1959-05-23 — Page 12

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Page, 12

THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1959.

AMONG THE PIGEONS OF VENICE, AN AUTHOR WITH A SECRET DROPS HIS MASK

The Board of Trade man

now turns to murder

RE

Venice. EVERENTLY my motor boat stuttered down Venice's Grand Canal, past carved, lurching gondolas, past the Rialto where Shylock shrugged and nattered, past bridges where love-hit Dante moped in exile.

L3

.

Cool about death as surgeon.

Near the Bridge of Sighs I Servico-it was his duty to be diso nonred with my su (bough! H.gh Street, Ken [[#kan}, Aeros that bridge the Dogies pent their prisoners to death,

In hot, glittering sunlight I trade for the great Plazza San Marco.

GO

My guidebook said: "A charming characteriste of

the Piazza are the pigeons, tame that they will реск from the hands of Venetians and foreigners alike."

Haggard's man is Percival- Smith, an ex-Commando offer who works for a City Arm on who is expected to return to the City when his once-for-all job ir aver, The house he tries to burgle is not some glamorous Fleming hideout in Havana, but

auburban villa in Surrey.

Yet there are surprises, When Percival-Smith, the ex-

ROBERT PITMAN'S Page

spoli his future chances if he Ing from young

Assistant advised the present Government Principals to a very semor mun, to send troops. He acts accord the Controller of an entiro" de ingly:

partment.

"Sir Francis Ecler Look ́his pen again. fic wrote despatches very cosity. The phrases flowed amoothly an to paper, per- mazive, reassuring, and totally false,"

Which was it and what was the motive behind his books? I came to Venlee to find out.

Among the American tourists at the ranked tables Gualde Florian's I BOW a tall, dir. Finally now comes tinguished, grey-haired man of Haggard's latest book, 40.. VENETIAN BLIND (Castell, After tome pollte argument 13. d.). It conviners me that he admitted: "All right then, here at last we have the adults' I am William Haggard but my In Fleming. For Fleming real name is Clayton." formers, even for fifth-formers aged 50

let's face it-wrkes for th

"His books are filled not with daydreams, but daymores. 2013 heroines are threatened with poisonous spiders and glant

crabs,

One is oven murdered by being painted entirely with gold so that her skin ceases to breathe.

was the very senior man,

the Centroller, Mr R. H. M.

Clayton of the Enemy Property Branch of the Board of Trade, Clayton ordered drinks. He said: "I'll have something very rare in Venico-gin and fonte." Between sips He talked about himself, about his education at Lancing ("I suppose I went there just ichen Evelyn Waugh was leaving"), about his years the Indian Civil Service Blind work more subtly. They before joining the Board of are employed not by Smeran, Trade. the Russian spy-ring in We moved out into the Plenting's books, but by a massive Weal German Industrial combine,

The assasins in

Ventilar in.

Nently they t Gervas Leat,

squares of Venlee. We crossed the Grand Canal to the twist- ing alleys of the south side,

"The unfashionable side-ths

“No, because of the Germany. They come in hordes then."

We talked about Fleming's novels. Clayton said: "Boauli- fully written, but boy's stuff, ar ¦ course there is no brent with, a Gouble-O prefix and a licence to kl. My Percival-Smith incident is much nearer the real thing,”

We talked about the molive that had suddenly driven Clayton into the book-world in todle age. Did he want to expose the Civil Service?

Clayton said: "Far from it. I wrote simply because I wanted nomething to read, I cannot endure the plotless novels of our modern longhairs. So I started

Waterloo."

writing each day on the train to

A beautiful book

Laler, after dinner, we took the launch back along the moonlit Grand Canal,

Clayton sold: **For theso people this is just liko the No. 11 bus. But look at it for a writer. How can you go wrong?"

But even in Venico tastes vary. Before bed with the story of William Haggard turning in my mind I chatted about books to the hotel barman,

Ho said: "I worked In England onco and I read a great English book. It was wonderful. A beautiful book, They made & film of it but it could not be so lovely, Let me remember the,

But I was not concerned with. Commando, has dealt with the the combine's British rival, over side I like best," said Clayton, title,

hose tolerant cosmopolitan Venetian pigeons, I was nearing the end of a search which had Insled over a year.

My quarry: an extraordinary

nother whom I had been seek ing since 1998 begen.

1

While Venice's cuy bang played Ivor Novello in Mark's huge squnre, I recalled the start of my search.

I begin when I read SŁÓW FURNER, by a novelist esited William Haggard. For me it was a. entirely new kind of thriller, On the surface it had the esuai Ion Fleming theme.

Nasty deaths

There

were

nosty deaths. There were secrets passed to Hussin, But the men caught up in these events are not inuch like Fleming's slick James Band or the warped monsters wisu Balit blm. They are

・bolt and chain on the Surrey front door and starts casing the bedrooms Ը ands himself looking at a pistol held by

handsome, tinclad woman,

I.

She is the house's owner mature lady of uncertain virtue whose favours are shared by dub of three rich young bankers, She

Imagines that Percival- Smith has broken in to share those favours too.

to

the side of a public launch when he visita Venice.

Goes deeper Huggard also rivals Fleming as a guide to smart living. From James Bond we learn which drinks to order, which golf kit to frown at "They were a brand new set of American Ben Hogans with smart St Mark's

leather covers for the woods, The clubs were in individual cardboard tubes. It 10as a pre- tentious outfit.")

He decides that the best thing do is to convince her urdently that her guess is right,

Hoggard goes deeper. Take Such was Hoggard's first

his description of a zoom iu novel. But who was Haggard? Gervas Leat's country house:- Even his publishers didn't "It was good deal cariter know They dealt with him then the Adams and the archt- through an agent.

All they tect had known better than to knew was that he worked at debauch it with a spurious blue, the Board of Truce and that' The walla were the patent of the name was a pseudonym. apple greens, the pliaster's

Then come another Haggard capitals discreetly glided." novel, THE TELEMANN What tastemanship thai s TOUCHI, about a sinister agent Haggard's readers might know cultured englacering Lycoons who stirs up trouble for the about the Adam brothers, the and sculor British civil servants. tif men of the Colonial Omice 18th century archileets. But

The civil servants resort to in a British oil Island. James Bond methods, not There is a voluptuous island because they like violence, but girl; there in violence ("He felt because they don't want to qulte slutely, sliding down their Minister by David's body. Dauld raised hils embarrass Invoking emergency police right foot. The toe was up, da powers,

he had been taught, and the Take onc instance. They heet down. He measured the employ

break distance. He dropped his heet Into a house which seems to precisely upon be a source of strange atomic neek."). cmaliations. But the man, of course, is not like James Bond, Ile does not have a special Secret Service number.

"AS

man to

Writes Fleming of Bond:

a secret agent who hel

the

other's

But--something you would never get in Fleming-there are slag the carter problems of the Estand's refined Governor, Slr Francis Eeles,

Ie calculates that there will General Election

the rufe double 0 prefix-the soon be

how many would knew that for such rooms blue would be spurious?

Asked in vain

But what is the truth about William Haggard himself?

Until this week I had been usking in vain for 14 months.

Then I learned that he was holidaying in Venice. I was told that his favourite bar Florian's in the Piazza San Murco. I also gathered that his real Inals were R.C.

Who was R.C.? I consulted the Civil Service list. There were several Board of Trade

Becher 10 kill in the Secret at home, He dreides it would officials with those initials rang-

The secret-of-

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The barman looked out over the fairytale waters of Venice, Then he said: "I remember. The author was a man, Wode- house. It was called Piccadilly

"I come to Venice on hällday whenever I can. 1.will never become an expatriate. but I would like to live here four months of the year. Not in the summer though.”

Jim," "Because of the heat?" I asked,

-(London Express Service).

JACKY'S DIARY

JACKY MENDELSOHN

AGE 3/2

The

SŁOW BURNER

SLOW BURNER

The Telemann Tech

WILSM PAG 10

TOP TEN

1 IT DOESN'T MAT

TES ANY MORE.” Buddy Holly, Coral. (1)**

"'A FOOL SUCH AS 1* /.”I NEED. YOUR LOVE TONIGHT.”

• ́, Elvis Presler. RCÀ.

(2)

"HIDE

BADDLE"

Rum Conway, 'Colum- bia: (4)

"DONNA."

Marly

Wide, Philips. (8).

"IT'S LATE." Ricky

Nelado. London, (9).

"PETITE

Chri Barber. Pye. (3)

*COME SOFTLY TO The Floci. wooda, London. (10).

"CHARLIE BROWN." The Coasters. London. (0)

Venchan

Blind

WILLIAM

T

6

HAGGARD

9

*T'VE

LONG."

The trail led to a bar in Venice

Last Night Mommy read me a story called "The Rincess If The Pears

So he traveled all over The World Looking for a Beauty-full Princess To get married With But he couldnt find a single 1

Are you a Princess

Yes. Only m all ready)

Married.

FLEUR,"

WAITED

Anthony Newler. Decco. (-)

10 "COME SOFTLY TO

ME" Frankie Vanchan and The Kayo Bisiers. Philips, (-)

IN CO-OPERATION Witn NEW MURICAL EXPRESS

-(London Expreza Service.J.

was about how this Handsome Prince wanted to get married for SOME YEASON only he Hap To Marry a Real Princess OR Else his Mommy Daddy would'nt Let him

Finely he gave up Looking Returned to the Palace

Where did you

Only The Queen didnt believe She Was A real Rine

•She tried out A Test on her 1st She Pu 20 Mattresses on the beag of then she stuck a Green Pea

Underweath the bottom of theme

Green

Pea

18.

| Night it Started in to Rain when all of a sudden They heard some BODY MOCK ing on the Door of the Castlee it was A Pincess Who Wanted a Place to Slee

NOCK

The Princess Couldnt harply sleep at ALL But Tossed & Turned all Night Long●

LAP HENG CO. LTD. 325 Marlos Hull, Heat Kong.

UNIVERSAL

„GENIVE

Kong Brashers & C% kid, Peute Prado, Pechen JR.'.

La Bates Výtah Sri Nas hea

Next day when they SAW how Black

Blue she was they knew she was for Teal, because Her Skin WAS SO TICKLE ish. She felt the Green Tea Right THRough 20 Mattresses

Black

Very

Blue

So The King & Queen Said @K. so the Handsome Prince made The Princess his Awful Wedded Wife which means He Married her) & They Lived Happily even After

ADD VIGE FOR CHILDREN

The Moral of this Story

Don't eat Green Peas IN Bedo Especially if You for Royal Blood

Your Friend, JACKY