415LUG2301

Sir:

The counterpart of the Anti-Digit Dialing League [July 13] in the past would likely have campaigned against the introduction of dial telephones on the grounds that the human society would become too technologically oriented; human relations would be better served by retaining the feminine operator to place all calls.

Certainly any business enterprise has the right to offer its services to its customers in the most efficient way. And I doubt whether one can argue successfully against the greater efficiency and flexibility of the all-number dialing as opposed to the use of exchange names that a significant portion of the American public cannot even spell.

Or perhaps the A.D.D.L. will even damn A.T. & T, for their experimental Telstar because it is a use of outer space, that area which man should stay out of, even as the Wright brothers were cursed for flying within the terrestrial atmosphere.

ROBERT F. BROMAN Evanston, Ill.

Sir:

Is it possible that the phone company could come to a compromise with its A.D.D.L. users (and the rest of the human race) by simply using three letters whether they spell words or not? S. I. Hayakawa's number, 4 billion something or other, could read 415LUG2301, with each subscriber employing his own mnemonic to remember the letters, such as Loused Up Good.

JACKSON STANLEY Malibu, Calif.

Rule Britannia

Sir:

I could make many comments on your "Europe" number [July 13], but I am especially entertained by your repeated suggestions that Britain abandoned or was about to abandon "free enterprise" from 1880 on. Not until 1932, under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain, did we follow the bad example set by the Republican Party in 1861 when, by establishing the Morrill Tariff, the United States committed itself to drastic interference with the free enterprise system.

I am especially entertained by your comment under the year 1422. "Britain loses all its French possessions except Calais, which French seize in 1558. Britain's sailors turn to New World."

The defeats were not British, but English defeats. As General de Gaulle is fond of pointing out, one of his Scottish ancestors fought on the side of Jeanne d'Arc. On the other hand, it was the English, not the British, who started exploration and settlement in North America. Shakespeare is an English author; Burns a Scottish or Scots or Scotch author; Yeats an Irish author. The only British author I can think of at the moment is James Hilton of Goodbye, Mr. Chips. D. W. BROGAN Cambridge, England

The Gold Bog

Sir:

Your story on the gold drain [June 29] was a keen analysis. But may I add one tremendous factor that is invariably ignored in these discussions, yet is costing us dearly in our losing fight for world markets?

After 20 years of experience with American industry, I am convinced that in most American plants and offices, costs are about 25% too high. Over the years our business enterprises have accumulated a great deal of waste and overstaffing. Parkinson's Law has been operating to such a degree that high avoidable costs are pricing us out of the world market. American executives give lip service to cost reduction programs but will not act decisively. They are bogged down in office politics, bureaucratic resistance to change, empire building and procrastination.

HENRY SCHINDALL New York City

What the Man Said

Sir:

Whom is Kennedy trying to kid when he says that he was astonished to find that stockpiles were far in excess of the country's needs [June 29]? The records clearly indicate that when he was serving in the House and the Senate, he voted to increase stockpiles, not once, but eight times.

Another thing that adds to this big joke is the President's choice of Senator Stuart Symington to head the Senate Armed Forces stockpile subcommittee. Mr. Symington is trying to place all the blame on the Eisenhower Administration for the excessive stockpiling of lead and zinc. According to the record, in 1958 Mr. Symington demanded that more lead and zinc be stockpiled.

It's time the present Administration corrected this situation instead of criticizing it.

DAVID COE

Boston

Sir:

Attending Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe was the biggest thing that President Kennedy did to win Catholic Mexico's heart. The saying here is that you can tell a Mexican there is no God and there are no saints, and he will just shrug his shoulders. But tell him that there is no Lady of Guadalupe--look out!

Kennedy's popularity now is almost unbelievable. I went to a movie last night and when the filmstrips of Kennedy's visit were shown, everyone stood up yelling and cheering so loud and long that I didn't hear the sound track.

FRANK Cox Mexico City

Sir:

If there is dissatisfaction in some circles with the Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment, what must be the result of the President's interpretation of the Constitution as a whole in his speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4th?

Our Keynesian-Socialist leader stated that the Constitution stresses "not the individual liberty of one but the indivisible liberty of all." Here is a real perversion of the basic philosophy behind the sole source of protection of individual liberty.

JEROME E. ORNSTEEN Philadelphia

Sir:

I don't mean to be unkind to Colonel Glenn, but I was sadly disappointed to read that not only was he sitting beside Ethel Kennedy, but had become a fixture of the Kennedy set [June 29]. The New Frontier has developed into a frontier of utter insouciance.

BERTHE M. MOROSINO New York City

3-Trifluormethyl-4-Nitrophenol

Sir:

As a company that cooperated very closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in destroying lampreys that almost killed the fish life from Erie to Superior, we find your article [July 13] up to date and most interesting. May we mention that the one chemical, 3-trifluormethyl-4-nitrophenol, invented by Farbwerke Hoechst of Germany, which did the trick--out of 6,000 chemicals unsuccessfully used--was given by us to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We are naturally proud of this international cooperation. G.I.O. RUEBCKE President Hostachem Corp. Mountainside, N.J.

Thinking in High School

Sir:

I read with considerable irritation the story concerning the teaching of Communism in American high schools [July 6]. As a high school student who has taken some pains in attempting to think openmindedly, it appears to me that the American educational system is still primarily intent upon imbuing its students with knowledge instead of clear intelligence.

Although I disagree with Mr. Reid's generalization that no "high school youngsters know enough history to refute Marxist arguments," if he is correct, then who is at fault? All evidence points to our educators, who have not helped us to develop a sense of mental clarity in regard to issues of political morality (or any issues).

Furthermore, if we alter the title of Dallas's program, "The Principles of American Freedom in Contrast to the Tyranny of Communism," we might come up with "The Principles of Russian Freedom in Contrast to the Tyranny of Capitalism," which is probably the title of the parallel course offered in Moscow or Leningrad.

American liberty is entirely based upon the right to think freely. If we should lose to Communism, it would be because we unconsciously insist upon playing it their way instead of our own.

HARVEY SACHS University Heights, Ohio

From an Old Aspiring Model

Sir:

Thank you kindly for your mention of Vacation Place, my summer camp for girls at Southampton, N.Y. [June 29]. I shudder just a little, however, at the note that it is for "aspiring models." It isn't, you know; actually it's for jeunes filles who want to be slicked up a little in walking, talking, putting on lip lines correctly, etc.

As an old, beat-up aspiring model myself (Miss Atlantic City, Miss Steam Iron of 1941), I can think of better ways to pass my summer than spending it with models.

CANDY JONES New York City

The Baron's Boat

Sir:

With reference to the article "Ferry on Skis" [June 22], I want to draw your attention to some misstatements about who really deserves the credit for the design and the development of the hydrofoil boats built by the Rodriquez Shipyard in Messina, Italy, under a license agreement of Supramar Ltd. The indisputable merit for the invention and the design of hydrofoil boats of the "Schertel-Sachsenberg System" goes to Baron von Schertel--by the way, a grandson of the founder of the Schaefer Brewery in New York. Since World War II, all patent rights belong to Supramar Ltd., which has carried on research and development work under the technical management of Baron von Schertel.

One of the many collaborators was Herr Loebau, the engineer mentioned in your article, who is employed by the Rodriquez Shipyard. A capable and versatile engineer, Herr Loebau actually had no part in the original design of the boats in question. Neither had Signer Rodriquez, who, however, has rendered a great service in introducing the hydrofoil boat in commercial operation.

G. R. TREVIRANUS Chairman of the Board of Directors Supramar Ltd. Lucerne

White Knight in the Tundra

Sirs:

My gratitude to whoever wrote the profile of Lewis Carroll [July 6]. Carroll's Alice tales may be a literary monument to confusion, but they offer the kind of confusion our world needs. They are tonic for a baffled member of McNamara's Band toting a carbine upon the tundra. If our nonsensical world must remain nonsensical, may it return to the nonsense of a Wonderland.

(PFC.) DON CORAY Fort Wainwright, Alaska

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