The Maharaja of Estarh

Buried deep in Charles McHarry's chitchat column, "On the Town," in the morning New York Daily News, was this item: "Ali Rounj Culdip, the Maharaja of Estarh, is due in next week for a medical checkup. The three youngest of his 15 wives will accompany him." There was not a word of truth to it.

McHarry had planted the item purely as bait. That same afternoon, when it was reprinted almost word for word in a column in Hearst's New York Journal-American, McHarry had the rich satisfaction of hooking his fish.

Annoyed by a rash of petit larcenies from his column, all committed by the Journal-American, McHarry invented the maharaja--Ali Rounj is an anagram for Journal, (with an i added for the sake of Ali); Estarh is an anagram for Hearst. Then the columnist began chronicling the maharaja's doings. Two months passed before the Journal-American, which went right on lifting other McHarry tidbits, bit on Ali Rounj.

"I'm pretty happy," said McHarry of his successful fishing expedition. Said a Journal-American spokesman: "We congratulate the Daily News on having had the phony item first."

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