia
Sir:
The writers of articles criticizing Americans remind me of an excerpt from Aesop's tale of "The Fox and the Grapes." The moral of this tale is that there are many who pretend to despise what is beyond their reach. NORBERTA FULLAN Andover, England
Sir:
Develop more calluses, my brothers.
D. M. Parkway Village, N.Y.
Eyes on Texas
Sir:
Your factual reporting of the relative kinds of justice meted out to white people and Negroes in the South [May 6] just took my breath away. How, in the name of Heaven, can these two trials and verdicts be reconciled under the same system of justice?
WM. H. McCoRMiCK The DEW Line, Canada
Sir:
I must express my resentment. Texas is not the only state which has had integration troubles. While I do not condone a mistrial such as was given Ross, do not judge all of Texas by it.
JIM HIGGINS Santa Ana, Calif.
Sir:
The U.S. can never impress the Asians with overtures of friendship or fully gain their confidence as long as it has the odor of racial segregation in its own backyard.
C. JOHN
Lyallpur, Pakistan
Sir:
You have reported Texas' shortcomings ably and well. Don't forget to mention State Senators Kazen and Gonzalez, two Texans who are not afraid to speak out against discrimination.
BOB AVERITT Austin, Texas
P:For news of Senators Kazen and Gonzalez, see TIME, May 13.--ED.
Sir:
The "Eyes of Texas" should check with their optometrists.
A. E. WOODS Sarasota, Fla.
Sir:
As a white, native-born Marylander, the "mighty and glorious" State of Texas suddenly seems very, very small.
EUGENE P. MILEWSKI Baltimore
Sir:
As a 20-year citizen of the Lone-Star State, I wish to report that your article makes the word "Texan" stick in my throat.
HOWARD D. COLE Houston
The Structure of Faith
Sir:
The warning by the Rev. John E. Kelly that Roman Catholics should not hear Billy Graham's preaching [TIME, May 6] sounds like an expression of fear rather than of confidence. Could he be trying to do the thinking for his constituency ?
ALBERT W. HUYCK JR. Pamplico, S.C.
Sir:
Roman Catholics who are instructed in their faith have neither need nor desire for Graham's revival meetings. They would stay away more from fear of boredom than because of any ecclesiastical prohibition.
FRED D. CHAMBERLIN Madison, Wis.
Listening in Style
Sir:
Re your article on Milton Cross and the Metropolitan Opera [April 29): the "Texan who had one of the plush seats sent to him so he could 'listen in style' " happened to be me. While in New York in 1937, I read that the Metropolitan Opera House was being renovated. Mr. Brown, the building superintendent, let me pick out the seat that I wanted, and had it sent to me. Its back has the original upholstery put there in 1888.
SAM G. DUNN, M.D.
Lubbock, Texas
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