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Captain Rodney [another guest] gashed no arteries, he died some hours later at the hospital following an anaesthetic given to enable him to bear the pain of dressing superficial hand wounds. The coroner attributed his death to heart failure.
Mrs. McCormick escaped through her bedroom window, descending by a low roof over the dining room bay. Her first act was to try and rouse our guests. I got down by the front staircase and tried also and probably succeeded in waking the Duke. Subsequently I tried to extinguish the flames with fire equipment and tried to call the fire department, but the telephone was fused. It was the chauffeur's wife who finally put in the alarm. With the exception of the maid, I was the last person to escape from the house and it was I who helped her to safety. There was no roll call held. It was of course evident that the Duke was missing. Thinking over the events of that fearful night a thousand times, my wife and I still cannot see how we could have saved our guests as the circumstances occurred.
LEANDER J. MCCORMICK
New York City
TIME sincerely regrets that its account of the "Heronry" tragedy, based on early reports, was unjust to Mr. & Mrs. McCormick. At the close of the inquest the coroner said: "This terrible fire occurred apparently without any cause within the control of Mr. & Mrs. McCormick whatever, and one feels for them very much."
—ED.
Water War
Sirs:
U. G. BAKER'S CAMPAIGN IN SUSQUEHANNA PENNSYLVANIA IS A SUCCESS TO THE EXTENT THAT A PHILADELPHIA NEWSPAPER THEN BAKER CARTER AND FINALLY TIME HAVE FALLEN FOR HIS LINE AND GIVEN HIM THE NOTORIETY HE SET OUT TO ATTAIN [TIME, Feb. 19]. THE WATER COMPANY INSTALLED A FILTER PLANT AND OTHER EQUIPMENT TO IMPROVE SERVICE AND RAISED RATES TO COVER ADDITIONAL COSTS.
THE RATES ARE BASED ON A VALUE LESS THAN THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION'S ENGINEERS DETERMINED WAS FAIR. THE COMPANY'S PAPER EARNINGS WOULD BE LESS THAN SIX PERCENT ON THE VALUE OF ITS PLANT BUT ITS CASH COLLECTIONS ARE ONLY A FRACTION OF THAT. THE OCTOPUS SO-CALLED THE OWNER COMPANY IS ADVANCING CASH TO KEEP THE WATER FLOWING TO THOSE WHO HAVE PAID AND TO THOSE WHO HAVE REFUSED TO PAY OTHERWISE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY WOULD HAVE BEEN WITHOUT WATER SERVICE BEFORE THIS THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF BAKER. TIME DIGNIFIES ACTIONS BY RECOUNTING THEM AND IT WOULD DO WELL THEREFORE TO GET ALL THE FACTS BEFORE LENDING ITS UNWITTING AID TO DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY AND THE FANNING OF FLAMES OF OPPOSITION TO LAW AND ORDER ESPECIALLY IN THESE TROUBLESOME TIMES.
REEVES J. NEWSOM
President
Canawacta Water Supply Co.
Washington, Pa.
Holman, Goldman, Winograd et al.
Sirs: I think that your article in TIME of Feb. 19, concerning the basketball situation in the Metropolitan district was very clear and concise, but you have made a few errors in it that I cannot pass. In the first place Nat Holman did not attend C. C. N. Y. but the Savage Institute of Physical Education. . . . During the stay at C. C. N. Y., he has coached the baseball and soccer teams besides the basketball team.