T HE swing to the left in Syria with the appointment of General Bizri as Commander-in-Chief and the allega- tions of an American plot against the security of the State will have...

SPECTATOR ESTABLISHED 1€28 - NUMBER 6739 - FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 1957 - PRICE NINEPENCE

NYONE interested in studying the tactics of n k bureaucracy on the defensive could hardly do better than read the correspondence on the Russian Service of the BBC which has been...

By RICHARD H. ROVERE New York As I have several times pointed out in these re- ports, Mr. Eisenhower in his second term is the first President pro- hibited by law — the...

By DABS 1 E GILLIE Paris B Y the time this is in print M. Felix Gaillard, the French Minister of Finance, will have launched his campaign for stabilising prices, and the...

Picoorr is heavy ... he has to watch his weight all the time. Observer: Profile of Lester Piggott, August 18. His comparative freedom from worry over weight... Sunday Times :...

IN TiiE olive-green racing colours of her father Aly Khan, eight-year-old Princess Yasmin made her debut as a jockey yesterday. She romped home a 2-1 winner. When the race was...

Ghana, the new member of the Common- wealth, began early to suffer from teething troubles; riots, baton charges, and shouts of 'Down with Nkrumah!' greeted the formal open- ing...

So it is, analogously enough, with. Parliament. When the geological strata of the present Parlia- mentary system were laid down (and here, of course, I am not simply referring...

tasteless and patronising reference to the Queen he was promptly set upon by Randolph Churchill. Why, I wonder, has Mr. Churchill been silent during the last few weeks? I can...

now the Northern Line. At that tender age, a line which could boast stations with names such as Burnt Oak, Angel and Nightingale Lane was invested with great romance; and...

deporting political opponents and journalists, and proceedings against the corre- spondent of the Daily Telegraph for contempt of court, civil liberties seem to have been taking...

wholly unfitted, by reason of its constitution and tradition, for handling 'features' of this nature. The BBC's ludicrous apology was one symptom of this weakness : the way that...

NOW THAT many national news- papers have a stake in commercial television, the BBC is likely to come in for some unfair criticism. But though it may be unedifying to see...

(Recorded on tape) By PAUL TABORI 151EN, Mr. Tabori, all we want is a gimmick L, so this nice, clean-cut American can work right at Scotland Yard.' 'Let me tell it, Elmer. You...

By CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS I N hockey, they tell me, amateurs are amateurs, but everywhere else the interpretation of amateur status is an absurdity. The story of the exact ways in...

Nana Sahib The fourth of a series of articles compiled from the Spectator of 1857. RILE the siege of Delhi dragged on in- terminably and almost, in the absence of siege guns,...

By JOHN BETJEMAN T HERE is a movement afoot, and it does not originate with me, to found a Victorian Group, analogous to the Georgian Group. Such a group is badly needed, but it...

BEDFORD JEZZARD . . . wiped his sweat-streaked face in the Fulham dressinglroom yesterday and said quietly: 'I fancy there's a 50-50 chance of still carry- ing on as a...

By LESLIE ADRIAN TN the past few months I have watched the 'transformation of Bute Street, SW7, which lies less than a hundred yards west of South Kensing- ton Underground...

things to say about the ignorance of Members of Parliament, and then describes them as ignorami. This is equivalent to the howler committed by the man who talked about 'omnibi'...

SIR,—It was good to see Leslie Adrian making rude faces at dyed kippers. Let me curdle his blood by informing him that sometimes it is not even fresh but frozen fish that is...

Euston 3221

The BBC's Russian Service TV Apple Cart Light for Taper Saucy Kippers The Liberal Creed Australian Women Kings Cross to Euston Masochist or Paranoiac? Cigarettes and Lung Cancer...

SIR,—My attention has been drawn to the references to myself contained in 'Westminster Commentary' dated August 9. The reliability of Taper's comments may be judged from his...

Findlater, expressed pleasure at my appearance as King Magnus in The Apple Cart, but a little nonplussed at his alarm over the alleged fee that I was paid by the BBC for this...

SIR,—I am collecting material for a book concerdrig Sarah and Aaron Aaronsohn, of Zichron Yaacol shall welcome any reminiscences about the int,:1 11 " gence service which they...

SIR,—Although I agree in full with D. W. Brogan's disparaging remarks in his article 'Australian Felix' last week concerning food and hotels in that mighty land, I cannot let...

SIR,—Dr. A. Piney reminds Pharos (Spectator, Augu st 16) that 'the evidence of a causal relationship betv ee ri , is cigarette smoking and cancer of the lung . . . . . of...

between smoking and lung cancer 'shows internal inconsistencies'; of course it &es : that seems to be inherent in the nature of the univers e in which we live. It is not,...

Stk—I have seen in World's Press News a reference to a bright remark made recently in the Spectator say- ing that John Connell's book on Suez had two good reviews, one in the...

Sin,—Mr. Christopher Hollis really should be more careful. ICI his review of the.new Liberal symposium, The Unservile State (Spectator, August 2), he told us that half the...

SIR,—Mr. Bardsley is correct; but if he wishes to perform the journey his way, he will have to do it (a) on a weekday; and (b) before 9.34 a.m., as the last train from...

AUGUST 25, 1832 AN eccentric gentleman was brought before Mr. Sergeant Sellon, the other day, charged with the en- tirely novel offence of over-abundant compassion for the...

Mixture as Before EDINBURGH, SO far, has not been at its best. Torrents of rain have bedraggled the 'con- temporary' Chinese lanterns in Princes Street, drowned the Tattoo and...

THE recent appearance in London of five out of the small handful of English ballet companies in existence seems to indicate that ballet, both as art and as enter- tainment, is...

ANYONE who had anything to do with the peacetime American army in Europe can hardly fail to get some nostalgic guffaws out of Operation Mad Bull, a rattlingly good farce (with...

LAST Sunday the Brains Trust gave another demonstration of thoughtful, conscientious deliberation, islanded in the usual expense of weekend 0 0 spirit. Under the tactful, almost...

Apres Nous le Deluge By 1). W. BROGAN A YEAR or two ago, I was, from necessity, .,.reading a number of books by French emigre s . And there was one feature that marked Most of...

The Taxis of the Marne. By Jean Dutourd. (Seeker and Warburg, 16s.) The Taxis of the Marne. By Jean Dutourd. (Seeker and Warburg, 16s.) To care about national glory is regarded...

Denmark become Hamle t ! i ll How did an Elizabethan revenge-hero become romantic prototype, like Faust or Don Juan, s ` t tit that Mr. James Burnham could dub biro 141...

Louisa BOGAN has been writing and publishing for over twenty years, but she has made no great splash, being largely ignored in her own country, the United States, and unknown in...

WHY do controversies continue and disc ments remain unresolved? Surely the parli6 hl a dispute know what factual evidence alternatively, what rules of logic are corn i h to...

The World Regained. By Dennis McEldowney. (Chapman and Hall, 10s. 6d.) CHILDREN instinctively treat physical disabilities in others the right way—they remark on them, yet take...

Ione Tobacco. By Compton Mackenzie. 43 (Chau° and Windus, 21s.) 14 „ N Page 100 of this book is the earliest-known O ra ving of an English tobacco shop; the . shop – o...

AT a time when dedications have shrunk to almost nothing—just a clipped personal affirma- tion unconnected with the character of the book —it is an agreeable change to find...

The Uniqueness of the Individual. By 1 ' Medawar. (Methuen, 18s.) SOME of the best contemporary writing bY, standards is produced by scientists and it r s indication of the...

By CUSTOS THE week opened dismally in Throg- morton Street. Nervousness about the £ caused a fresh fall in the gilt- edged market, with War Loan dip- ping at one time to a new...

By NICHOLAS DAVENPORT p . ---4 ` 6.-- Reserve bankers have decided that lo th I nrie before they follow suit. Simultaneously, e ti*I nle loan' rates from 4 per cent. to 41 per...

'Infested it was. Cockroaches in the kitchen. I, fish things in the cupboards, an' the beds! TheY everythin' in all sizes there. Bold as brass, who man come to fumigate after we...

How many sorts of bird nest in houses? 1 was asked this not long ago and pondered it myself. The commoner ones include starlings, sparrows, tits, swifts, swallows, martins,...

typical English summer, 'Fine weather for ducks,' is perhaps a com- ment on the habit of keeping ducks in places where they only get into their natural element when it rains....

By PHILIDOR No.116. Specially contributed by H. AHUES BLACK (6 men) WHITS to play and mate in two moves: solutioniiriet week. Solution to last week's problem by Hal l R x K Kt...

By IAN NIALL TOURIST guides and like publications list, in addi- tion to the historical attractions of a place, the brief information that market day is on a Thursday. This...

struck him dead: And serve hint right! It is the business of the wealthy man To give employment to the artisan. (Hilaire Belloc) Competitors are asked to describe in four lines...

craftsmen have a cushy job? (10) of 16 A measure of glue (4). l ' ef 26 Scottish hills in Nor' Arctic (9). f r i 12 Do shut up! (8) 27 Hi s is a moving role on the stage (5 -...

)1 Pcittors were asked to compose the last will and testament of one of the following: the Pooh, Tartu fie, Mrs. Malaprop, Falstaff, Helen of Troy. Whittle 1, 1 ,IN is the...