Glib, Ignorant
Sirs:
I have just read with utter amazement a glaringly inaccurate statement in TIME Nov. 8. I refer to your reference to "one Katrina Borah" as Luther's second wife. Glib ignorance of an elementary historical fact which affected a great human movement so profoundly as did the marriage of Martin Luther to Katharina von Bora the Protestant Reformation reflects no credit on the reputation of pretensions of a. magazine such as yours (sic.). Katharina was Luther's first and only wife. His marriage to her, being that of a former priest to a former nun, raised a fury of opposition against him and against the religious movement of which he was the leader. Although he had, repeatedly, urged his fellows in the evangelical party to take wives to demonstrate their Christian liberty, he himself waited until comparatively late in life because of the constant jeopardy in which he lived. The estimable Katharina bore him five children who survived infancy and herself followed him to his grave.
FRANKLIN CLARK FRY
Pastor, Evangelical Lutheran
Church of the Redeemer Yonkers, N. Y.
TIME reported that Senator Borah was interested in tracing his ancestry to Martin Luther's wife's family. To TIME's Political Editor a mild reprimand for his ignorance of Church history. Katharina von Bora was, indeed, a fine woman. According to McGiffert,— she escaped from a convent, by the aid of Luther, who endeavored to secure a husband for her, upon which she intimated, anticipating Priscilla Mullins, that she would prefer Luther himself. —ED.
Gob Flayed
Sirs:
In TIME, Oct. 25, the word "Gob" is used as referring to enlisted men in the Navy.
In the footnote at the bottom of the same column you state:
"In recent years has become a synonym for 'Sailor.'
" You should have added to this statement-"by many of the general public, but it is greatly disliked by officers and men of the Navy."
I have been in the Navy continuously more than 39 years and never heard the word used as referring to a sailor until during the recent World War. It is only the recruits or some new men in the service that do not object to the use of the term. All the officers and 90% of the men regard the word as an insult on account of its offensive real meaning.
I therefore request that you do not use the word again as meaning a sailor, or if you believe in its use after reading the above that you do not send me any copy of your paper in which it is used. Feeling sure that you will see the justice of the foregoing, and wishing success to your paper without the use of any such offensive terms.
N. E. IRWIN
Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy,
Commander Destroyer Squadrons,
Scouting fleet, United States Fleet.
Gonaives, Haiti.
Samuel G. Blythe, famed Saturday Evening Post writer, once wrote: "A gob is a sailor, a man of the American navy, a bluejacket, and the term is self-applied." TIME preferring the authority of Admiral-Subscriber Irwin, will relegate the word to the category of objectionable slang.—ED.
Raked Over
Sirs: