Our Far-Flung Correspondents THE LEAP SECOND by E. J. Kahn. OUR FAR-FLUNG CORRESPONDENTS about time measurement, as perfected at the Nat'l. Bureau of Standards' Time & Frequency Division in Boulder, Colorado. Discusses the precedent-shattering addition of 2 leap seconds to 1972; the change in Universal Coordinated Time was a compromise between the proponents of atomic time & earth...

Letter from Burma by Robert Shaplen. For the last quarter century Burma, in Southeast Asia, has remained aloof from the rest of the world. The Burmese way of life has been a blend of ardent Buddhism & fuzzy Socialism. Now, after a decade of military dictatorship, Burma is not sure it can survive in isolation, economically...

Fiction The Recipes of Chairman Mao by Marshall Brickman. Parody on Communist Chinese literature praising Mao Tse-tung and the Revolution. Excerpts are taken from "The Recipes of Chairman Mao", written by Mao's food chef during the Long March, Lin Pao-tsien. The recipes includer Two Traitors Pork Dumpling, named after two men who were executed for selling a...

The Race Track Luck Will Find a Way by G. F. T. Ryall. New York's new State Racing and Wagering Board has granted Aqueduct permission to extend its October 15th meeting for two weeks, to run through Dec. 29th...

The Talk of the Town By Any Other Name by Hendrik Hertzberg. Talk story about the illegality of naming an establishment which serves liquor a saloon. The word saloon, originally meant to lend tone to drinking places, had acquired unsavory connotations by the time of Prohibition. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, enacted by the state legislature in 1934, forbids selling alcoholic beverages...

Books by George Steiner.

Fiction The Perfect Crime by Elizabeth Cullinan. Nora Barrett, in her early thirties, was on her way by ferry to a beach resort (probably Fire Island) to spend a few days with her parents at their rented house. She liked to watch people who were unusual, and on the boat, she speculated about a dignified old woman...

Letter from Paris by Janet Flanner. Treasures of Chinese Art: Recent Archeological Discoveries of the People's Republic of China", are on view in Paris since May in the Petit Palais. Next month the show goes to London. The exhibit reaches back 600,000 years. Tells about objects from the Shang Dynasty, between the 16th & 11th centuries...

Dancing Swans by Arlene Croce.

The Talk of the Town En Voiture ! by Rogers E. M. Whitaker. Talk story about rail fan Ernest M. Frimbo making the first run on a French turbo train that was in the U.S for a trial. The run was to be conducted by Amtrak from Newark to Chicago. Because the turbo trains have not got certain signalling devices built into them...

Comment by Richard Harris. In addressing the nation on Watergate last week, Pres. Nixon said at the outset, "I shall not attempt to deal tonight with the various charges in detail. Rather, I shall attempt to put the events in perspective from the standpoint of the Presidency." Then he proceeded to deal with some...

The Current Cinema TIME OUT FOR THE UNDERDOG by Penelope Gilliatt.

Poetry New York: A Summer Funeral by L. E. Sissman. Against that sure cliff beat all hours of the night...