at 18 , Diana has met the Queen , studies in Paris , visits USA and she &apos;s to be a debutante at Versailles . by William Burgess . she was a child when her father took her name and her picture as the trademark of a business which today has branches across two continents . she is the symbol of a romance of industry who herself is fast becoming one of its most efficient practitioners . she is Miss Diana Cowpe , 18-year-old daughter of textile tycoon Mr Eric Cowpe , of Thornton Cleveleys and Anchorsholme , and the glittering apex of her young career to date will be her coming out celebration at the highlight of the French social season , the debutantes &apos; ball at the Palace of Versailles . the Cowpe family came to live here seven years ago from Burnley , where blossomed the business which today supplies the demands of customers in over 60 different countries . Eric Cowpe , debonair industrialist , is the managing director of the Diana Cowpe organisation engaged in the production of bedspreads , bath mats , toilet sets , dressing gowns , housecoats , beach wear and candlewick by the yard . and at the heart of it is the golden girl a fluent linguist , an expert in public relations , who is fast making herself conversant with every branch of the industry . today the organisation has over 2,000 employees and uses seven mills . in 1960 the company further extended its interests by becoming the United Kingdom distributors for Cannon mills , who are the world &apos;s largest manufacturers of household textiles . in maintaining his global contacts , Mr Cowpe travels on an average 60,000 miles a year , mostly by air . his Fleetwood office , a spot of elegance in inelegant surroundings , buzzes with ideas and amiability and remarkable for a high-powered executive , he has not a single ulcer ! her friends . Diana is currently enrolled at l&apos;acad&amp;eacute;mie , 1,000 guinea-a-term plus finishing school in Paris , where her schoolmates include Miss Charlotte Ford , 19-year-old daughter of car king Henry Ford 2 , and Miss Singer , daughter of the president of the Singer sewing machine firm , whose wedding incidentally she will soon be attending in New York . in a few weeks &apos; time Miss Singer and a party will be coming to stay with the Cowpes in Norbreck-road . Diana who will be 19 in May , is staying with La Comtesse de la Forest Divonne , in the Avenue de Wagram , while she is attending l&apos;academie , which is associated with the famed Maxim . a finishing school par excellence , its curriculum ranges over all aspects of French culture . the programme . studies at the Sorbonne include acquaintance with the best of French civilisation , from history to art , architecture to haute couture , from the Louvre to the house of Dior , from the drama to the opera . not forgetting , of course , la cuisine . for the ball at Versailles , there will be a dress from Dior and an escort from a noted French family . this will be a night of nights , with representatives of the government and leaders of French society as well as a dazzling display of the world of fashion . ahead lie dates in New York for the Singer wedding , San Francisco , England , including the royal enclosure at Ascot , and a spell in Madrid . Diana was educated originally at Roedean at Brighton , and even at an early age was already an experienced traveller . no playgirl , despite the glitter and the globe-trotting , she has kept a shrewd eye on the family business , worked hard both at home and abroad at public relations . at the Earl &apos;s Court exhibition , where the company was represented , she was presented to the Queen , and there was an informal chat . the incident was later seen on television , and father records that his daughter was a good deal more composed than he was . a photograph of this occupies pride of place on his desk in the Fleetwood office . since she was very young , says her proud father , she has always taken a great interest in the business , and that is why I chose her for the company &apos;s trade name . I have confidence in her ability . a great girl ! in Switzerland . after Roedean , she went to another school at Neuchatel in Switzerland has already visited the United States and studied production in the mills of the deep south . last November Mr Cowpe had further proof of his daughter &apos;s versatility when she won golden opinions for her performance in invitation to Saturn , a new play by Lady Aylwen , which was presented at the Scala in London in aid of the greater London fund for the blind . small wonder that father has a wealth of photographs of his daughter , among which the one reproduced on this page takes pride of place . it was taken by Stara , noted French photographer of Paris and Cannes , whose pupils included the late great English photographer Baron . Diana Cowpe is a young lady on her way , and an example of beauty and brains in this modern age . spoke about colour bar . we are trying to bring about equal rights for all civilised men , said the Rev E Thornley , the northern area secretary for the Universities &apos; mission to central Africa , when he spoke to members of the St Chad &apos;s Church of England men &apos;s society on Monday . Mr Thornley asked , what is the colour bar ? he said that there were many forms . the first was a local colour bar , such as was found in the union of South Africa and which was known as apartheid . Mr Thornley said that apartheid was revolting , and although the basis of it was theology it was rank bad theology . another type of colour bar was the economic form which existed in the federation and which also formed the basis for the colour bar in the United States . the third form was the social colour bar which , said Mr Thornley , was pretty well universal . our mission is striving to create a multi-racial community where all may enjoy fundamental rights and responsibilities , and where a man &apos;s status and opportunities depend not on the colour of his skin but on his character and competence , he added . Mr S Holden , chairman , presided and Mr F Shaw thanked Mr Thornley . inspiration in a garage . a pen picture of Bispham artist Miss Kate Smith by Maureen McConville . from the outside , and on first glance , the garage at 19 , Stainforth-avenue , Bispham , looks like any other garage . but there the resemblance abruptly and completely ends . inside , in an atmosphere pungent with linseed oil and turpentine , it is furnished for use with fluorescent lighting supplementing the daylight from the large windows , and for comfort with thick matting on the floor , curtains and chairs . inside , the ordered chaos of artistic activity prevails . centrepiece . even to the uninitiated , this building , masquerading as an ordinary suburban garage , is a working artist &apos;s studio . the working artist to whom it belongs is Kate Smith , three of whose pictures have been hung as the centrepiece of the Lancashire art exhibition , which opened at the Harris Gallery , Preston , on Wednesday . Miss Smith came to Blackpool from the midlands in April last year and this is the first time she has exhibited in Lancashire . it is not , by a long way , her first experience of exhibiting , for Miss Smith has been painting most of her life , striving to express in oils on hardboard the ideas that come too fast for her to cope with . imaginative . she has little of the exhibitionism that people associate with artists . instead of producing a facile flow of ideas about artistic theory and personal aims , she gropes for words to express her sense of the seriousness of painting . she knows what she believes and feels about art , but she handles language with something less than the complete assurance with which she handles paint . considering whether she qualified as a modern artist or not , she told me : I &apos;m just an imaginative painter , really . this modest personal appraisal needs elaboration . Bible-inspired . many of Miss Smith &apos;s paintings are inspired by incidents in the new testament and express divine and human qualities in the life of God-made man . the expression is achieved by a heavy reliance on symbolism , which simplifies , concentrates and distorts reality to make the symbolism clear and powerful . the result is far from traditional , though it has nothing of the shock value of , say , action painters and other anti-humanists . striking . in fact , the human feeling in her paintings is one of their most striking aspects and one which has gained her adherents in unexpected quarters . coming to Blackpool has influenced her choice of subject to some extent , though now , she told me , she was returning to religious work . in her studio , I saw several pictures directly inspired by the local scene . one was a composite of Blackpool &apos;s pleasures , another a colourful sketch of the illuminations . rhythmic . one I particularly liked was a study of three girls preparing to swim . the rhythmic flow of their bodies made an interesting and satisfying composition . horses from the Tower circus were featured on a small painting full of vigour and delight in movement . Miss Smith has taught painting - in sanatoriums , which inspired one of the paintings now exhibited in Preston , and in mental hospitals - but it has always been her aim to be a full-time painter . now she has achieved it . she paints all through the day every day , starting at 8 a.m , taking time off for lunch , and working until 6 p.m . month to paint . a full-sized picture takes about a month to complete and afterwards , she relaxes for a few days before starting another . soon she will be employing one of her relaxation periods for another sort of painting . she is going to decorate her sittingroom . it will be my first attempt , she told me . red light plain to all . by Zephyrus . at last people are genuinely worried . one resignation , two resignations , even three resignations from the Blackpool town council they were prepared to accept as more or less normal wastage . but when , last week , the total rose to six with the impending departure of Marton &apos;s 70-year-old Coun James Shepherd Leigh , ratepayers suddenly recognised as a very real thing the red light which this column has been flashing for months . at function after function this week I am told , it has been said , the situation is serious . we can n&apos;t afford to lose experienced administrators at this rate . of course not . well , of course we can n&apos;t . what is more , unless the political parties themselves are prepared to admit that one way or another the rot must be stopped , local government in Blackpool could be in trouble before very long . how can the parties help ? obviously , I should think , by taking their councillors on one side and telling them it is time they started behaving like intelligent adults . members of the council are not unaware why many of their colleagues are quitting the municipal scene , or why quite a number of others are sick to the teeth . they know , as one or two have said publicly , that they are going because they feel that under the existing set-up it is well nigh impossible to have even the most insignificant questions discussed without the political and personal element creeping into them . disunity . indeed , disunity has become a matter for joking . the other day eight members of the estates and housing committee , and four corporation officials , made the long journey into Staffordshire to inspect some old people &apos;s housing schemes . the outward journey was halted for morning coffee , and I hear that when councillors saw the name of the hotel one of them wanted to know if , in making the arrangements , a town hall official had tried to be sarcastic . the name of the hotel ? the Good Companions ! by themselves , committees function reasonably well . it seems to be when committees join forces and become either the general purposes committee or a public meeting of the town council that feathers begin to fly . all hail , therefore , to one of the most recent proposals to come out of the town clerk &apos;s department . scrapped . it is - as long advocated by this column - that the general purposes committee as at present constituted ( it consists of all members of the council ) should be scrapped , and replaced by a more compact and workable body . 