"Names make news." Last week these names made this news:

The hopes of nearly 1,800 claimants to share in the $30,000,000 estate of the late Ella Virginia von Echtzel Wendel, eccentric Manhattan spinster (TIME, April 6, 1931 et ante) went glimmering when Surrogate James A. Foley took steps to strike from the list all but 27 who claim fifth-degree (or closer) relationship. Of these 27 the fifth-degree relationship of nine has been conceded by the estate. Five of the nine sold their interests to 14 charitable institutions named as beneficiaries in the will for $7,500. cash down, $17,500 more if the will is broken. Several others, not of the chosen 27. surrendered soon after a gaunt, dour Scot named Thomas Patrick Morris, 52. unemployed Brooklyn housepainter, told the court an astonishing story : That he is the son of Ella Wendel's brother, the late John Gottlieb Wendel. Speaking laboriously (he suffers from angina pectoris) Claim ant Morris said he was the issue of a secret marriage of "Papa" Wendel (always supposed to be a bachelor) and one Mary Ellen Devine of Edinburgh, in New York City; that he had been born in Dundee whither his mother fled after quarrels with "Papa" Wendel; that she left him in care of foster parents (Morris).

As proof he submitted a book (The Blockade of Phalsburg) which he said "Papa" Wendel had given him in 1901 in Dundee. On the flyleaf was written a record of the marriage and birth, signed by John G. Wendel. On the back flyleaf was a will bequeathing all John Wendel's property to his son, Thomas Patrick Mor ris Wendel. Also Morris submitted a pair of huge shoes with inch-thick gum soles which he said "Papa" Wendel once wore.

Arriving in Manhattan in 1906, said Claimant Morris, he accidentally encountered "Papa" who took him to the family mansion on Fifth Avenue. He heard Sis ter Ella tell "Papa": "Get out and take your brat with you." Said the "brat" (age 26): "To hell with you; you're all a pack of nuts," and went away. Only once again did he see "Papa" in years of wandering about the U. S., hopping freights, working as an itinerant laborer. He gave "Papa" scarcely another thought until about a week after Sister Ella's death, which he chanced to read about in a castaway tabloid paper. When lawyers for the estate insisted upon knowing why he delayed so long before presenting his claim, Morris blurted: "I always entertained the idea that I was illegitimate."

Hearings continued.

Daniel Boone Jr., Kansas City insurance executive, great-great-grandson of the heroic frontiersman, was held up and robbed by a gunman whom he described as "very hard and very drunk."

Winnie-the-Pooh, 18, famed brown bear in the London Zoo, was reported dying of old age. Originally named Winnie, the bear was supposedly observed by Christopher Robin, young son of Author Alan Alexander Milne, to say "Pooh" to all visitors, including royalty. Christopher Robin named his teddy bear after her, Winnie-the-Pooh. Author Milne named a children's book after the teddy bear. The bear in the zoo was finally named after the book. Winnie's condition last week was watched with keen interest in Manhattan by the Winnie-the-Pooh Association, exclusive U. S. licensers of Pooh toys, games, soap, rattles, etc. etc. W. P. A. claims to do a gross business of $50,000,000 a year.

In Kansas City, to Congressmen investigating Government interference in private business, Mrs. Ida Watkins, weather-beaten "Wheat Queen" of Sublette, Kan., pulled off her hat. bared a brawny, toil-hardened arm. shouted: "I just want to kick the devil out of the Farm Board. ... I draw the line on the doggone, damnable Government interference with our affairs."

Old George is the name workmen have given the clock in London's new Shell-Mex Tower. Old George's face is broader (25 ft.) than Big Ben's (22) ft.) but his hands are not quite so long. Nor can Old George, like Big Ben, chime.

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