Americana

P: Santa Claus (pop. 35), Ind.'s two leading Santa Clauses, William Koch and Milton Harris, were hoping against hope that they wouldn't have a white Christmas. Snow would keep upwards of 100,000 people from visiting their respective tourist attractions, Santa Claus Land and the Candy Palace.

P: A Brainerd, Minn. jury awarded one Mrs. Lola Ramona Dockter a $5,000 judgment after she complained that her privacy was violated while she was giving birth to a baby. The basis of her suit: her doctor allowed a college instructor to watch the delivery.

P: After circling over Indio, Calif. since Nov. 20, Endurance Flyers Dick Riedel and Bill Barris discovered that their Aeronca plane's carburetor was icing, were forced to land after spending 568 hours and 47 minutes aloft. The endurance record (set by two Long Beach, Calif. flyers in 1939) still stood at 726 hours.

P: New York City's harassed and trigger-tempered bus drivers were given instructions for the holiday season. Instead of roaring: "Back in da bus!" they were asked to call out, "Please step toward the rear" in a "pleasant tone of voice."

P: Brooklyn's Postmaster Edward J. Quigley announced that dogs, cats, snakes and rabbits may not be sent through the mail, but that postal authorities will accept alligators (up to 20 inches), bees, turtles, frogs, horned toads, and certain types of worms (provided they are packed in moist moss).

P: Blimps, helicopters, jet planes and big bombers flew over Kill Devil Hill, Kitty Hawk, N.C. to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flight. At the same time the original Wright airplane--which was recently brought to the U.S. after 20 years in London's Science Museum--was hung up beside Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis in Washington's Smithsonian Institution.

P: Mrs. Clem Doerhoff of Kansas City sold her friends 20 of a batch of American Legion raffle tickets. Then she bought one herself, for 39-c-. Last week, as a result, she won two new Ford automobiles--one for holding the winning ticket and the other for selling it.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.