13 OCTOBER 1923, Page 16

TAKING IN EACH OTHER'S WASHING.

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

Sin,—Can any reader of the 'Spectator tell me who was the author of the famous saying : "These unhappy islanders gain a scanty and precarious livelihood by taking in each other's washing," and also when and where the saying first

appeared in print 7--I am, Sir, &c., ZERO.