Two physicians, one an ear specialist, labored last week over brawny, strapping Commander Robert Tatton Bower, M. P., Conservative, who was struck on the floor of the House of Commons by small, wiry Mr. Emanuel Shinwell, M. P., Laborite.
The blow made premature world headlines as a "slap in the face," but it was a box on the ear, and internal bleeding began between the layers of the left eardrum. A blood clot formed, which caused the eardrum to burst, and at latest reports Commander Bower was said by the doctors to be in a "serious condition."
Mr. Shinwell had been vituperating the Government's foreign policy, and the Conservative commander finally shouted at him, "Go back to Poland!"
The Laborite, who is a London-born Jew, took this as an anti-Semitic remark, hurled himself over to the Conservative side of the House and delivered the blow with his open hand, technically an "assault"—which is almost unprecedented in the Mother of Parliaments.
While the House angrily roared at Laborite Shinwell: "Get out! Get out!" the commander folded his arms and stared the little Jew down. The commander then apologized for having said "Go back to Poland"; Mr. Shinwell apologized for his blow; and not until four days afterward was it found that damage had been done.