SPEAKOUT

I WILL AGREE with the person who said in Speak Out that every time they drove on Sprigg they too enjoyed the beauty of the former Buick building, which is now a beautiful showplace. I too enjoy looking at it. They certainly should be congratulated. Thank you.

ISN'T IT IRONIC that the United States was settled by Christian people and developed as a Christian nation, and now much of our speech, certainly the entertainment, reflects the opposite? Our laws are being changed to make many Christian endeavors unlawful while the Soviets and Saddam are inviting Christians into their countries. Soviet universities hope to improve the nation's moral vacuum. Shouldn't we do the same?

GREAT SCOTT. BRAD Harris finally told the truth about our local teams. Will wonders never cease? You see, if they are really warriors they play like they're all from different tribes. Of course, the chiefs act like they are from different tribes also. Thank you.

TO THE PERSON whose comment in the Sunday, Aug. 18, paper stated that all the farmers had been on welfare for the last 25 to 30 years, I have this to say to you. You're very ignorant in your knowledge of the people who give you your daily food. If this is welfare we're on, why don't you try it and see how you like it? It's now 8:30 a.m. We've come in for breakfast after doing the milking. My husband and hired hand began the chores at 4:30 a.m. and I, the farmer's wife, joined them at 6:30. This afternoon we'll do the same thing again at 2:30 and finish about 6 p.m. Since this is Sunday we'll take a little time off for church and rest, but the remaining six days of the week the men folks will work all day long until dark. Now, to you who call that welfare, please let some farmers know when you'd like to go to work for them. They're always needing good, hired hands and your paycheck will come in every week depending on the hours you put in. But the farmer and his wife have no guarantee that we'll make $2 or $3 an hour. P.S.: I hope your family enjoys the milk products and other food you consume and know we, the farmers, work long hours to put it on your table. Thank you.

I SAW IN Speak Out where somebody thought that the farmer who was complaining about low prices and was better off on welfare had been on welfare for 20 to 25 years. Well, if working 90 to 100 hours a week and making less than minimum wage is considered being on welfare, I guess there's something wrong with the welfare system because I thought you got to sit on your tail and do nothing and make a good living. I'm a dairy farmer too, and I agree with him 100 percent.

THIS IS TO the people who wrote in to Speak Out about the Elvis show. What I'd like to say to them is nobody forced them to watch it and they had the right to turn it off. And for the ones who liked it, I think it should be aired. Thank you.

I WAS READING Brad Harris' article on the Cape Legion team. As a coach myself it has been my experience that when a team has the talent and doesn't live up to their capabilities, it is usually the fault of the coach. Most of your top coaches will tell you today that the biggest responsibility today is motivating players, and that is certainly the chief responsibility of any coach worth his weight. Also, I know several Cape Legion players personally either as an athlete who I've coached or as a student I've had in class, and those kids are certainly winners. To say that they're chokers, or they're not winners or they don't have heart based on the performance of a summer baseball team, is quite unfair. I think these kids did an outstanding job for the community throughout their high school careers and their Legion careers, and they deserve to be patted on the back and not criticized by a sports writer. Comparing them to the New York Mets is like comparing apples and oranges. You're comparing 17-year-old high school kids to multimillion-dollar baseball players. I think it was a very unfair, unprofessional comparison. Thank you very much.

I PERSONALLY KNOW Brad Harris and I think his article in Friday's paper was terrible. I have never heard anyone cut down a baseball team with the extent he has. For a person who has good morals and the thinking that he does to knock down a team so much and say that they were selfish and unenthused and unmotivated, is terrible. That is sure one way to get yourself knocked off of that Missourian paper. Thank you.

THERE SURE ARE a lot of sports enthusiasts in this town that think that Brad Harris' column in Friday's newspaper stunk. I think he needs to take a course in journalism.

SCOTT CITY WANTS the Greyhound bus service located here. We've got plenty of room. It's close to the airport, it's close to Cape Girardeau. Scott City would be an ideal place to put the Greyhound stop. Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH DOES not want to bust the deficit by extending the unemployment benefits. There never seems to be a problem when it's for overseas. President Bush and Jim Baker, that's all they do: go overseas and give money away by the millions. But he can't see fit to extend the unemployment benefits to workers who are out of jobs because of this administration's policy on imports. Japan protects their workers. Why can't the United States? But the United States sits back and says we don't want to practice protectionism. What is the U.S. coming to? I think we need a change in D.C., and I think we'll see it in '92. Thank you.

I DON'T AGREE with Brad Harris' assessment of the Cape Legion baseball team on the sports page of Friday, Aug. 16. His type of criticism should be saved for professional ballplayers, not high school students. Thank you.

I WANT TO comment about putting elevators in at the college for the handicapped and how it's going to cost millions of dollars. I have a suggestion. Why don't they put all the handicapped classes on the ground floor? Then they won't need elevators. Right now I'm under mental treatment. I've been going back and forth to Farmington. I've been put in Farmington, but I've been put in there for being crazy, not for being stupid. I realize these people with these PhDs are great learners, but what about common sense? Thank you.

OBVIOUSLY THE PERSON who said the farmers have been on welfare for the last 25 to 30 years does not spend time on a farm. My father has worked all of his life: blood, sweat and tears trying to keep the family fed. When times were hard my mother went to work. He had a second job and all seven children either worked on the farm or outside the farm to pull in extra money. That person needs to have a little more respect for the people who work hard for the food she gets out of her refrigerator.

THIS IS IN response to the open letter to the Scott City Council and residents in Country Club Estates in Sunday's newspaper. I've heard about the address problems within Scott City but those problems do not apply to Country Club Estates. Problems like even and odd numbers on the same side of the street or a noncorresponding number within a block should be corrected. But do those situations exist in Country Club Estates? The only difficulty in finding any building occurs when the address number is not displayed. This problem is already covered by an existing city ordinance. If responding emergency personnel do not know the location of the street they should look it up on a city map. Changing house numbers in Country Club Estates would not assist responders in locating a street. I don't believe the city can enforce a waiver of responsibility for delays by an emergency vehicle if the house number is consistent with the address system. This sounds like a scare tactic by Scott City which I will remember at the next election. Address changes, except those mentioned before, do not have to be implemented in order to install a 911 system. Thank you.

NOW THAT MR. Gorbachev has been ousted from power from the Soviet Union because of his political views and because the individual republics inside the Soviet Union have signed a trade agreement without the approval of a federal government and the hard-liners are now rising to power, maybe Congress should wake up and not cut the military. We might end up needing it after all.

THE GENTLEMAN RIDING his horse from Cairo to wherever he was going is a very colorful, laid-back scene. Actually having his dog riding on a horse next to him was a great touch. I really appreciated that. I could also respect the need for a police escort in the interest of safety to the animals and the guy riding the horse. It does seem to me, however, that, when possible, the horse could have been pulled aside so motor vehicles could pass. I followed this critter for about a quarter of a mile. I never realized a horse could go so slow. I did expect the other mounted person, the officer on the motorcycle, to be a bit sharper. Thank you, Speak Out.