29 JANUARY 1954, Page 7

Waiter's Hazard

If you write a cheque in a restaurant on a form provided by the management and omit to fill in the branch of your bank at which you have an . account, the cheque (or so a waiter told me the other day) is unlikely ever to be cashed. The bank's head office is inhibited by some ancient taboo either from telling the restaurant which of its branches Mr. A . patronises or from bringing the matter to Mr. A's attention. So unless Mr. A goes back-to the restaurant, the waiter who provided him with the cheque form is eventually called on to settle the account. I suppose a banker could point out dozens of snags which would crop up if banks adopted a slightly more forthcoming attitude in this sort of context.