Millennium

* In perusing my “Turn of the Century” files to prepare yet another write-up on that subject, I came across one of the late Jack Smith’s columns, dated Jan. 10, 1994, and titled, “Count On It: It’s 7--Yes, 7--Years to Millennium.”

After once again reviewing the history of his largely unsuccessful efforts to establish the truth, he stated, for the second and last time, that he was through with the subject and closed with this desire: “I just hope that, in my memory, The Times will have a little front page box on Jan. 1, 2000, saying ‘No folks, as Jack Smith kept telling us (God rest his soul), today is not the first year of the 21st century. It won’t be for a year yet.’ ”

I trust that the editor of The Times’ front page, if he or she has not already done so, will look up and verify the above “hope” and place it in a tickler file for New Year’s action a year from now. And, that the lead article about the Y2K problem, also on that page, will not, once again, utilize the erroneous title “the millennium bug.”

J. DEVEREAUX LEAHY

Ventura