The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-05-04
SEACOING STAG
IN LEGAL SNARL
.Frenchman Rescues 1t,
And England Takes
Note OF Incident

name of "67SB," unwittingly started
ID legal controversy recently when, out
& OF pure humanity, he picked up dere-
sict stag swimming off the Kentish
coast, says Paris Letter in the New
Herald Tribune.
Having only hazy notion about
stays In general or what was their
function in England, he was bit sur
| prised to see the animal. But he hoisted
I 1t aboard and continued on his leisurely
way toward France, landing with his
I prize at Etaples.
!. Whereupon. things began to happen.
The customs authorities spotted the
I. Mtag, which had. become 81 ..lick and
wan In appearance. The police also
/ took hand. The port authorities
wanted to know by what authority NJ
! Caloin had picked up the animal. the
I customs authorities declared that. In.
( asmuch as the hunting season was
9closed, Captain Caloin had broken the
/ law by introducing vefison into. France.
and the police were indignant over fbe
same phase Of the affair, adding that
/ it was not really a stag. but a hind.
! And that, for some obscure reason.
made, matters worse.
Fi0tsam, Says Captain
OF course, the worthy captain neither
!, knew nor cared whether his prize was
1 a seasick stag or seasick hind. He
I; didn't understand why it should have
I been swimming around. Nobody ever
told him stays were amphibious, and
! he believed that in the interests of
common humanity he should have done
what he did. So he informed the clis-
toms and police and port authorities
that the stag, or hind, was flotsam and
lrfqQfn and xspla,. tbn x,,V.n1 .ae
tional law he had "a right to pick it nm.
even in territorial British waters.
Not only that. hut the shrewtl cap
tain of the 67SB had conformed with
French law in every particular. He had
entered his find in the ship.s log as
: Found, One Stag and had drawn up
!, complete report, which he proceeded
90 turn over to the port authorities
| This floored the port and customs
and police authorities 1t baffled them
utterly. They rushed toN the telegra nh
office at Etaples to wire for instruc-
tions. They wired to the marine an
thorities at Dunkirk and the marine
i authorities at Dunkirk wired to the I'M
] der secretary Of state for the Merchan-
tile Marine at Paris. The matter at
present rests there, the under secre-
fary apparently needing some DAYS to
fdetermlne Just what is the correct thing
J 20 do in such complicated case.
Meanwhile the stag, or, rather. hind
is still sick and still miserable. II
! won't eat or drink. apparently having
drunk its fiji of salt Channel water,
The veterinary authorities were called
In. They knew eaxctly what to do. The
animal was dying, they declared it
must be slaughtered Immediately.
But before the widely heraltled
slaughter occurred Brig. Gen. 4. n. s.
Pitt, master of the Mid-Kent Stag
hounds, told British NEWSPAPER men
/ that he would exert heaven and earth
20 get the poor animal back home ON
Its native heath. 1t had been fine run
the animal had given the Mid-Kent
stag hounds. he said and n soo,,,ad an
only fair thing to do was to ret II hack
and put it carefully in a paddock. NOT
bunting it again for year. Il deserves
that rest, he said.
The Stag Receivers.
Then the stag upset all prediction
by recovering completely. The order
for putting the animal out Of its misery
was revoked. The brigadier general
took heart and wired again to the au-
thorities, asking that the stag be. dis