Letters: Dec. 1, 1924

Herewith are excerpts from letters come to the desks of the editors during the past week. They arc selected primarily for the information they contain, cither supplementary to, or corrective of, news previously published in TIME.

“Ugly”

TIME

New York. N. Y.

Paris

Nov. 3, 1924

Gentlemen: There is no doubt that the man who sent you the information you published in your issue of Oct. 20 on Page 9 under the heading FRANCE—NO HISSING was not at the Buffalo Velodrome. There were no shots and no trouble whatsoever. On the contrary, French and German sportsmen shook hands; and on the previous Sunday, another match having taken place, the Germans received flowers after their victory. It seems ugly for an American paper or magazine to try to make things worse between the two countries. I am a French girl who worked for the American Red Cross during the War, stand for and help all the Americans I can over here; but I feel hurt at the printing of such an unjust news. JEANNE MARTIN. The item is herewith reproduced:

FRANCE

No Hissing

Eleven German workmen entered Paris. They had been invited, yet no sooner had they arrived than shooting began. The Germans defended themselves, shot back with great accuracy. Three of their shots found a mark—the goal of a French workmen’s soccer team. The German goal, at the other end of the field in the Buffalo Velodrome, came off unscathed. It was the first Franco-German sporting event (outside the Rhineland) since the Armistice. Said despatches: “Ten thousand Frenchmen cheered the winners. There was no hissing.” —ED.

Bears, Whales

TIME

San Francisco, Calif.

New York, N. Y. Nov. 12, 1924

Gentlemen:

This letter is to correct a slight error of the last two issues of TIME which, as an interested reader and subscriber, it occurs to me you would like to set straight. You in each issue refer to the football team of the University of California as the “Golden Whales.” Any team from this, my alma mater, is known as the ”Bears,” less frequently as the “Golden Bears.” The name comes from the fact that the Grizzly Bear is our State animal, so to speak, being a chief feature of our coat of arms and the Great Seal of the State.

The “Western Conference” is composed of teams from the universities or colleges of several Western States, chief among the contenders being the University of California (the “Bears”), champions since the formation of the Conference in football, Stanford University (the “Cards” or the “Cardinals” from the University color), University of Washington (the ‘”Huskies”) and University of Southern California (the “Trojans”) (with whom, as your last item correctly says, relations in sports are for the future broken, so far as “California” and “Stanford” are concerned).

ERNEST J. MOTT.

In 1920, Poet Nicholas Vachel Lindsay published a book entitled The Golden Whales of California and Other Poems. Thereafter, many sport writers adopted Poet Lindsay’s picturesque phrase, applying it to football teams of California University as a cognomen thought to be appropriate in view of the prowess of those teams. TIME thanks Subscriber Mott for recalling the official epithet.—ED.

A Slip

TIME

Washington, D. C.

New York, N. Y.

Nov. 15, 1924 Gentlemen: Did you not slip?—Nov. 17, 1924, page 20, column three—the proposed legislation, requiring the attendance of all children of grammar-school age in the public schools, was voted upon in Michigan and Washington, not in Oregon, as stated in your periodical. The Oregon Education Bill was voted upon in Oregon at the election held Nov. 7, 1922, at which time the vote stood 106,910 for and 92,530 against the bill, being a majority of 14,380 in favor of it. TIME is now an indispensable periodical and you are rendering inestimable service to the busy man. REYNOLD E. BLIGHT. Yes, a slip. All thanks to Subscriber Blight.—ED.

“Childe Harold’

TIME

New York, N. Y.

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Nov. 21, 1924

Gentlemen:

In TIME of Nov. 17, mention was made on the Sport page of one ”Childe Harold Grange” who “to a dark tower came, at Stagg Field, Chicago.” Browning, to be sure, mentions in one of his poems a certain Childe Roland who came to a dark tower; but no Childe Harold ever went near a dark tower, to my knowledge. There was a Childe Harold, mentioned by Lord Byron, who . . . wends through many a pleasant place, Though sluggards deem it but a foolish chase. . . .

PHILIP M. WAGNER.

St. Johns

TIME

New York, N. Y.

Edmundston, N. B. Nov. 21, 1924

Gentlemen:

I much enjoy your TIMELY Magazine, but I regret that you seem to be no better informed on the great Dominion to the north of you than other magazines published in the Land of Liberty.

It seems incredible to us, in the Dominion, that you should not have greater knowledge of your northerly neighbor.

To be specific, and at the same time to shed light in dark places, I would draw your attention to your issue of Nov. 3, section Business and Finance, article on “Chain Hotels” that you speak of the “Admiral Beatty Hotel” being erected in St. Johns, Nova Scotia. There is no St. Johns in Nova Scotia. St. Johns is in Newfoundland. The Admiral Beatty Hotel is being erected not in Nova Scotia, but in St. John, New Brunswick, the well-known seaport, and one of the oldest cities in the Dominion.

JOHN HARDWICK,Editor of The Edmundston Observer.