SCARED OFF.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 305, 26 December 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

SCARED OFF.

JANITOR'S PLUCK. GUN DUEL WITH BANDITS. Two bandits, attempting to hold up a betting establishment in San Francisco, were driven away without any loot after ' a gun duel with a janitor, in which three shots were fired. The bandits, police believe, slept in the place all night and waited for the janitor, Charles Gundersen, 65, to open up. When he appeared, thev drew guns and ordered him to turn over his cash. Instead Gundersen grabbed a shotgun. Suddenly the bandits each fired a shot at the man, but missed. As Gundersen pressed the trigger of his gun, the bandits scattered, one leaving by a rear door and the other running into the street. Gundersen went in pursuit but was unable to catch either man. Pobce cars, reaching the scene a few minutes later, searched the district without avail. The establishment, Gundersen told the police, had been closed several days because of other robberies in the neighbourhood.

GRANDPARENT PUZZLE. Duane Roger Wirick, age 8 months, has a grandparent problem on his hands. He has twelve grandparents and four sets of them are named Wirick. The mother, whose maiden name was Wirick, has parents, grandparents and great-grand-parents living. So has the father. SLAYING ROAD "HOGS." While other towns install traffic signs, hire more policemen and gear up tneir courts to curb speeders, the U.S. cityship of Carmel plans a sure and certain way to enforce safety. The village rezoned its entire residential district and constructed winding, crooked streets. Automobiles were then unable to travel at any great speed, and going to the post office meant a five-minute longer ride than before. The plan, suggested by Perry Newberry, a novelist and one-time Mayor, won the approval of the city council and Mayor Herbert Heron. Frederick Bechdolt, a writer, was appointed chairman of the council's advisory committee, which made a study of the plan and placed recommendations before the city council. The project was to call for a crooked road, as crooked and with as many curves as could be put in, with shrubs planted in the bulges. Instead of sidewalks there were paths, made only by the wandering feet of pedestrians. FAMOUS PARIS CAFE CLOSES. The. Cafe de Paris, famous for 54 years, has lost in the battle for existence over big business and will be compelled to close its doors.soon, to be razed and replaced by a modern bank. Since 1874 the Cafe de Paris has been the gathering place of notables, not only of France, but from all corners of the world. Eating is an institution in France and, therefore, her noted restaurants, when compelled to die, die hard and suffer in their agony. The owners of the restaurant on the Avenue de l'Opera, namely, the Bank of Paris and Holland, have refused to renew the lease because they wish to use the property for the purpose of expanding their offices. In the utter chagrin, of its premature death, the Cafe de Paris in turn has refused to gather up its pots and pans and cutlery and open in another location. It will live and die on premises upon which it was first born. The celebrated eatinghouse is operated by the same management as the Pre-Catalan, Fouquet and Armenonville, restaurants that stand also in the [ front line trenches of popularity, and reput i tation for delicious cooking.