Letters: Apr. 18, 1969

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(3 of 4)

Sir: TIME'S account of my college lectures [April 11] recorded that I laugh at my own jokes (and I do), but neglected to mention that audiences laugh with me, and louder. TIME'S account recorded the opinion that I was unfair to students; it neglected to mention that I often am given standing ovations by students. TIME recorded that I am no longer considered a liberal; it neglected to mention that I was given honorary degrees at two liberal colleges this year (Rollins and Ursinus). TIME recorded, regretfully but with unquenchable hope, "Capp so far has never been attacked on campus." TIME did not mention that I appear on campuses by invitation of students, and that I am, I rather think, the most in demand of all campus lecturers at my outrageous fee. TIME mentioned that fee; it neglected to mention that, in cases where schools cannot afford it, I frequently come free and accept instead paid-up scholarships, which I award to hard-up kids.

The students I blast are not the dissenters, but the destroyers—the less than 4% who lock up deans in washrooms, who burn manuscripts of unpublished books, who make combination pigpens and playpens of their universities. The remaining 96% detest them as heartily as I do. They are the kids who invite me to their campuses, give me their ovations. To call a guy "anti-youth" because he is revolted by the gangsters among them is as fraudulent as to call LIFE magazine "anti-Italian" because it is revolted by the Mafia.

AL CAPP Boston

Nice Little Poison Sticks

Sir: Last summer I was asked, as a consultant, to see a child with chronic lead poisoning. The pediatricians of our staff were speculating about the source of the lead and supplied the pat answer of paint chips, which the child's mother agreed she saw him eating. The pediatricians' answer agrees with all of the literature. But the literature, including your article "Deadly Lead in Children" [April 4], does not contain one of the most likely sources of today's lead poisoning in children.

Putty, which is used to hold window glass in place, contains 10% white lead (lead carbonate). This material is notorious for coming loose from the window frames in nice little candy sticks. Cans of lead putty currently on shelves in New Haven, Conn., are not even labeled "poison." Stores have about an equal amount of putty for sale as they do of glazing compound which serves the same purpose and contains no lead.

About our case of lead poisoning last summer, the child's mother finally recalled that she had also seen him eating putty which was cracking off the window frames, and the candy sticks of putty were probably a lot handier and tastier than paint chips.

RICHARD B. SWINT, M.D. Assistant Resident in Dermatology Yale University College of Medicine New Haven, Conn.

Bubble, Bubble

Sir: In your article on astrology [March 21], you included a description and picture of a white witch—Dennis Boiling (Antares Auriel); I am that person. Apart from slandering the great witch mother and high priestess Sybil Leek, the article was a wretched anathema to me.

I was listed under the subtitle "Spells for