Shakedown. In Baltimore, a bandit attempted to rob Grocery Clerk Dorothy Jones, but his hand trembled so nervously that his gun came apart in his hand, its single bullet dropped to the floor, and he bolted out the door.

Kissing Kin. In Wausau, Wis., Farmer Walter Brandt got his marriage annulled after telling the judge he had discovered that the man who had been living in his house for the past six years was not his wife's "brother" but her first husband.

Tight Budget. In Milwaukee, when police arrested Anton Lagozny for drunkenness and asked how he had accumulated a bank balance of more than $12,000 on a $50-a-week salary, he replied: "I live frugally, spending money only for meat, beer and whisky." Bare Essentials. In Batavia, Ohio, after jurors in a murder trial protested to Judge Harry Britton that his "no newspapers" ban was putting them hopelessly behind in their comic strips, the court instructed bailiffs to clip out the funnies and distribute them daily.

Strong-Arm Tactic. In Richmond, Odell James Rice was picked up by police on suspicion of drunkenness, but the case was dismissed when he walked a straight line--on his hands.

School Bored. In Hurley, N. Mex., junior-high-school Students Donald Broome and Martha Manners were made joint principals-for-a-day after winning a magazine-sales contest, were swiftly removed from office when their first official act was to proclaim a school holiday.

A Little Knowledge. In Paris, Charles Fossez, 51, who as "Zakir Birman" once made a business of foretelling the future, committed suicide, left a note explaining that he could not face what life had in store for him.

Booster Station. In Harewood, England, finding too much money in a telephone call box, Telephone Company Employee Mary Throup tracked down an elderly lady who admitted that she always put loose change into the box because "the poor telephone girls don't get much money, you know." Chip & Old Block. In Bloomingburg, N.Y., after Francis Van Winkle sold his father's farm machinery for $275 and left home without telling him, he was turned over to the police when he crawled into bed, discovered that his father had sold the house without telling him.

Quality-Quantity. In Cincinnati, Policeman Louis A. Schmidt was fired after he admitted that, while on duty, he had "downed two drinks--both fifths."

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