19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

NO SURRENDER
Sirs:
In answer to Reader G. J. Burke (19th HOLE, Sept. 12) we were not allowed to vote for our own teammates in the All-Star Game, and in the players' pennant poll (Danny vs. Casey, Aug. 22) we were also asked not to vote for our own teams.

As for myself, I didn't vote because at the time of the poll we were only three games out of first place and I sincerely thought we could win it, so I'm sure the Orioles, White Sox and Yankees voted for the team they thought would be their toughest competition. They weren't conceding anything and definitely not "giving up."
JOHNNY TEMPLE
Cleveland

LONG PUTTER
Sirs:
If that gorilla can hit 423 yards (SCORECARD, Sept. 5)—what happened on his third stroke? Who won the hole, Sam Snead or the gorilla?
R. E. McCLENDON
Albuquerque

? Snead. The gorilla's third stroke, like his second, carried 423 yards, leaving him 846 yards from the hole, and proving that golf is for the primate who thinks for himself.—ED.

MECHANIZED MOUNTAINEERING
Sirs:
I agree with Reader Boeth (19TH HOLE, Sept. 12) that excessive mechanization in mountaineering is regrettable and undesirable, but as the lone American on a predominantly Swiss expedition I could not control the decision. Moreover, the true mountaineering problems on Dhaulagiri's northeast ridge begin above 19,000 feet.

Also, please note that the airplane was not employed as a climbing aid, but rather to eliminate several weeks of approach march and hundreds of porters; whereas this year's Indian Everest expedition hired 600 porters and 50 Sherpas, we used no porters and only seven Sherpas before the demise of the Yeti. American Alaskan expeditions have used airplanes for similar purposes for 30 years. No one cried foul when Hillary and Fuchs raced to the South Pole in snow Weasels.
NORMAN DYHRENFURTH
San Diego