Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1901-03-06
STORIES THAT GROW
BIG YARNS THAT ARE EVOLVED FROM
SIMPLE INCIDENTS.
some OF the Newspaper Sensations
which Rural England Gets Up to
Puxsie. Assoni.h or Amuse the Good
People OF London.

which Rural England Gets Up to
Pu.sie. Assoni.h or Amuse the Good
People OF London.
These are some Of the newspaper
sensations which rural England gets
Up 10 amuse the Londoners:
IL was recently announced that
county council i'm the midlands had
passed a law forbidding cow racing
and that several other councils all over
the country were following suit. More
over. IL was said that sermons were
preached in scores OF pulpitS every
Sunday against the great rural vice Of
COW racing and It's effects on the IA
ton The matter got into the London
papers. and all over the country the
news was spread.
Everybody asked what was cow rae
ing. II was explained that n 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 n
special jockey. and that grand stands
were erected. betting rings formed and
hundreds OF people attended the races.
Then followed narrowing accounts OF
the way the poor COWS were ridden 10
death and died on the course. and so
forth. Great aStonishmeut reigned ev-
erywhere till II was found the " hole
thing originated in sermon n certain
rector had preached because two farm
hands had chased some COWS round a
field and bet on the fastest. Result: a
little homily on cruelty and gambling
~ - 4
country paper. Tie statement grew On
the snowfall principle till it shook all
Britain. and then IL died.
II was reported lately that as n doc
tor was driving friend TO a Surrey
village the horse. n fine. big animal.
showed signs OF thirst. The doc: or
pulled him up NJ a wayside fountain
mile or two from the town. and the
horse drank q good deal Of water very
quickly. Suddenly the horse blew up
with terrific explosion. wrecking the
whole turnout and scattering bits Of
horse. dogcart and passengers all about
the place.
This yarn. which originated loca 1y.
got into the country paper Thence Il
spread over the kingdom. and The
great horse explosion case" hecame
famous for two or three DAYS. some
SOOTHING. others gravely publishing the
Dries as TO the cause.
The way IL began was tiat af.v sop
ping at the trough the horse bad fallen
lame aud was put mp At remote way
side inn. \ keeper near the we'll
hearing "a poacher's gun fired SOME
where near. hurried 10 the spot and
found round the well lot Of rubbish.
In reality some broken axletrees and
pieces OF horSehidc left lay cypS.es
who had camppd there. Horror strick-
en-. he rushed TO the conclusion given
here. having seen the doEcart step thr re-
just before. and spread the news. which
reached vast proportions before IL was
shown up"
A fearful announcement came from
a quiet district in Denbighshire that
the Internal regions had found an out
let on a lonely moor there and that
from a dark and smoking pit. miles
deep. the evil one and his cchort OF
hends had habit Of issuing I'm patches.
arising from the depths 60 emerCp and
devaState the world. The report. too.
swiftly got into nearly every paper in
Britain in few days and caused q ire
mendous cOmmOtion among impress
sionable people. The satanic messen-
gers were said 10 be- jet black. with
white teeth and flashing eyeballs.
The alarm subsidized when Il 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.
OF TWO gorrillas which. according TO
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 Ia a Mac
gregor kilt and tartan.