Concession

Like a wet snowball in the back came an announcement from customs: -L-20 ($56) duty might be charged on 55 crates of snow sent from Norway for a ski-jumping contest on London's Hampstead Heath.

Cried London's Daily Mail: "What sterile, counting-machine mind decided that these chunks of climate must pay duty?" Said the Times: "If the taxation is for revenue, the interest of the Exchequer demands the utmost effort to stimulate trade with the Polar region . . ." An Evening News cartoon pictured ogre-like customs men waiting to pounce on returning travelers. The caption read: "Ready, men? Watch out for French air in the bicycle tires, Swiss mud on the ski boots, Italian sunburn, Continental elan."

Last week 20,000 Londoners watched the ski-jump; the Norwegian snow came in duty-free after the sponsors had filled out a customs form setting forth that the snow would be used for sport, and not commercially.

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