Of Customs & Apples

Making his first official call on India's new Governor General Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari, Soviet Ambassador Kirill Novikov* addressed "Rajaji" as "Your Excellency." When the Governor General expressed surprise at his use of the title, Novikov explained:"We dropped the custom after the Revolution, but later felt that it had been a mistake."/- "What?" Rajaji inquired sweetly. "The Revolution?"

In New York last week, just before his departure homeward (see PEOPLE), Soviet U.N. Delegate Andrei Gromyko was the victim of another thrust. Chatting with Presidential Candidate Henry Wallace and Canada's U.N. Delegate General A. G. L. McNaughton, Gromyko confided that he hadn't been able to get a decent apple since he arrived in the U.S. Agricultural Expert Wallace asked General McNaughton to suggest a couple of first rate Canadian varieties for the Russian. "Well," McNaughton drawled, "we have Mclntosh Reds--also the Northern Spy."

* Not to be confused with former Soviet Ambassador to the U.S. Nikolai V. Novikov. /- Having restored the use of titles in all the branches of government service, Moscow reverted to another good old czarist custom last week by instituting "special forms of clothing," rank insignia and personal titles for officers of financial and banking institutions. Top rank: General State Counselor of Financial Service.

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