Miscellany: Fall

In Long Beach, L. I., John Perillo stepped into an open elevator shaft, dropped 15 feet. He broke only his leg because he fell on the body of Charles Altman, who night before had fallen to his death.

Taxi

In Manhattan a cinemaddict stumbled drowsily into a taxi, mumbled "Juarez," took 40 winks. When he woke, Driver William Lysaght was tooling through Philadelphia, hell-bent for Juarez, Mexico. The sleeper's expenses: taxi fare: $40.35; two useless theatre tickets: $4.40.

Beef

In Gaya, India, when a Moslem housewife heaved a pot of cooked beef at her husband, the gobbets hit a Hindu girl passing beneath the window. Result: a street riot (beef is sacred to Hindus), six killed, 75 injured.

Ring

In Sacramento, Calif., a ring fell from the sky upon Mrs. Anna Briggs, raised a bump on her noggin. Over Sacramento in a plane, Dr. W. Stanley was frantic because the ring had been a gift from Theodore Roosevelt. To Mrs. Briggs, of whom he heard by radio, Dr. Stanley few days later gave $325 and a trip to the New York World's Fair.

Horns

In Flushing, N. Y., World's Fair bus horns, instead of raucous honks, dulcetly tootle a few bars of The Sidewalks of New York. Results: Instead of getting out of the way, pedestrians stop to listen; Copyright Owner Max Mayer decided to demand royalties for each performance,

Divorce

In San Diego, Calif, three couples sued for divorce: Bliss v. Bliss, Quarel v. Quarel, St. Peter v. St. Peter.

Deaf

In Miami, deaf Mrs. Irene Hahn, 65, fled terror-stricken from her bedroom when a man started battering at the door with an axe, locked herself in an adjoining room. Presently that door, too, was battered. She retreated to another room. There the axe-wielder finally cornered deaf Mrs. Hahn, explained the house was on fire, he, a fireman.

Mimic

In Fairview, Ark. playful Otis Jones, 10, hid in a tree, mimicked a squirrel's chittering. Fourteen-year-old Brother Bruce, out for squirrels, fired at the sound, killed playful Otis.

Flare

In Pittsburgh, asthmatic Eugene Boehm, under an oxygen tent, lit a cigaret, flared up like a match, burned to death.