COMMUNISTS: No Comment

Andrei Gromyko is not a funny man, but off the speaker's platform he often does what he can to be agreeable. At the diplomatic reception at San Francisco's Palace Hotel last week, the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister's small talk consisted largely of terse platitudes on the weather, a grunted "no comment" in answer to searching questions, and an occasional joke, filed away during his earlier visits to the U.S. One of his favorites:

Obstetrician: Mrs. Jones, I have very good news for you.

Patient: I am not Mrs. Jones, but Miss Jones.

Obstetrician: Miss Jones, I have very bad...

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