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Back in 1922-24 when I was testing for Glenn L. Martin at Cleveland, I often asked him to fly with me. His standard reply: "I'd like to, but my bankers won't let me." . . . Glenn had done much flying in the early days, but had increased in wisdom and in favor with God, man and the bankers and now made all his sales trips to Washington by train. . . .
Then there was Larry Bell, Martin's general manager, now president of Bell Aircraft—may his shadow never grow less! In a quiet way, Larry simply bristled with reluctance to fly, but felt that he should do a bit of flying in the interests of factory morale.
He steeled himself to take three flights, in two years, and on the last one suggested that I do stunts with him. After two loops he looked back from the front seat and pointed straight down to terra firma. . . . I still recall the glassy look of his eyes. . . .
Dutch Kindelberger, then a humble engineer, now president of North American Aviation . . . had one flight [in two years], thanked me, said, "I'll build 'em, you fly 'em," and never asked for another. . . .
CY CALDWELL
Island Park, N.Y.
>To grizzled, gregarious Writer-Flyer Galdwell a foaming bucket of the best propwash for a crack job of hangar-flying.—ED.
Sirs:
There may be a painting of a schooner over Donald Douglas' mantel, but Endymion today is a cutter. Thousands of Los Angeles yachtsmen, familiar with Endymion's magnificent single stick, remember that she was converted to a more modern rig a number of years ago.
Don Douglas . . . explains, "We're just a bunch of middle-aged fellows getting too lazy to handle a schooner." But schooner men take one look at Endymion's circus-tent mainsail and incredible mast and feel faintly ill. . . . Anyone who has seen the Douglas yacht charging home from Catalina of a Sunday afternoon, romping past other craft, both sail and power, knows that her owner sails her like a man possessed. . . .
A man who can sail like that and still keep the mast in his boat can do anything.
D. W. HEINEY
Ensign, U.S.N.R.
King's Point, L.I.
Oxonian English
Sirs:
[Apropos of the frenly Raleigh spelynge letter] penned to Mrs. Gotch in 1898 (TIME, Nov. 15, Dec. 6). This is another little gem written [by Oxford's Sir Walter] at the time of the Boer War.
To Mrs. Gotch, on a postcard:
Stanford, 7 June, 1902 "So there is no maw gaw to shed in the Baw Waw. The paw praw-Baws will feel saw ! The praw-Baws are an awful baw! They gained no eclaw by taking the flaw! I set no staw by them. They are rotten at the caw. So no maw from
Yaws,
W. A. R."
(Pvt.) CARL H. WEBER
Stillwater, Okla.
Dealing the Cards
Sirs:
Your article on the Air Forces' Redistribution Center (TIME, Nov. 8) was wonderful. It is unfortunate and perhaps tragic, for the sake of both morale and efficiency, that the other arms and services can't do likewise in assigning their members.
Your statement, likening the assigning of men to the shuffling and dealing of cards—face down—realistically describes the system being followed by the Quartermaster Officers' Pool at Camp Lee, Va.
(SERVICEMAN'S NAME WITHHELD)