All the women mentioned are Society Belles from Chile.
Monday, Jul. 17, 1944
Minesweepers' Favorites
Sirs:
Your six photos in TIME'S Pacific Pony (June 5) have sparked the fuse of an intra-ship civil war.
Today, 29 days out of San Francisco, we dropped the hook. Not long ago this spot was Jap-held. And yet an hour ago we boated ashore, picked up our bulging sack of precious mail, pulled out your Pony—the first of its kind to be seen by any of my crew of 92 fresh-caught enlisted men and officers—and the fireworks began.
The relative, though undeniable, beauty of the six Santiago society belles was argued pro & con, hither & yon until the entire crew—officers and men alike—were lobbying for their candidate. Pressure group opposed pressure group until, to avert a blowup, I was forced to hold a secret ballot. The result:
Maria Luisa Correa Larrain 30 The Robles Entry 23 Olivia Bunster Saavedra 19 Sylvia Gonzalez Rodriguez [and] Elinor Poudensan Vasquez a dead heat, 14 each
The polls have just closed, and I have just now counted the ballots. Yet, even as I write this, I am beset by loud cries of foul play. The biggest beef (from the losers) is that the smallness of the pictures, plus the loss of detail inevitable in lithographic reproduction, has shown the winner to ad vantage, the losers to disadvantage.
In short, how in hell can I get the original glossies to satisfy this bunch of minesweeping extroverts once & for all?
D. N. LOTT Lieut. Commander U.S.S. Clamour c/o F.P.O. San Francisco
¶ To silence the Clamour's clamor, glossy prints are on the way to Lott's lot.—ED.
Lott's reference to Time's "pony" was an advertisement free "cut down" version of Time. It measured about 8 inches by 4 inches. I've included a facsimile image, below.
