Miscellany: Trance

Near Lymington, England, Dr. William Teasdale Wilson, 79-year-old spiritist, sat dead in his chair for a week. His wife thought he was in a trance.

Smoker

At Jamaica, L. I., Frank La Carta, laborer, boarded a bus filled with theatre-goers, began to amuse himself by blowing smoke rings into their faces. Driver John Reiss asked La Carta to throw away his cigaret. La Carta refused. John Reiss stopped the bus, prepared to take La Carta to the street. La Carta knocked John Reiss against a window-glass, which crashed. La Carta then ripped off a section of the guard rail, flailed about him, pursued John Reiss. While women shrieked, men went to John Reiss’s aid, pummeled La Carta until Jamaica police reserves came. The bus was disabled.

Request

At Chicago, Mrs. Harriett Pfander sued Charles Pfander for divorce because lie asked her to commit suicide so he could marry his mistress.

Cocktail

At London, “Golden Dawn,” consisting of one part orange juice, two of Calvados gin, one of apricot brandy, a dash of grenadine, was chosen World’s Finest Cocktail by an international jury of one trade, one press, two public, representatives and a maitre d’hotel. To insure against a jaded taste, only five cocktails were sampled at a sitting. Prize cocktail concocter: Tom Buttery, teetotaling barkeep at London’s smart Berkeley.

Zink

At Le Mars, Iowa, the probated will of T. M. Zink, deceased attorney, revealed:1) His $100,000 estate is to be placed in trust for 75 years; 2) In A. D. 2005 the accumulated principal is to be used to establish, equip and maintain a library on whose shelves will be no woman author, on whose catalogs will be no woman’s name, over whose portal will blaze: “No Women Admitted”; 3) To his daughter went $5; 4) To his widow not 1¢.

Alibi

At Marion, Ohio, Charles Lewis, 30, was cleared of the charge of murdering Raymond Steele, filling station operator, when he proved that at the moment of the murder he was looting a store in Cleveland.

Regret

At Lawrence, Mass., a sneakthief snatched Mrs. Annie Thiarback’s pocketbook, containing $9.70, in a store. Later the store received an unsigned letter containing two $5 bills and a note stating that the writer regretted his conduct.

Painter

At Philadelphia, James Ellison, engaged in painting the Old Ladies’ Home, was prevented from going to work. In the night a thief had stolen his wooden leg.