10 JUNE 2006, Page 26

Wind instrument

From Dennis Morris

Sir: Christopher Caldwell in his piece ‘Why I, as an American, love the French’ (27 May) says, ‘Little of [French] wit involves breaking wind on trains.’ Perhaps so. But may I remind him that there was, in the late 19th or early 20th century, a very popular French variety artist whose speciality was to break wind in syncopation with the orchestra.

Dennis Morris Cascais, Portugal