Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, October 09, 1962, Image 4

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    4 A-
Medford J&Tribun.
""Everyone in Southern Oregon
JleadjrheMallTrlbunc''
Published Dally except Saturday by
MEDFORD PRINTING CO.
33 North Fir St., Ph, 172-8141
" ROBERT W. RUHL. Editor
HERB GREY Advertising Manaer
GERALD T LATHAM, Bun. Msr.
ERIC W ALLEN JR.. Mng. Editor
EARL H ADAMS. City Editor
HARRY CHIPMAN. Teleg Editor
RICHARD JEWETT. Sports Editor
OLIVE STARCHER Women's Editor
DALE ERICKSON. Circulation Mar
An Independent Newspaper
Entered ai second class matter at
Medford, Oregon, under Act ol
March 3. 1897
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
By Mall In Advance. .,
Daily and Sunday 1 year $18.00
Dally and Sunday 8 mos. 10.00
Dallv and Sunday 3 mos. 3.00
Sunday Only One year 5.00
Single Copy (Mailed! 20c
By Camel And Motor Route.
Dally and Sunday 1 year 2i;
Dally and Sunday 1 mo. 1-75
Sunday Only 1 mo. 30c
Carrlerandyendors Copy 10c
OHlclal Piper of City of Medford
Of !lclaMPaperJf Jackson County
' United Press International
Full Leased Wire
V. P. I. Telephoto Newspicturea
"MEMBER OF AUDIT "BUREAU
OF CIRCULATIONS
Advertising Representative:
NELSON ROBERTS & ASSOCI
ATES Offices In New York, Chi
cago, Detroit. San Francisco, Los
Angeles. Seattle, Portland,
Denver,
NATION A I
EDITORIAL
ASfSOCOA''
NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS
ASSOCIATION
Flight o' Time
Medford ind Jackson County
History from th files of The
Mall Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40
ind 50 years ago.
10 YEARS AGO
Oct. 9. 1952 (Thursday)
A 44-year-old Medford man
apparently took his own life
by hanging in city jail some
time last night. His body was
found about 7:30 o'clock this
morning.
Medford's fire department
answered 60 alarms during
September, according to Chief
Gordon Barker's monthly re
port. 20 YEARS AGO
Oct. 9. 1942 (Friday)
New United Service Or
ganizations center at Sixth st.
and Riverside ave. visited by
more then 700 servicemen
during first week of opera
tion. From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "The
turkeys are In the stubble
fields and the hogs are in the
acorns. So far there has been
no frost on the pumpkins."
30 YEARS AGO
Oct. 9. 1932 (Sunday)
Fourth Jackson county sui
cide within 19 days reported
from vicinity of Rogue River.
State police searching
Keene creek near Table moun
tain for "wild man" who has
threatened residents of the
area.
40 YEARS AGO
Oct. 9, 1922 (Monday)
County grand jury sched
uled to complete Investigation
of Ku Klux Klan "night rid
ing" cases.
Shipments of Rogue valley
fruit to the east amounts to 16
carloads of apples and 1,141
carloads of pears.
50 YEARS AGO
Oct. 9, 1912 (Wednesday)
Annual shoot for the Mail
Tribune silver trophy sched
uled at Medford Rod and Gun
club grounds.
Great Interest locally In
New York Giants-Boston Red
Sox world series contests;
Medford residents gather In
front of Mail Tribune offices
to hear play by play results
announced by Judge Wlthing
ton "using a huge mega
phone." Whafs Your I.Q.?
Nine or tan correct It superior;
seven or eight Is excellent; five oi
tlx it good.
1. Did the Franco-German
War terminate with the
"Reign of Tears," or the
"Reign of Terror"?
2. Name the capital of
Brazil.
3. "Thou shall not be afraid
of the bugges at night." Docs
"bugges" mean terror, dark,
or insects?
4. Which state is nicknamed
"Granite State"?
5. Does the value of an old
coin depend upon Its age?
6. Is hydrophobia a medical
term for rabbit fever, rabies,
or dropsy?
7. Are earwigs ornaments,
Insects, or a type of wig?
8. "Friends, 1 am with you
all and love you all," said An
thony In "Julius Caesar." By
whom was It written?
8. Does the "Creed of Pope
Pius IV" (1364) contain 10, 12,
or 14 obligations?
10. Which great U.S. ocean
liner bore the name U.S.S.
West Point as the Navy's larg
est transport In World War II?
Antwerst 1. Reign of Tears.
2. Brasilia. 3. Terror. 4. Now
Hampshire. 5. No, It depends
on rarity. 6. Rabies. 7. Insects.
8. William Shakespeare. 9.
Twelve. 10. S.S. America.
TUESDAY. OCTOBER 9, 1962
Morse and Unander
Lying on the editorial desk as this is written
are two quotations concerning Sen. Wayne L,
Morse (D-Ore.).
The first is from Sen.
one of the great and
United btates. He said :
"Wayne Morse is one of the most brilliant and most
thoughtful men with whom 1 have ever associated. He has
a great depth of feeling lor the welfare of the individual
man. His heart is right. He has great courage and deter
mination. No one works any harder at his Job than he. Men
who are such a fine influence in our national life simply
have to be kept on the job and this is doubly true of Wayne
Morse."
The other quotation, accompanied by a "Hu
man Events" report, an ultra-conservative publi
cation, which blasted the Senator, was from a lo
cal friend. It said:
"After reading this folder, don't you think it's time to
turn Senator Wayne out and try to get a Charley McNary
or George Chamberlain for our Senator so Oregon can ob
tain some results as well as proper standing in the U, S.
Senate?"
"THE TROUBLE with
despite the fact it is
tains at least one major omission, that ot the
man's unpredictable personality.
The trouble with the
it is not a choice, this
Morse and Charles McNary or George Chamber
lain it is a choice between benator Morse and
Sig Unander.
The difficulty in making a choice between the
two men for Senator from Oregon is that Wayne
Morse is not all black, as the hatchet-job "The
Record of Wayne Morse"
would have you believe; nor is he all white, as
his ardent adherents and admirers of whom
there are many would have you believe.
Wayne Morse is a complex mixture of hues
ranging from white to black, with many of them a
cloudy gray.
11E SHALL have nothing to say during this
campaign in derogation of Sig Unander, for
whom we have considerable respect as a long
time acquaintance, honest and industrious public
servant, and conscientious citizen. Despite his
many good qualities, however, we do not believe
that he measures up to the standards desirable in
a United States Senator.
Our comments shall center on Senator Morse
volatile, brilliant, able, energetic, mercurial,
personally honest, but; and we hate to say it,
wholly undependable in any long-range political
sense.
His record of making enemies of those who
were once friends is astounding, and saddening.
His fierce and vicious attacks on those who have
dared to disagree with him are shocking.
! IT IS THESE last three characteristics and
chapter and verse can be cited to prove them
that cause us long and serious pause in this elec
tion year, a year when Wayne Morse, with nearly
18 years of service in the U.S. Senate, is seeking
another six year term.
The charge against him that he never has
clone anything for the state of Oregon is wholly
without foundation. If the Rogue Basin project
is authorized this year (and it may be by the time
this sees print) it will have been Wayne Morse
as much as any other single individual who can
claim the credit. The same is true of the Agate
dam and reservoir project. The same can be said
for dozens of other federal projects of immense
benefit to Oregon.
The charge that he is ineffective is only part
ly true. In thousands of individual instances he
has rendered aid and help to Oregon citizens,
often without notoriety or thanks. It was he, al
most single handed, who marshalled the Kennedy
aid to education bill through the Senate last year,
only to see it die in the House.
A ND YET, in such instances as his communica
"tions satellite tactics, in his bitter attacks
against Presidents Kennedy, Eisenhower and Tru
man, in his personally abusive references to such
honorable and distinguished citizens as J. W.
Forrester Jr., editor and publisher of the Pendle
ton East Oregonian and member of the state
board of higher education in such instances
one is appalled by his turn about tactics and his
personal vindictiveness.
What's the matter with Wayne Morse?
Perhaps it is his ego
within in the words of
wrote the splendid recent
gon maverick entitled "The Tiger iivthe Senate."
ihe book concludes with this paragraph:
"Should Wayne Morse venture to subdue the tiger that
lurks within, he challenges the toughest adversary of them
all. Hut In this eternal struggle he would gain the good will
of all who advance along the frontier of the spirit."
CUMMINC up, we have concluded that Wayne
Morse, complex enigma that he is, would bet
ter serve the state of Oregon in the Senate for the
next six years than would honest, pedestrian, con
servative Sig Unander.
We come to this conclusion with many mis
givings and with some honest sadness. It is not,
for us, a happy choice to have to make.
Wayne Morse, an honest assessment indicates,
is right more often than he is wrong, but when he
is wrong, he is so terribly wrong.
However, in the absence of a Charles McNary
or a George Chamberlain, we plan to cast our
ballot for Wayne Morse. E.A.
v
Paul H. Douglas (D-Ill.),
authentic liberals of the
the first quotation is that,
in large part true, it con
second quotation is that
year, between Senator
by Harrison Spangler
the "tiger that lurks
A. Robert Smith, who
biography of the Ore
MEDFORD
"How'd You Like Your Daughter Marrin
One Of Them?"
COMMUNICATIONS
Letters to the Editor must bear the name and address of the writer,
although under certain circumstances the use of a pen name or initial
for publication Is permissible. The Mail Tribune reserves the right to
edit all letters with a view to clarification and condensation. Letters
submitted for publication must not exceed 400 words. The letters
printed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of the
paDer; in fact the contrary is often the case.
Mrs. McNary for Sig
To the Editor: The voters
of Oregon will uphold the
sound American principles of
Sen. Charles L. McNary
principles that brought honor
and prosperity to our state
if they cast their ballots next
month for Sig Unander.
As Senator McNary was an
American and an Oregonian
first, and a Republican
second, so is Sig Unander.
Democrats as well as Repub
Means will rally to his cause
if they believe In the cherish
ed principles of our Constitu
tion, our free enterprise sys
tem, and the preservation of
our individual liberties.
Sig Unander is a fine and
dedicated public servant. He
will be an excellent Senator
and a representative who will
truly work for Oregon. If we
want action for our State in
stead of words and more
words, we should look to Sig
Unander. As concerned citi
zens and custodians of Ihe
future of Oregon, I believe
we can do no better.
Mrs. Charles L. McNary,
001 S.W. King ave.,
Portland, Ore.
Questions?
To the Editor: Does might
make right? Is it really the
will of the people of America
to impose their will on the
state of Mississippi through
the interpretations of the Su
preme Court and the might of
the President s executive pow
er? If this is the will of the
people, why don't we do away
with all state government and
let the federal government
run the whole shebang? Force
will not settle this issue. Right
cannot be overcome with
force.
Couldn't the whole issue of
state's rights be put to a na
tional vote and find out what
the will of the people is in
this mutter? Doesn't the con
stitution guarantee a republi
can form of government to the
states?
The federal government
represents all the people of
the United States, you and I
and all the citizens of Oregon
as well as the people of other
states. Should we, as a group,
force our will on the people
of other states? Would we like
it here in Oregon If the people
of all the country should tell
us how to run our schools?
If what Is being done now
in Mississippi Is legal, wo bet
ter take a good look at our
constitution and at the
preme court and see If some
changes are not in order.
Carroll Powell,
Box b'2t,
Central Point, Ore.
Get Olll
To the Editor: Approxi
mately 85 per cent of all prop
erty taxes go to the support
of schools here in Jackson
county. Then we (the tax
pn.vers) pay for parks, lakes
recreation areas, swimming
pools, equipment and super
visors, free text books and
school lunches, and very
probably things I haven't
heard about.
uesines tins we maintain a
Juvenile Detention Home.
Then there is a Health Clinic,
a Child Guidance Clinic and
a Mental Health Clinic with
a new buiding now under con
struction for them.
When my children were in
school the parents were the
real "do-it-yourself guys
There were no handouts - but
neither was there large scale
delinquency or olher prob
lems needing all the clinics.
Everyone paid their own den
tal bills, too.
Now our chidren are raised,
but our incomes have dwin
dled and we are hard pressed
to pay all the taxes. When
the purity of our God-given
mountain spring water is at
stake - can't you at least care
for your children's teeth - use
fluorine, if you like poison -
but TI.EASE GET OFF OUR
BACKS
Mrs. Theresa Ferijejon j
608 Lynn ave.
Medford. 1
MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD.
Would Solve Problems
To the Editor: The Veterans
Administration is satis f i e d
with the size of the waiting
lists at their hospitals at Port
land and Vancouver. These
lists averaged 105 for the past
fiscal year and 92 for the
previous year. The reason
those figures were not mucn
higher is that patients were
discharged at unjustified
speeds because of pressure
for their beds.
There should not be a wait
ing list at any Veterans' hos
pital. Instead, more beds
should be available. How sick
must a man be in order to get
admitted promptly?
A hospital at White City
would solve many problems.
David Frisch
P.O. Box 292
White City, Ore.
In the Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
This is written in Portland
on a fantastic news day. All
at the same time, American
astronaut Walter Schirra was
circling the earth in his Sigma
7 spacecraft and San Francis
co's Giants and the Los An
geles Dodgers were battling
it out in L.A. to see who
would carry the banner of the
National League in the World
Series.
It was nip and tuck in
Chavez Ravine. First one team
was on top and then the other.
Up to the last minute of play,
nobody knew who was going
to be IT when the end came.
Out in space, it was a dif
ferent story. It was clear sail
ing for Schirra all the way.
He was ahead of the game
from beginning to end. There
was apparently never a mo
ment when he didn't have the
situation well In hand.
IT WAS
DPOOlo.
rough on the TV
They had to carry
two world - shaking news
events along at one and the
same time. They managed it
by dubbing in bulletins on the
screen while the play was go
ing on.
Anyway, a good time seems
to have been had by all. The
wonder of it is that anybody
around these parts got any
work done at all.
TN
A tl
THE big baseball game.
there was some accurate
timing. Big time baseball can't
be played successfully with
out it.
But, for accurate timing,
carefully planned and meticu
lously carried out, I'd say
that Astronaut Walter Schirra
holds the all-time world's rec
ord. He orbited six times around
the earth and then came down
within about two or three
miles of the spot he was aim-
J mmum
STATE.
CAPITCU
I '! i.i 1 1 mfciiiii
"Lookl Just tell the governor it's a former general of
Ihe army to lend support ... ind there are ten
thousand more like me. . .1"
OREGON
Up-and-Down Relations Between Kremlin
And Tito Still Indicate Some Coolness
By PHIL NEWSOM
UPI Foreign Newt Analyst
As a Communist, Yugo
slavia's Marshal Tito always
has made it clear that in case
of a war be-
t w e e n East
and West, he
would be on
the side of the
Soviet Union.
But as a Yugo
slav he also
has insi s t e d
that Yugo
slavia would
Newsom attain the
the Communist Utopia by Its
own path, Independent of
Moscow.
It was this bit of independ
ence which induced the Unit
ed States to extend to Tito
over the years aid totalling
around a billion dollars. It
also led Congress in the most
recently passed foreign aid
bill to continue President
Kennedy's discretionary pow
ers to give him more aid In
the form of food, medicine
and clothing.
As for the Kremlin, it ex
pelled Tito from the Comin
form in 1948 and he remain
ed in the deep freeze until
the Bulganin-Khrushchev vis
it to Belgrade in 1955. In that
visit the Kremlin leaders
apologized for past treatment
and in a joint declaration with
Tito said that every nation
had the right to develop its
own social system and its own
from of socialism.
Things seemed better for
a while, but then came 1956
nd Soviet intervention in
the Hungarian revolt. Tito de
nounced the action as a "fatal
error" and joined the United
States in backing 8 resolution
in the United Nations de
manding immediate evacua
tion of Soviet troops from
Hungary.
Back he went Into the
Kremlin freezer.
There the situation remain
ed until about a year ago
when Khrushchev's quarrel
with Peiping apparently led
him to decide on a new effort
to consolidate European Com
munist nations in an economic
and political bloc.
The result was last week s
visit to Belgrade of Soviet
President Leonid I. Brezhnev.
Advance reports said one
of Brezhnev's assign ments
would be to line up Yugolsav
support for the Kremlin's an
nounced plan to sign a sepa
rate peace treaty with East
Germany.
The final communique indi
cated failure, not only on this
assignment but on others as
well.
ing at which was the ship
that was waiting to pick him
up when he came down.
That's ACCURACY.
TN WAYS other than big
A time baseball for the losers,
this has been a sad day in
the news.
It has recorded another
death in Oregon in a head-on
highway collision. A car, try
ing to pass two trucks, collid
ed with another truck going
in the opposite direction. The
driver of the car died three
hours later in a nearby hos
pital.
Again, as so many, many
times before, this line in the
center of the highway proved
to be the line separating life
from death.
WHAT shall we do about it?
" If drivers continue to ig
nore the danger involved in
passing on a two-lane high
way without first making sure
that there Is AMPLE room to
pass, the time will come when
on all two-lane main highways
and on all multi-lane high
ways when the opposing lines
of traffic are not separated
by physical barriers or by
adequate distance, there will
be a FENCE where there is
now only a narrow line and
passing will be impossible.
Already this problem Is re
ceiving careful study by high
way authorities.
sesssseneMeessesi
AtL
It called for a German
peace treaty but made no
mention of a separate treaty
with East Germany.
The communique also call
ed for an improvement in
United Nations' "activity" but
made no mention of Khru
shchev's three-headed troika
plan to recognize the office of
secretary general.
If Brezhnev's trip was de
signed as another apology to
Tito, it does not seem to have
been accepted too wholeheartedly.
Washington Report
By William S. Whit
(c) United Feature
Syndicate
LABOR'S SUICIDE
Washington The view
from this end of the transcon
tinental bridge which is the
Atlantic ocean
is that the
Labor party
in England is
slowly com
mitting sui
cide for 1 the
o d d e 8 t pos
sible reasons.
After months
of painful
mil. lente - suu-
dling, Hugh Gaitskell, the
party's leader, has at last
come down on the side of
opposition to Britain's entry
into the European Common
Market. True, his position is
not flat and unqualified. But
it amounts to the same thing.
He is, perhaps, willing to see
Britain go in but under
many ifs, ands and buts which
are clearly unattainable in
any world of reality.
THE IMMEDIATE response
here among friends of the
Common Market which is
to say among the friends of
expanded free world trade
has been that Gaitskell has
made much more difficult
Prime Minister Harold Mac-
millan's hard task of taking
Britain in.
It has been assumed that
the Labor party may be
maneuvering to force the con
servative Macmillan to go to
the people in a referendum on
the issue. They may even sup
pose they can thus defeat his
government. But just how
hard they may have made
things for him at home is at
least debatable. And what is
not debatable at all is that
they have surely made mat
ters much easier for him
among the six nations of the
European Common Market it
self. For his Labor opposition
has now dramatically proved
for Macmillan precisely what
he himself had not been en
tirely able to prove to the
Common Market people. This
is that his problems of lead
ing the British into this enter
prise are real, not fanciful. ,
ALMOST certainly, there
fore, the Common Market
nations, notably France and
West Germany, will now be
more generously disposed
than before to those excep
tions and concessions for
which Macmillan has long
been pleading as the necessary
pre-conditions to British entry.
The Labor party thus may
find itself in the position of
having won a small tactical
battle, by embarrassing Mac
millan, on the way to losing
a great war. For British vot
ers will not long reward a
demonstrably irresponsible
political party; and this the
Labor party has become. This
it has become because there
Is simply no rational alterna
tive for England. She asso
ciates with the Common Mar
ket, and so prospectively pros
pers. Or she goes it alone, and
jinks into a fundamental trade
and political isolation that
would submerge her national
identity far more surely than
any association with the Com
mon Market.
It is strange to see the
British Labor party, a part of
the international Socialist
movement, now becoming far
more nationalist than the de
spised "Tories'1 the Con
servatives. WHY. THEN, has Hugh Gait
' skell, ordinarily so able
and so responsible, taken this
extraordinary step? Maybe it
is because this man has had
to fight almost alone so many
valiant battles against the
endless crackpotism of ban-the-bomb
leftists in his party
whose whole lives symbolize
irresponsible extremism. Per
haps he simply cannot fight
again. If so, he will not be the
first sensible politician to go
nown at last under the re
peated hammer blows of his
own lunatic fringe.
It is sourly and sadly fitting
that in t h e Labor party con
vention just concluded in
England, the final note of all
was a savage attack from the
leftists on the United States
for daring to resume nuclear
testing after the Russians had
already done so.
Coupled with this, of
course, was an equally savage
attack upon a man named
Hugh Gaitskell who tries
to be a friend of tjhe JUxtfti
States, I
Matter of Fact ey Joseph auop
(el New York Herald Tribune Syndicate
IF THE PRISONERS
ARE RANSOMED
Washington Before much
time has passed, the wide
spread demand to "do some
thing a D o u i
Cuba" may
welt be satis
fied in an un
expected fash
ion. Fidel Cas
tro's haul of
prisoners
from the Bay
of Pigs may
well be ran-
Aisnp somed.
The men whom Castro
caught have been rotting and
starving in his jails for a
great many months. For most
of them, it is beginning to be
a case of now or never. None
theless, if President Kennedy
moves to ransom them at this
juncture, it will prove that
he has a much stronger con
science than most Republicans
appear to think.
No doubt the President will
seek to safeguard himself on
the political front before any
ransom agreement is an
nounced. No doubt it will not
be called a ransom agreement.
But no amount of contriving
will make the act of paying
ransom to Castro either palat
able or popular.
0NPI
THE other hand, the
President's choice is clear
Either he can pay the ransom,
and bring the prisoners home
Or he can leave them to rot
until they die in Castro's jails:
and thus he can have their
deaths forever on his con
science and his country's con
science for it was Kennedy,
acting as President of the
United States, who authorized
the unhappy landing in the
Bay of Pigs. Or he can use
military force to make Castro
yield these men up which
he is not ready to do, at any
rate at this time.
If the world situation for
bids the third alternative,
and if the prickings of con
science outlaw the second
alternative, then the first al
ternative is the only one
open. For these reasons, the
first alternative, of liberating
the prisoners by paying ran
som to Castro, has apparently
been chosen. Even the tempta
tion to wait until after the
November election which
must have been a very great
temptation will apparently
be resisted.
mere is a scotch saying
that a man must "dree his
own weird," which means,
very roughly, that a man must
have the guts to pay for his
own follies and stand up to
his own fate without undue
complaint. Kennedy seems to
be obeying this grim injunc
tion in the present instance,
and in a way that is not
common among politicians,
especially in an election year.
w
rpHE simple fact that this
-- essentially moral choice
must now be discussed in election-year
terms both illus
trates and emphasizes a new
phenomenon of great sig
nificance. Partly because of
the mood of the country, and
partly because a good many
Republicans would have it
so, foreign policy is becoming
a primary factor in domestic
party politics.
Unpublished national polls
show an immense majority of
the country favoring a naval
blockade of Cuba, for in
stance. It is pretty clear,
therefore, that President
Kennedy could stir the coun
try to its depths, and lift it
partly from the doldrums, by
the simple act of ordering a
blockade.
Since the end of the last
war, nothing quite like this
situation has ever been pro
duced by all the chops and
changes of the long contest
between the U. S. and the So
viet Union. There was no pub
lic pressure on President Tru
man to intervene in Korea,
or on President Eisenhower
to stand off the Chinese Com
munists at yuemoy, or on
President Kennedy to adopt
a bold, firm course in South
Viet Nam.
But now there is public
pressure, not only with re
spect to Cuba, but, also, less
damatically but no less in
sistently, with respect to Ber
lin. Futhermore. although few
people realize it, Berlin ties
the President's hands in the
Cuban situation, at least for
the present.
rTHE point is that the Berlin
a crisis at last appears to be
nearing a climax. If fighting
is avoided during this climax,
it will be very surprising.
Fighting need not, and prob
ably will not. lead to an H-
bomb war. Yet the oncoming
climax in the Berlin crisis is
plainly going to be a horribly
risky and breathless business.
As the President himself
told the Congressional lead
ers at a briefing a few days
ago, the delicate and danger
us task of meeting the ex
pected challenge at Berlin
must be complicated by the
Cuban problem. That the Ber
lin corner must be rounded,
in short, before the final
choice is made, to tackle or
not to tackle the Cuban prob
lem. In the present mood of the
country, if the President fails
to meet the challenge of Ber
lin, he may as well send his
resignation to the Senate. If
he meets the challenge, and
if there is an H-bomb war,
Cuba will not matter very
greatly. But if Kennedy meets
a Berlin challenge with suc
cess, and without an H-bomb
war, the whole world situa
tion will be incalculaby but
favorably altered, and the
mood of the country will also
be transformed.
These are the basic, realistic
calculations that now govern
the Administration's actions.
But since the country is so
particularly Cuba-conscious, it
will be a bold act, to take
time off from preparing for
the Berlin climax, in order
to rescue the men at the Bay
of Pigs from Castro's cruel
grip.
Strictly
Personal
By Sydney J. Harris
(c- Field Enterprises Inc.
DIFFERING SKILLS
After my talk, when some
sweet little old lady comes
up to me (as so often happens)
h n 1 rl i n rt a
sheaf nf nanpi-
in her hand, I
usually know
just what to
i to expect.
She has a
niece away
at college,
or a nephew
stationed
Harris abroad, and
they write the most charm
ing and delightful letters.
Would I be good enough to
take a look and see if I don't
agree that the niece (or the
nephew) should be encouraged
to become a professional
writer?
It is curious how deeply this
legend persists in the lay
mind that a person who
writes interesting letters has
the makings of a professional
writer. Nothing could be fur
ther from the truth; the talent
for letter-writing has no rela
tionship to writing of any
other kind.
''
Most great writers have
been wretched correspond
ents; when we find an ex
ception, like Byron, it is
because his letters were
really written with the pub
lic (and posterity) in mind
from the first. They may be
written in letter form but
they are carefully calculat
ed works of art.
Writing good letters is a
knack, like being able to
play the piano with your
toes, or adding up a long
column of figures in your
mind. The personal corres
pondence of most conse
quential writers is drab,
curt and factual; they save
their talent for their working-hours.
I have never written a
letter in my life that would
do credit to a high school
English major; yet I have
friends of absolutely no lit
erary talent who can pen
the most amusing letters,
spun out of the smallest pos
sible store of small talk.
If they expect me to reply
in kind, I am embarrassed
at my pathetic lack of skill,
and don't answer at all.
In many areas of this kind,
the public tends to confuse a
special knack with real tal
ent. The arithmetical freaks,
for instance, who can do amaz
ing computations in their
heads, usually are capable of
making no contribution to
mathematics; while an Ein
stein, with a mind of profound
originality, could scarcely add
up a grocery bill correctly.
Likewise, the chess masters
who could play a dozen games
simultaneously blindfold were
not necessarily first-rank play
ers; Capablanca, perhaps the
finest natural player of our
time, was extremely deficient
in blindfold play. Yet none of
the blindfold masters could
beat him in tournaments.
Real professionals, strange
ly enough, do not exercise
their professional skills in
their personal lives: I know
engineers who can't change a
light bulb in their own house,
psychiatrists who treat their
children as if Freud had never
existed, accountants whose do
mestic budgets are always out
of balance. In a letter-writing
contest. Shakespeare woul'd
pwtyrj.ty few Veut.ex to a foae.
zle b-. -W- Wis ejjj. JajJa)'
niece af a;"1Kffi.
1
'fV-N .A