Michigan's Governor-elect knows that the ability to make a quick decision is the mark of a good executive. But Lenore Romney, his handsome wife (who opted for marriage instead of a movie contract in 1931) knows the wifely wisdom of the let-George-do-it axiom. Out shopping for an inaugural ball gown, she nodded agreeably when his eye fastened on a "blush orchid" satin number with beaded bodice and boat neckline. Said she: "George chose it, I tried it on. and away we went."

Looking more like Great Danes with manes, a trio of hip-high horses arrived at Idlewild Airport from Argentina. They were bound for the McLean, Va.. home of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy as a Christmas surprise for their seven children and Ethel's relatives. Hearing about the horses, and feeling an urge to expand the Kennedy menagerie (present occupants: four dogs, 20 rabbits, one guinea pig, one donkey), Ethel shot off an order to Argentine Breeder Julio Falabella. who claims that his herd of 350 is unique. Sturdy enough to saddle up and ride, the midget horses have other endearing qualities that may make Cousin Caroline's pony, Macaroni, lose a length in Kennedy affections. Says Falabella: "They eat practically nothing--far less than sheep--and can be completely housebroken. The mares are always getting pregnant; in fact they are disgustingly happy and healthy."

"It will be a standard family Christmas," said the secretary in London. Arriving for the holidays from school in Gstaad, Switzerland, were the kiddies, led by Liza Todd Fisher, 5, looking like Mother Elizabeth Taylor from the eyes up and--clutching a tabloid but no cigar --like her late father Mike Todd from the nose down. With Liza came Half Brothers Michael, 9, and Christopher Wilding, 7; only adopted Baby Sister Maria Fisher, 2, stayed in Gstaad, would miss all the fun at the Dorchester with Mommy and Uncle Dickie Burton. Meanwhile, winging in from Switzerland to add to the one-big-family aspect of Christmas in London were Sybil Burton and two little Burtons. Announced Sybil firmly: "There is nothing wrong with our marriage. We shall be spending Christmas here with our two children."

Three sons of famous generals were tapped for bigger things by the Army: Lieut. Colonel John Eisenhower, 40. Lieut. Colonel Sam Walker, 37, son of Korean Eighth Army Commander General Walton Walker, killed in Korea, and Colonel Henry Arnold Jr., 45. whose father, the late General "Hap" Arnold, commanded U.S. air forces in World War II. Walker, now at U.N. headquarters in Korea, goes to the National War College in Washington, a hitch that is often a prelude to a general's star; Arnold, presently on duty at the Presidio in San Francisco, and Eisenhower, who has been on leave for nearly two years helping his father prepare his presidential papers, may be groomed for higher rank at the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., only a short drive from the Eisenhower farm in Gettysburg.

As every soldier knows, greatcoats are never--no, not ever--worn on the parade ground at Sandhurst, Britain's West Point near London. Mindful of his own days there, Jordan's mitey monarch, King Hussein, carried the custom 14 miles northward when he turned up in ordinary service uniform to review the annual Passing Out parade at the R.A.F.'s Cranwell College in blustery Lincolnshire. No one dared to cross Jordan's stormy ranks, and for a frigid 45 minutes the R.A.F.'s top brass shivered along while hardy Hussein marched around. Chattered Station Commander Group Captain George Reid: "I don't think he realizes that in Lincolnshire the temperature is 10DEG to 15DEG lower than Sandhurst."

Into the office of the Secretary of the Senate wandered Democratic Whip Hubert Humphrey. He was real casual. Why, he asked, was everybody working so hard? Well, they were preparing new legislative bills for printing in time for the opening of Congress in January. And did they, asked Humphrey, also assign legislative numbers? Yes they did. Any system for assigning numbers? Nope. How about this bill here? asked Hubert. Mightn't it just as well be Senate Bill No. 1 as any other? Yes, sighed the bill clerk, it might. And so it will. It happens to be Humphrey's own bill to set up a Youth Conservation Corps along the lines of the old CCC.

During a speech at the University of North Carolina, members of the Tarheel student body thought they detected a familiar ring. Scheduled to speak on "Freedom and the Welfare State," Right-Winging William F. Buckley Jr., 37. instead read an article he had written for Playboy, in which he paeaned his own brand of conservatism, scourged left-leaning Author Norman Mailer, and cast doubt on the virility of Critic Kenneth Tynan. Agreeing that Buckley had used his text once too often (his fee was $1,000 for the same lecture in Chicago, another $3,500 from Playboy}, the speech-sponsoring Carolina Forum withheld Buckley's $450 stipend until a more realistic secondhand price was negotiated.

Flouncing down to the footlights to sing Take Back Your Mink in a new Las Vegas production of Guys and Dolls was a Miss Adelaide whose show-pony strut, blinding blonde curls and 37-24-35 measurements have not changed since she was queen of the Fox lot in the '40s. Bouncy Betty Grable, 46, was back onstage for fun and profit--and besides, it was all so convenient. She and Bandleader Husband Harry James now live in Las Vegas ("I just report for the show at 8 and go home at n"), where she has been playing golf and doing very little else for the past two years. "Exercise? Not really; all I get is climbing in and out of the golf cart."

Back in Warsaw after nine weeks in Rome attending the Second Vatican Council, Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, 61, doughty primate of Communist Poland, chided the Gomulka government on excessive chariness with pocket money. Fumed the cardinal: "Each Polish bishop was allowed to take only $5 with him, and that would not suffice even if we could live on pumpkin seeds."

Ill lay: Oklahoma's Democratic Senator Robert S. Kerr, 66, who entered Washington's Doctors Hospital with a virus infection, suffered a mild heart attack; former St. Louis Cardinals' Slugger Rogers Hornsby, 66, who entered the Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital to have a cataract removed, was stricken with a slight stroke which affected his left arm and leg; Britain's Labor Party Leader Hugh Gaitskell, 56. in Hampstead's Labor-founded Manor House Hospital for treatment of a bad cold and a checkup on a possible lung complication.

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