Letters, Jan. 12, 1942

Angel Topped

Sirs: For a heinous-looking human being, the record was held until the Dec. 22 issue of TIME by "The Angel" (wrestler) when Admiral Yamamoto topped him badly on front cover. GORMAN L. BURNETT Lynchburg, Va.

Sirs: The front cover picture on TIME, Dec. 22 is the most inhuman likeness of Homo sapiens I have ever seen. . . . R. N. CLARK Ponca City, Okla.

Sirs: Since early childhood I have had very definite ideas of just what Satan looks like. All my ideas are personified in your cover of TIME, Dec. 22. I really admire strength of character but Yamamoto is one to scare little children. . . . RUTH COLE Blackwell, Mo.

Sirs: Suggest that you refrain from using TIME'S important front cover for likenesses such as that of the yellow ape on your issue of Dec. 22. ... EDWIN DREXEL GODFREY Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Sirs: Your magnificent picture, even if it was of a mad dog, was magnificent and a credit to the artist. . . . CHAS. J. CAMPBELL Seattle, Wash.

Correction

Sirs: TIME, Dec. 8: "Everything was ready. From Rangoon to Honolulu, every man was at battle station. . . ." TIME evidently "erred" in this article and the writer trusts that you will retract this statement in an early issue. . . . ALLISON F. KELSEY Gunner, U.S. Navy, 1918 Montclair, NJ.

> TIME, Dec. 8, erred. TIME, Dec. 15 ("The U.S. Navy was caught with its pants down. . . .") made correction.—ED.

Exceedingly Offensive

Sirs: The news that Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado was called off for patriotic reasons surprised me mightily. In the first place it has no trace of Japanese or pseudo-Japanese music except the chorus Miya Sama, Miya Sama. ... In the second place, the whole opera is exceedingly offensive to all Japanese because of its flippant treatment of their divine Mikado. . . . So let's not deprive ourselves of some fine entertainment and a chance to insult the Japs. . . . J. C. THOMPSON Borinquen Field, P.R.

Rules of Thumb

Sirs: Your warning in TIME, Dec. 22, that the "few rules of thumb" listed for telling Chinese from Japanese are "not always reliable" is an unparalleled masterpiece of understatement. Such absurd generalities as "Japanese are nervous in conversation, laugh loudly at the wrong time," or "most Chinese avoid horn-rimmed spectacles" would have certainly made the eminent Dr. Samuel Johnson apoplectic. ... I feel the appropriateness of an admonishing Tsk ! Tsk ! MARTIN J. KATZ Philadelphia, Pa.

> Having noted that there is no infallible way of telling Chinese and Japanese apart by face, physique or mannerism, TIME felt justified in giving such general distinctions as are backed by authoritative anthropological opinion and by lay observers who have studied the Oriental races closely. If, as several TIME readers have pointed out, patriotic Japanese-Americans do not deserve to be harassed, neither do Chinese mistaken for Japanese by inflamed Americans. For trustworthy criteria having to do with names and feet, see below.—ED.

Sirs: Years ago, when we were both students at Cornell, the present Chinese Ambassador gave me a simple and unfailing rule for telling our loyal friends from Japanese: Chinese have monosyllabic, Japanese polysyllabic names. This test is far easier than calipers. . . . J. V. DEPORTE New Lebanon Center, N.Y.