Author

In North Arlington, N. J., Author Bryan Hamilton Connolly, aged 14, pondered. The manuscript of his unfinished novel, The Marble Coffin, lay before him, and he had just written: "Your kids are being held for $500,000 ransom. Beginning tomorrow we will cut an ear off each one every day until the money is sent to us. When the ears are gone we will cut off their toes one by one." It was an effective piece of writing, but how would normal parents react to such a letter? Author Connolly, recalling the existence of his nine-year-old brother, had an inspiration. When Author Connolly's mother returned home late one afternoon last week both her sons were missing, but a note identical with the last written lines of The Marble Coffin, was conspicuously present. Hastily summoned police discovered the author and his brother camping in a nearby field. Censured, Author Connolly protested: "You don't understand. I had to do it for the book."

Callers

At Akron, Ind., Mrs. Jenny Rader last week sued Flyer Oscar Crabill and his passenger, Arthur Coblentz, for $1,000 damages because recently, "Although the portals of the plaintiff's home are always open to friends and guests," they entered the house by crashing through the roof.

Guests

In Summerville, suburb of Rochester, N. Y., David G. Wilson, no dog owner, no dog lover, returned home late one night. As he entered his living room 13 dogs including a great mastiff rose from his chairs and wagged their tails in greeting. His wife upstairs knew nothing of them. They had entered by an open cellar window to escape the cold.

Pets

In Manhattan, policemen and firemen cornered two murderers in an animal store. Massacre was being done; corpses littered the floor; strangled parakeets lay limp; flapping goldfish gasped for life; fumbling turtles swayed perplexedly. After two hours the killers were subdued-- a wicked little monkey and a big. black, bad baboon.

Multitude

At New York, docked the S. S. Berengaria with 28,000 passengers nameless on the ship's list. Fourteen anxious attendants, with due care and speed, disembarked 28,000 canaries.