Consuming Interest
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By LESLIE ADRIAN To dictate an Overseas or Radio Telegram,' says the latest edition of the London Tele- p h o n e Directory (January, 1959), 'dial 557.' H you send cables regularly on behalf of a business organisation you will know that it can take quite a long time to get through to 557 (or its equiva- lent outside London) and there are further avoid- able delays when you do. When you dial 557 you get through to the Central Telegraph Office of the GPO and, thereafter, your cable is routed to the appropriate section either of the Post Office itself or, more likely, of Cable and Wireless. This system is normally satisfactory enough for the occasional user, but if you want to send cables fairly regularly and with as little delay as pos- sible you should arrange to have an account. You will then be told to dial 667 (a Cable and Wireless number) where you will find that the service is rather quicker.
The GPO and Cable and Wireless between ihem deal pretty effectively with a very large volume of cables to overseas addresses but if speed of transmission and delivery are vitally im- portant to you for business or other reasons you may find that a smaller organisation than these may suit your purpose better.
Two organisations which operate here under licence from the Post Office are Commercial Cables (London Wall 1266) and Western Union (London Wall 4151). Both operate twenty-four hours a day. Their territory is transatlantic—the US, Canada, South America, the Philippines and the West Indies—and Commercial Cables speci- alise in a service for stock exchange, produce and metal market and arbitrage business. Because they are smaller organisations, their service to these parts of the world are likely to be quicker. (Western Union is, of course, a very large organ- isation in the US. It has the entire internal tele- gram system in the US in its hands and its delivery service, outside a few major cities, is used by all other cable companies transmitting to the US.) Both Commercial Cables and Western Union will accept cables dictated from a call-box or a private telephone and will send you the bill later. Their bad debts are, perhaps surprisingly, very small and they consider that this service is well worth their while as well as yours.
If you are outside London and can't get one of their local offices you should call their London numbers. The cost of a toll or trunk call in these circumstances will be deducted from the cost of the cable.
* * Most men regard ties as a necessity, not as an adornment. They wear 'the same few ties regu- larly and often, tie the knot in the same place each time and are very reluctant to throw• a tie away. When forced to buy a new tie they want to know whether it will wash (Terylene and Tootal ties will) and whether it will last (knitted ties are the longest-wearing).
There is really only one answer to these ques- tions : ties will not last for ever nor remain clean for ever any more than any other article of cloth- ing will. Don't expect ties to clean well. They are likely to lose both their lustre and their shape. (This is a criticism of cleaners rather than of ties., The standard of cleaning in this, country is deplorably low.) The only way to keep ties clean and prevent them from fraying is to have enough of them to wear each one no more than about once in two weeks.
For those who do regard a tie as more than something to fill the gap between the wings of a collar, I report a recent development. Couturiers are now making ties for men : Hardy Amies in Britain, Jacques Fath, Christian Dior and Pierre Cardin in France. All are available in this country and the bete selection is at Woolland's in Knightsbridge. Jacques Fath and other French silk ties are sold (many exclusively) at Michele's, a small shop at 6 Princes Arcade, between Picca- dilly and Jermyn Street. Michele also provides a good hand cleaning service for all ties at Is. 9d., and gives two free cleanings with any tie bought in her shop. In spite of what I have said about cleaners, I recommend this one. Michele's is a specialist.
Hardy Amies tics are available all over the country. They are all expensive. A Hardy Amies is 39s. 6d., a Jacques Fath 59s. 6d. and three guineas. (Fath now also makes socks to match or tone with his ties.) For your money you get fine English, French or Italian silk, a couturier's cut and choice of colours and his good taste and quality. Each tie carries the name of the couturier either on the label or imprinted in the lining.
If the idea of a Hardy Amies tie strikes you with a dull thud you won't be given up as lost. You might get one as a present from your wife. Worse things will have happened to you.
* Cyril Ray writes : 1 am glad to hear from Richard and William Teltscher Ltd., one of the three or four firms that ship them, that more Yugoslav wines are being imported. The white wines of Slovenia, long part of the Austro-Hun- garian Empire, which grows the same kinds of grape as Alsace and the German vineyards, are particularly good value—probably because of low labour costs, well-organised co-operatives and a more equable climate than that of the Rhine. I have drunk a lot of the Lutomer Rieslings and Sylvaners at about 9s. a bottle, and I have just been tasting the more delicate and more fragrant Traminer, which will be making its first appear- ance at the wine merchants here in about a month's time, at I ls. 6d.—and comparable with any Alsatian at the price. There is a red Merlot which is good, but not such good value at 9s. 6d., a price at which some very sound Bordeaux can give it a run for its money, and I am looking forward to meeting the so-called `Tigermilk,' ' rich, sweet, late-gathered dessert wine that wilt be a bargain at I Is. 3d. if it's half as good as the shippers say it's.going to be.
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