The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1901-01-17
BTORIES THAT GROW
BIG YARNS THAT ARE svoL>ep FROM
SIMPLE INCIDENTS.

eth.e--sN-'--s
which Rural England Gets Up &c
Puzzle, Astonish or Amuse the Good
People of London. -''
These are some of the newspaper
sensations which rural England geti
up to amuse the Londoners:
1t was recently announced that
county council In the midlands hue
passed a law forbidding COW racing
and that several other councils all oveI
the country were following suit. More
over, II was said that sermons were
preached In scores of pulpits every
Sunday against the great rural vice Of
COW racing and its effects on the ma
ton. The matter got into the London
papers, and all over the country the
news was spread.
Everybody asked what was COW rae
ing. 1t was explained that wide
spread custom in country districts. es-
pecially on Saturdays. was to collect
cows and race them as IL they were
horses. each one being ridden by a
special jockey. and that grand stands
were erected. betting rings formed and
Then followed narrowing accounts Of
the way the poor cows were ridden to
death and died on the course, and SO
forth. Great astonishment reigned ev-
erywhere till 1t was found the whole
thing originated In a sermon a certain
rector had preached because two farm
hands had chased some cows round
field and bet on the fastest. Result: A
little holnily on cruelty and gambling
by the parson, reported badly In
country paper. The statement grew on
the SNOWFALL principle till 1t shook all
Britain, and then 1t died.
1t was reported lately that as doc
tor was driving friend to a Surrey
village the horse. fine. big animal.
showed signs of thirst The doctor
pulled him up at waysde fountain
mile or two from the town. and the
horse drank good deal of water very
quickly. Suddenly the horse blew up
with a terrific explosion. wrecking the
whole turnout and scattering bits Of
horse. dogcart and passengers all about
the place.
This yarn. which originated locally,
got into the country paper. Thence 1t
spread over the kingdom. and the
great horse explosion case" became
famous for two or three days. some
scoffing. others gravely publishing the
cries as to the cause.
The way i, began was that after stop
ping at the trough the horse had fallen
lame and. was put up at a remote way
side inn. keeper near the well.
hearing n poacher's gun fred some
where near. hurried to the spot and
found round the well a lot of rubbish,
IN reality some broken axletrees and
pieces of horsehide left by gypsies
who had camped there. Horror strick-
en-. he rushed 10 the conclusion given
here, having seen the dogcart stop there
just before. and spread the news, which
reached vast proportions before 1t was
''shown up"
A fearful announcement came from
quiet district In Denblghshire that
the Internal regions had found an out
let on lonely moor there and that
from dark and smoking pit, miles
deep, the evil one and his cohort of
flends had habit Of Issuing In patches,
arising from the depths to emerge and
devastate the world. The report, too,
swiftly got into nearly every paper in
Britain in few days and caused tre-
mendous commotion among impress
siopable people The satanic messen-
gers were said to be jet black, with
white teeth and flashing eyeballs.
The alarm subsidized when II was
found that local landowner, having
struck coal on his ground. had kept the
news close, but had quietly sunk a
shaft and started work. importing min.
ers from the south. The supposed
black demons were the miners emerg.
ing after work. The countryside folk.
however. knowing nothing of coal
shafts, were terribly alarmed.
or two gOrrillas which, according te
nearly all the big newspapers and re.
ports In the country. were devastating
Scotland. news Is still being heard.
This story said that two huge mon.
keys, standing seven feet high, were
prowling the hills and dales Of Ayr.
shire. They killed cattle and fed on
them. leaving the carcasses about.
They had slain a shepherd. stolen his
clothes. and one Of them Is even now
roaming the mountains clad In q Mao
gregor kilt and tartan.