The Price. In Lower Hutt, New Zealand, faced with a manpower shortage at her Saturday-night party, a 19-year-old girl telephoned the local fire house, was told that the firemen were on duty and could not come, turned in a fire alarm, got her men and a $14 fine.

On the Wing. In Kansas City, Kans., while Claire Heffron was changing a flat tire, his spare rolled out of his hands into the path of an oncoming motorist who skidded to a stop, snared Heffron's tire, sped away.

Romantic Mission. In Santa Rosa, Calif., after police found a spring-blade knife, a machete, a .38 pistol, a .22 rifle and a sawed-off shotgun in Donald Ameral's car, they arrested him despite his plea: "I was going to see my girl."

Spirit & Letter. In Sheboygan, Wis., Attorney John McLario, arrested while rushing to keep an appointment with Municipal Judge Edwin H. Puhr, was complimented by the judge for his promptness, then fined $5 for speeding.

It's Like This ... In Dereham, England, Butcher Stanley Bowman was fined 30 shillings ($4.20) despite his explanation that he drove the wrong way down a one-way street because a frog hopped into his car and "the resulting panic among the [lady passengers] distracted my attention."

The Lesser Evil. In Asheville, N.C., freed pending trial for unlawful possession of lottery tickets, John Henry Williams returned ten hours later to the police station to ask for his tickets: "I think I had a winner."

Mr. Fix-It. In Birmingham, when Mrs. C. R. Spivey's car stalled at a downtown intersection, a passing "mechanic" offered to help, started the engine, drove off with her purse containing $50.

Hair Apparent. In Derby, England, to prove that Mrs. Kate Mayze had assaulted her and pulled her hair, Mrs. Bridget Burton showed two handfuls of her hair to the judge, who then fined Mrs. Mayze -L-2 ($5.60).

Man of Action. In Wichita Falls, Texas, awaiting grand-jury action for starting fires that caused $716,000 worth of damage, Airman Third Class Orville G. Miller complained that Wichita Falls was a "dull town" and he had set the fires only because "I wanted a little excitement."

Chemical Warfare. In Philadelphia, James Douglass, an employee of the Morris Animal Refuge, spotted two men who had just tried to hold up a grocery store across the street, advanced with a spray gun used for killing fleas and pumped insecticide at the robbers until they gave up.

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