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You might be interested to know that Lidia Zamenhof, daughter of L. L. Zamenhof, a native Pole, is in the U. S. at present, continuing the work of spreading and popularizing Esperanto as she has done for many years in Europe. . . .
Again, many thanks for your excellent article.
WILLIAM W. GLENNY
President
Esperanto Association of Cleveland East Cleveland, Ohio
Nickel
Sirs:
Again and again, when organized majority begins to meddle in the work of an artist, the inevitable result is mediocrity.
I am speaking of the inspired original design of the Jefferson nickel (TIME, Aug. 1, p. 9) butchered by the Federal Fine Arts Commission. Their variant is 25 years behind the Buffalo nickel.
A. PETROFF
Stemmers Run, Md.
Sirs:
I hope enough people squawk about that nickel so that the Federal Fine Arts Commission will reconsider and leave it the way it was.
DONALD BURKE
San Francisco, Calif.
Sirs: What a pity that a Fine Arts Commission had the power—and the bad taste—to change the beautiful design for a new nickel of Sculptor Schlag. The original design looks like pressed metal and reminds one of the beautiful coins of Ancient Greece. The Commission's design looks like stale cheese, cracked and contracted unevenly. No Greek sculptor —and not Schlag either, if left alone —would have designed a coin which produces the illusion of being an oval. For a century the U. S. was known all over the world for its inartistic-looking coins. During the 20th Century some betterment appeared. Now we shall have for another 25 years a sample of the old style which makes a person of esthetic sensibilities shudder. A fingerprint could not look flatter.
MAX F. MEYER
Coconut Grove, Fla.
TIME gladly prints Readers Petroff, Burke and Meyer's criticisms. But the person to write to is Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, who has not yet given his final approval to the design.—ED.
Next Step
Sirs:
It is encouraging to note in Mr. Forsee's letter (TIME, July 25), that he is making progress in his religious outlook. He mentions in order pain, boredom, and bewilderment caused by his reading of Religion. The next step is understanding. With his irresistible compulsion to read Religion, there is a strong probability that TIME might be instrumental in saving a soul.
M. S. GRIFFITH JR.
Baltimore, Md.
Hog on Ice
Sirs:
TIME'S explanation of the phrase "as independent as a hog on ice" is to my mind about as sensible as the phrase [TIME, July 25]. I should like to give Elsie Smith Parker my slant on "Like a hog going to war" [TIME, Aug. 81. I recall first hearing this as part of the phrase "Sideways, like a hog goes to war." To illustrate, I clearly remember an old Civil War veteran who used to tell how he had eaten miles of side meat and never in his years as a soldier came to a ham. "They sure had long hogs down in that country," he used to say.
ROBERT R. McBRiDE
Warren, Ohio
Sirs: