19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

FRONTAL ATTACK
Sirs:
Your series of articles on safe driving is an excellent idea. I read them with a great deal of interest, inasmuch as I believe that a frontal attack on the death, damage, injury and misery of highway accidents is the only possible solution.

We have passed through the stage of "gentle persuasion," through mottoes, slogans and catchy jingles. Now we must educate people in order to save their own lives. When this cannot be done, I feel that government must restrict the privilege of driving, and this has been my aim in Pennsylvania.

Congratulations on the series.
DAVID L. LAWRENCE
Governor
Harrisburg, Pa.

POINTER
Sirs:
I read in your Feb. 6 issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED about Mr. Clem Bill and his 50 years of bowling. He mentions in your article his average has dropped to 125, and I believe I have a reason for this. In the picture of him bowling he seems to be putting the ball down about three or four feet before the foul line. If he moved up a little more before releasing the ball, he might improve his game.
BUTCH BUECHER
Maplewood, N.J.

ICHTHYOSARCOTOXIC
Sirs:
Your article on the War Lord of the Warm Reefs (Feb. 6) has been badly needed for some time to explain the natural behavior of the barracuda. The "cuda" is more of a nuisance than a menace and should never prevent man from seeing and experiencing the thrills of a reef.
G. L. (JACK) REEVES JR.
Tampa

Sirs:
I have recently had occasion to review the scientific literature on the subject of ichthyosarcotoxism and I would be interested in knowing upon what authority Mr. Poling suggests that the case fatality rate of barracuda poisoning may approximate 4% in the Florida-Caribbean area.
RONALD B. MACKENZIE, M.D.
Berkeley, Calif.

•A confusion of dates distorted the percentage. During the last 40 years the Florida-Caribbean area has indeed reported 196 cases of barracuda poisoning, but the eight fatalities noted in the same area cover a period dating back to 1843.—ED.

DEBACLE DEBATE
Sirs:
Your coverage of the Big Bear Run motorcycle race (Debacle in the Desert, Jan. 23) was a misleading and irresponsible piece of reporting. It was particularly disappointing to motorcyclists who, but for Reporter James Murray's whim, might have gotten a rare favorable plug in a prestigious publication.

The story Murray didn't get is spread over the 152 treacherous miles of hum-mocked sand, of beckoning boulders, of barren desert hills. It lies in some 800 durable, skilled and courageous men lining up handle bar to handle bar on the cold Mojave on a January morning, volunteering for half a dozen hours of lonely punishment with the game worth only the invisible candle of personal satisfaction.
PAUL WALLACE
Rolling Hills, Calif.

Sirs:
Apparently Murray had one paramount thought in the back of his mind when he covered the race: how he hated motorcycling.
GEOFFREY MILLER
Honolulu

Sirs:
While we as the governing body for more than 70,000 American Motorcycle Association members acknowledge the fact that Mr. Murray did an admirable job of factual reporting on the event, we'd like to present some additional facts and observations on our side of the story, too:

1) SPORTS ILLUSTRATED covered one event of the more than 3,000 sanctioned annually by the American Motorcycle Association.

2) The average motorcycle event, which ranges from competitive racing to sportsman events, actually affords thousands of motorcyclists a chance for healthful, wholesome recreation.

3) The reference to black denims or leathers, which has produced an unfortunate image in the eyes of the public, has its practical aspect, since nobody would expect a cyclist to traverse dusty desert trails in a business suit.
LIN KUCHLER
Secretary
Columbus, Ohio

PANTS AND GASPS
Sirs:
One of the things I liked was the article on stretch pants and the Bogners by Roy Terrell (They Make the Pants, Feb. 6). Many thanks.
Mrs. FREDERIC C. HIRONS II
Cincinnati

Sirs:
The first stretch ski pants ever introduced in the U.S. were manufactured and distributed by White Stag Manufacturing Co. in 1935. The fabric was called ski-o-twill and it was invented by Maurice Och of St. Moritz, Switzerland.
C. L. BAUM
Portland, Ore.

Sirs:
You might be interested in the expression used hereabouts in reference to the boys ogling girls who are wearing Bogners—they are "stretch-panting."
BOB KIDDER
Denver

UNASPERSED
Sirs:
Your excerpt of my letter re possible exploitation of Two-miler Bruce Kidd (19TH HOLE, Feb. 6) casts unintended and unjustified aspersions on Boston University's handling of High Jumper John Thomas. Exploitation of athletes is one of the greatest blots on the record of many colleges, but I certainly would not include Boston University in this category.
BAYLEY F. MASON
Boston

TRANSPLANTE
Sirs:
Here in Toronto we have been led to believe that Punch Imlach already has the best goalie, viz., Johnny Bower (Hero's Humiliation in Montreal, Feb. 6). Check the mid-season all-star team.
JOHN DOLAN
Toronto

Sirs:
Anybody's grandmother can tend goal with a great defense like Montreal's. A goalie with a weak defense, who consistently turns in brilliant performances (Gump Worsley, to be exact), is the best in my book.
DAVID WEISBERG
New York City

Sirs:
What about Chicago's Glenn Hall? He is by far the most durable, if not the greatest, goalie, bar none.
TOM BARRETT
Chicago

Sirs:
Plante is not, was not and never will be the best goalie in the NHL.
BRUCE POPENO
Winnipeg

FOR THE DEFENSE
Sirs:
My congratulations to Writer Ray Cave on an excellent and timely article (A Long-neglected Art Is Now Flourishing Again, Feb. 6). In this time of speeded-up, offense-minded attacks which tend to emphasize the ordinary—running, shooting, etc.—and detract from the imaginative, it is refreshing to see evidences of new outlook and pace in basketball.
MIKE VERNETTI
Sacramento

Sirs:
The best defensive team east of the Rockies is St. Louis University.
BOYD MacDONALD
St. Louis

PHOTO

CLEM BILL LAYS AN EGG