11 JUNE 1988, Page 29

Currant affairs

Sir: Christopher Fildes (City and sub- urban, 28 May) cited correctly T.S. Eliot's original Waste Land note: 'The currants were quoted at a price carriage and insur- ance free to London.' But neither he nor Eliot (surprisingly, for one who had work- ed in a bank) were right in so defining c.i.f. It means cost insurance and freight, as indeed the later editions have it, in describ- ing the sale terms available from 'Mr Eugenides, the Smyrna merchant/ Unshaven with a pocket full of currants'. Michael Summerskill

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