Dear Sir, Please allow me to use your column to publicly thank those individuals and organizations that assisted the Bermuda Sailor's Home with the surviving crew of the M/V Leader L.

First of all, Major Wilson Noble and his team at the Salvation Army who so readily provided shelter, food and clothing; Mrs. Evelyn Mosely and the members of the Filipino Association who interpreted for, and befriended the sailors; Mr. John Instone and Cable and Wireless for the donation of the telephone cards that enabled the sailors to keep in touch with their families; Mr. Paul Dean and the English Sports Shop for the donation of clothing; Mr. Keith White and ACE Limited for the donation of clothing and bags; Fisch's Place restaurant for the donation of dinner; Mrs. Ida James and the counsellors from Family Service who were present when the sailors first arrived; Mr. Ron Ross and the Department of Marine and Ports for alerting the Bermuda Sailor's Home, and liaising with us while the crewmen were in Bermuda; The staff of Meyer Agency; The chef from the House of India and the other members of the Indian community here who assisted the two Indian crewmen; Anyone else who provided assistance directly to the crew; and The members, Manager and staff of the Bermuda Sailors Home for their time, support and effort.

The Bermuda Sailors' Home exists to provide assistance to seafarers, whatever their needs. However, we cannot do it alone, especially when faced with such a large number of survivors. I am appreciative of the assistance of everyone, in many cases on the strength of a telephone call from a total stranger. It is very gratifying to know that we still live in a caring society.

On behalf of the Bermuda Sailors' Home, thank you.

SEAN M. PITCHER Chairman Board of Management Getting caught red-handed April 22, 2000 Dear Sir, I offer one possible simple solution to Police and/or Customs to help them arrest and secure convictions for drug importers.

There is a red dye that will not wash off that US banks use that explodes and covers the bank robber which makes them easy to identify. Another product is silver nitrate, once you handle it, your hands and any other part of your body that comes in contact gets stained and takes about a week to wear off. I am sure there are other products on the market that will work just as well. In addition, there are a number of firms in the US that offer relatively inexpensive small homing or tracking devices.

The next time a shipment is discovered at the docks or Airport, open it up to verify that it is drugs BUT instead of just putting substitute drugs back in the shipment, do two things: 1. A tracking device can be put in, that way you can find it without racing around trying to locate a truck or car, just home in on it. When the shipment is unloaded the homing device is stationary, i.e. you know where it is.

2. You insert some of the exploding dye, or cover the packages with silver nitrate. Once it is handled the person or persons involved cannot deny it.

Anyone stained with the dye or nitrate is involved. Once pictures are taken and produced in court, how can they deny it? RICHARD POWELL Warwick Critics wrote drivel! April 23, 2000 Dear sir My husband and I have just returned home from a week in Bermuda, an outstanding vacation in almost every way. We chose Easter Week specifically so we could attend the Bermuda International Film Festival in Hamilton, which we enjoyed immensely. I understand you've been having some trouble lately attracting tourists to Bermuda; BIFF should be a fantastic lure to get them to visit, perhaps year after year. I am already trying to get my school to send film students over in 2001.

However, your paper's coverage of the festival films was a disappointment.

Your vast team of movie critics (with a couple of exceptions) saw fit to disparage many of the films with irresponsible venom. One of the writers, as I recall, used the word "drivel'' twice in one review. We saw ten features and 11 shorts, and nearly all of them were very good to exceptional. We see 50 to 60 films a year, at least half of them independent and foreign films, including those at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema every year. The BIFF films we saw compared favourably with those. Several of them stood out as exemplary for their medium. The writing of your reviews generally did not, and their overall tone was so nasty that I would be hard-pressed to imagine why anyone reading them would be interested in attending the festival.

This is not to say that you should be a shill for the festival. Criticism is often warranted; however, it should add to our understanding of the film, place it in context of other similar or seminal work, provide background on the director and performers, and suggest something of the subject matter (not recount the entire plot, thank you).

One of your writers actually stated that he/she might not be appreciating the independent film in question because he/she was spoiled by watching shallow Hollywood movies. In the future, it might be better, instead of hiring a slew of different inexperienced critics, to use your regular critic(s) plus one or two guest critics who have written about independent films before. They should understand that most of these are low-budget first features and that they often have raw qualities that should not be compared to those of slick, predictable Hollywood productions. Instead, fans of independent films are drawn to offbeat stories, subtle writing, and strong performances from unknown actors. There was plenty of that to be found at BIFF, and the word "drivel'' has no place in a responsible review of cinema.

Sandy Sorlien Senior Lecturer in Photography The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA USA Keep up the good work The following was sent to Chief Insp. Roger Kendall of the Bermuda Police Service and copied to The Royal Gazette .

April 10, 2000 Chief Insp. Kendall Re: Tinted Windows Keep up the good work. It's difficult to recommend changes that affect members of the community.

I have been in law enforcement for the past 43 years in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I realise your efforts to help all members of the community and to reduce accidents.

It is not always a popular role we have in law enforcement but we care about our loved ones and neighbours.

It takes time and effort to make changes but the community will realise the efforts you are extending for their safety and to save lives in Bermuda.

God Bless you and keep up the good work.

My wife and I have been visitors to Bermuda for the past 18 years and have observed a lot of changes. We will be in Bermuda in May and return for New Year's.

Frank F. Burns Dep. Inspector General Commonwealth of Massachusetts In the dark over light April 25, 2000 Dear Sir or Madam, Last week we were lucky enough to visit your exquisite island. We cannot stop singing its praises! Only one thing we must complain about because it seems to cause considerable confusion and that is the red light in Paget when you are coming from Hamilton.

Why is it there? Gina Ayvazian & Marcel Walters Northampton, Maryland