Letters, May 21, 1945

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    TIME [April 30] gave a complete report on German atrocities. The account of the Erla inhumanities, however, was in error in its reference to acetate. For instance, TIME said "guards unlocked the two doors and hurled in acetate, dousing the tinder-dry buildings" and . . . "in one split second the acetate ignited and burst into a roaring inferno."

    These and the other references to acetate are undoubtedly errors, since this term as commonly used refers to cellulose acetate, widely employed in making cellulosic thermoplastics and textiles. Apparently acetone, a highly inflammable liquid, large quantities of which are made in Germany, was used by the heinous SS guards, rather than acetate. . . .

    WILLIAM T. CRUSE Executive Vice President The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. New York City

    ¶I Right is Reader Cruse. Some acetates do burn, but cellulose acetate is not one of them.—ED.

    There, Miss Stein!

    Sirs:

    If self-expatriot Gertrude Stein will stick to her non-average business of writing non-intelligible prose and let the American soldier do his above-average fighting in a serious American way, the war will be won in a quicker-than-average time so that we can go back to making better-than-average plumbing for more-comfortable-than-average American homes where no esoteric Stein is read. J. N. CARR Lieutenant, U.S.N.R. E. F. PETERSON Lieutenant (j.g.), U.S.N.R. % F.P.O. New York City

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