CBS memos proved false

In this blog’s continuing Search for the Truth, I thought I'd check something out, and lo and behold, found that if I use Microsoft Word to write "111 th" -- leaving a space after the number, there is no superscripting of the "th." On the other hand, if I write the same number without the space, the "th" is reduced in size and superscripted. Interestingly, this is precisely what happened in the 04-May-1972 memo.

I purchased in 1967 an IBM Executive typewriter with proportional spacing, and am very familiar with its operation. In order to center a line on the page (like the header of the 04-May-1972 memo), one has to measure the width of the script, then back off from center half that amount and begin typing. The width of the script must be measured by first typing each line left justified, then half-spacing over to the end of the longest line. Of course, this procedure is tedious enough to preclude anyone doing it unless it was terribly important. (In my case, I fully-justified my resume at the time, so it was worth the extra hours.) With M/S Word, it's a simple command.

Bottom line? The CBS memos are forgeries.