" GOOD CUP OF COFFEE "---AN APOLOGY ON July 16th,
1927, the Spectator published a letter from Mr. A. G. Grenfell, on the subject of "A Good Cup of Coffee." In the course of Mr. Grenfell's letter, reference was made to a certain method of making coffee, and a Mrs. Quin was de- scribed as "a negress cook, who made the coffee at the Jamaican stall at Wembley." We recently received a letter from Mrs. Quin's solicitor in Jamaica, taking strong exception to our reference to Mrs. Quin as a negress and a cook, and informing us that both Mrs. Quin's parents were white people and that she was not a cook.
The Spectator immediately took steps to correct the error made by its correspondent. We communicated with Mr. Grenfell, the writer of the letter in question, and in reply he writes : "Let me say at once that I am profoundly grieved if I was wrong in saying that Mrs. Quin was a negress.' The statement was made in absolutely good faith, and without the faintest idea of casting a slur upon the lady ; on the contrary, she was only mentioned at all with the idea of giving ' honour ' due to one who had made and provided the most popular and admirable beverage offered to the public at Wembley."
Mr. Grenfell does not remember where he got the impression that Mrs. Quin was a negress. As it is quite clear to us from the inquiries we have made that the statement that Mrs. Quin was a negress and a cook" is quite inaccurate, we take this opportunity of offering our sincere apologies to Mrs. Quin for any pain and trouble she may have been caused through this reference to her by one of our correspondents. We are assured that Mrs. Quin is a white woman and is not a cook, and we regret that this misleading reference to her should have appeared in the Spectator.
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