MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor Kane’s Moon

Mayor William Edward Kane of Woburn, Mass. (pop. 19,700) once bought a lion’s cage wherein to parade drunks through the streets. He also peeked through tavern windows, struck from welfare rolls the name of reliefers whom he saw in their cups.

Last week abstemious Mayor Kane embellished his repute for quixotic administration. Noting that the moon was full over Woburn, he ordered the local electric plant to switch off the street lights and leave them off on future moonlit nights. When astonished constituents protested, the Mayor explained that: 1) he saved the city $70 a night; 2) combined moon and street light was so bright as to blind automobilists. Mindful that the moon is treacherous, he planned to hire two WPAsters as moon watchers. Their job: to call the Boston Edison Co. and order the juice turned on when moonlight fails.