Sorry 'bout that

A Feb. 19 article told us George Washington Carver was the founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama [``For the love of peanut butter'']. On Feb. 20 we were informed Booker T. Washington was the founder of the Tuskegee Institute [``Great blacks in wax'']. Though both distinguished themselves at Tuskegee and happen to share ``Washington'' in their names, their individual contributions were different. Tuskegee Institute was founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington. In 1896, George Washington Carver was appointed to the faculty of Tuskegee by Booker T. Washington.

And there's no record of either of them chopping down a cherry tree. Barbara and Mike Tupper Ashland, Ore.

I read with great interest ``Alan Paton's view of America,'' and I was surprised to learn that the editor and proofreader must have been ``asleep at the switch'' when South, not North, Carolina was given as the locale for Fort Bragg. Not to worry. We all have egg on our faces at one time or other. Nina W. Fagg Mena, Ark.

Such a fine chapter by Paton should not be marred by his placing Fort Bragg in Governor Byrnes's state of South Carolina, and this is not to be confused with Fort Bragg, Calif.

Since the center of his attention is on Governor Byrnes of South Carolina, Mr. Paton must have had some other military post in mind; or else he made a mistake in talking with Governor Byrnes. Charles C. Fishburne Jr. Cedar Key, Fla.

Upon reading the article on Carlos Fuentes Feb. 7, I ran across a most interesting -- if not to say extraordinary -- sequence.

The writer says Fuentes was ``born in Mexico City in 1958'' and that Fuentes's first novel, ``Where the Air is Clear,'' was published in 1958. You must surely agree that this is a truly remarkable joint appearance! Sally Maloney Fairhope, Ala. -Ed. note: Apologies, Mr. Fuentes was born in 1928.-

I am perplexed at your publishing so preposterous a prevarication as your ``News in brief'' piece about bow ties [Feb. 7]. The writer's claim that ``lawyers generally try to keep bow-tie wearers off juries'' is an unsupported extrapolation from a statement I heard a famous attorney make. In explaining why he always challenged bow-tie wearers, he said, ``Such men are independent thinkers. I don't want any of them on my juries.''

This argument shows the puerile petulance of one who has evidently never been able to muster the digital dexterity requisite to tying a neat bow. Clarence W. Metcalf Spotsylvania, Va.