Bluffs Called

At Durham, sleepiest of English "cathedral towns," the former Nancy Langhorne of Virginia, now Viscountess Astor, famed original female M. P., orated in part as follows to an assembly which she suspected of harboring Communist sentiments:

"Perhaps some of you men pretend to think that Russia is a Paradise. I shall call your bluff! If I can find one solitary man, at present unemployed, who will agree to go to Russia and live there for two years, I myself will pay for his passage and for that of his family, if he has one!"

Well pleased at this rhetorical flourish, Lady Astor descended from the platform prepared to make her exit from the hall in quiet triumph. Instead, unemployed males surged about her car, demanding that she fulfill her pledge--valiantly attempting to call the Rt. Hon. Lady's bluff. Upon reaching home, the harassed Viscountess was "deluged with letters."

Late in the week she hedged as follows:

"If I can find the right sort of man, my offer still holds good."