Lucky Jinx

Sir:

Congratulations! You have broken all records.

You jinxed Eddie Stanky (fined $50 for a tiff with Umpire Scotty Robb) before your cover story on the Cardinal manager hit the streets.

BILL VAN HORNE Martins Ferry, Ohio

¶ But Umpire Robb was fined more than $100.—ED.

Stay-Downers

Sir:

When I hear of a reserve officer shirking his duty [TIME, April 28], I feel inclined to ask him why he stayed in the reserves. Most of us had a choice.

I will agree with our Air Force mutineers that reservists have not always been treated fairly—but I stayed in because I thought I'd be needed, and now I'll serve where I'm needed . . .

Any reservist who does not obey his superiors and perform his duties may be accused of showing unpatriotic and egocentric self-regard.

BENJAMIN B. MOORE ist Lieutenant, Artillery Fort Bliss, Texas

Sir:

... As a reserve officer 'who signed for a five-year commission in September 1945 (after four years' active duty), I would like to state that I have never received a paycheck for what time I gave to the Air Force, and certainly did not ask to have the commission extended beyond the five-year period. I cannot see why anyone in my position, as many reserves must be, should feel we owe any duty to our country when all around us are men who have never been required to give one day's service to their country. HENRY C. RUPEL ist Lieutenant, Air Force Reserve Lima, Ohio

.Sir:

. . . Flyers who refuse to fly should be treated like all other cowards who shirk or desert. Have the wretches no manhood?

JONATHAN M. MCMURRAY

Stevens Point, Wis.

Sir:

A suggestion for our flyers who don't want to fly: ... transfer to the infantry. We have many reservists . . . who would be perfectly happy to trade places . . .

WILLIAM G. MILLER and Lieutenant, Infantry Fort Benning, Ga.

Democracy in Latin America

Sir:

Allow me to extend my warmest congratulations for your accurate account of Cuba's recent history and your flawless interpretation of the term "democracy" in Latin American countries [TIME, April 21].

M. ANTUńA Havana, Cuba

Sir:

To you go the heartfelt thanks of this hemisphere's exiles . . . for the tragic summary of truth [about] the growing military fascism of which South America is victim . . .

ARTURO JARAMILLO R. New York City

Sir:

That was an interesting and snappy resume of revolutionary Latin America. However, don't you think you simplified the situation in Costa Rica too much: "A rustic democracy fit to gladden Thomas Jefferson's heart." What was all the uproar in San José in 1948, of which Otilio Ulate was the principal? As I recall, there was quite a bit of bloodshed then in that "rustic democracy."

GORDON H. ALLISON Knoxville, Tenn.

¶I In 1948 Costa Rican liberals fought a successful civil war to prevent reactionary congressmen from nullifying President Ulate's election. In 1787 Thomas Jefferson wrote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed irom time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."—ED.

Sir: