13 AUGUST 1954, Page 6

A Stickler lot Convention ,

Some people I know employ a chauffeur who discovered, on the eve of his holiday, that a mistake' had been made and the seaside lodgings which he thought he had booked were not after all available. So he and his wife stayed at home (they live in a cottage about 300 yards from. their employer's. house) and consoled themselves by going on numerout excursions in coaches. But the chauffeur was not one to neglect protocol, and when half of his fortnight was up his employer's wife was touched by the arrival of a picture post' card. ' Dear Madam,' (the chauffeur wrote) We are having a very nice time here. Yesterday we went to Weymouth by coach; it was very nice . . .' and so on. The picture was photograph of the local village.