Judgments

"Science cannot escape its social responsibilities," sighed Atomic Physicist Enrico Fermi, "but it was so nice when science was considered unimportant and was not in the spotlight."

"An atom bomb war against Russia," figured James Aloysius Farley, "would result in the killing of 97 innocent people out of every 100. Since only 3% of the Russians are Communists . . ."

"I don't think anyone who hasn't a business head," generalized Broadway Producer Irene Selznick (A Streetcar Named Desire), "should go into business."

"I am enjoying very much going back over that period," mused New York's retired Episcopal Bishop William T. Manning, at work at 82 on his reminiscences of the past 45 years. The period he enjoyed, he observed, witnessed "the coming of the automobile . . . aviation, the two most terrible wars this world has ever known . . . the United Nations . . . the atomic age." His verdict on the era: "an interesting one."

"Spats are coming back," announced Adolphe Menjou. "So are walking sticks."

Junkets

Gone from London: Mae West, homeward bound after nine months. She had gained 6 lbs. on austerity meals, said she --which brought her up to 126, said she.

Face-to-face: the Venus de Milo and Marilyn Buferd, Venus d'Atlantic City ('46). Paris-visitor Miss Buferd, who was dressed to disadvantage, has a 35 1/2-in. bust and a 25 1/2-in. waist, no match for Milo, who is 39 in. around the middle.

Welcomed to London: Lana Turner & Groom Bob Topping. The welcoming just barely came off. Newsmen summoned for an interview were kept waiting an hour, then given a gentle but swift brush-off. "Probably the . . . most humiliating press conference ever held in Britain," the British Press Association called it. So the honeymooners tried again, with Scotch & soda and smiles. One paper quoted Lana's apology: "MGM loused it up." She denied using those words, but added: "They do sound rather American . . ."

Tired but happy: Denmark's King Frederik and Queen Ingrid, after a holiday at their hunting lodge. The maid fell ill and couldn't work. A neighbor found the Queen with a dishrag, begged to help out in some way. Came the King's voice from another room: "Do not think of that ... I have to do the vacuum-cleaning . . ."

Laurels

Bernard Baruch's cup kept right on overflowing. The American Schools and Colleges Association poured in one of its Horatio Alger Awards, for a fine ascent from a lowly beginning.

EGA Administrator Paul G. Hoffman got a mash note from a first-grader back in South Bend (where his Studebaker plant stands). "My daddy is a preacher," said the letter, "and he said if we had more men like you he would not have to preach so hard. I love you."

The French Academy got a note of praise from Pius XII, who wrote in French and gave the language a nod of approval in passing, for "its clarity, its precision, and its sense of distinction . . . the language of diplomacy and of abstract science ... of art, literature and poetry, the language of the spirit and of the heart."

Encores

Madame Chiang Kai-shek rolled back into the spotlight, entering a Nanking garden party in a cartwheel hat that the world would find difficult to ignore.

Al Shean of the famed Gallagher & Shean comedy team of the '20s turned 80 in Manhattan, but nary a hair. "What difference does it make?" he asked. "I'm doing all right . . . Maybe I haven't much money. But I don't want to be a millionaire ... If you don't have so much, nobody bothers you."

Ex-Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern, looking the world over on his 66th birthday, approved of Winston Churchill, clucked at Henry Wallace ("a very, very queer man"), recommended firmness with Russia, sighed for the old days: "Czarist diplomats were able men . . . But the present-day Russians have a largely Asiatic mentality."

Leavings

Sold at auction: the furnishings of "Friendship," the late Washington Hostess Evalyn Walsh McLean's mansion. Sample items: a jeweled cigarette box, $3,050; a set of glass stemware, $1,150; a paneled barroom, $5,000.

Offered for sale: the late Playboy Killer Harry K. Thaw's villa at Lake George, N.Y. Nice features: seven baths, a bowling alley, a pipe organ, a garage with nine-room apartment.

Left by radio's late, doom-voiced Commentator Boake Carter: $5,272 in assets, $119,398 in debts.

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