COMEDY AND BULLETS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20058, 22 September 1928, Page 2 (Supplement)

COMEDY AND BULLETS.

WAR IN FAR-AWAY CRETE. TEN THOUSAND SHOTS, TWO PERSONS WOUNDED. A delightful story of a border raid comes from Crete, sounding like a chapter out of a tribunal history hundreds of years old. The people of a littlo village with a very long and beautiful name—they call it Karanoseaphida—had been squabbling for some time with their neighbours in the village of Lakkoi. One night the people of the long-named village did not go to bed. They decided to bring matters to an honourable issue. While the Lakkoidans slept they stole across country in the dark and captured five of their sheep. Unfortunately, one of the sheep bleated, and one of the sleeping Lakkoidans awokß. In two minutes the whole village was out of bed, in a state of wrath not to bo described. Apart from the fact that keeping sheep is their sole livelihood, the

Lakkoidans objected to being caught napping. They fell on the rearguard of the Karanoseaphidans and hurled them into prison; and then they went to bed again. The raiding party went home with the five sheep and reported the loss of three men captured, whereupon the rest of the village turned out, went soft-footed, across to Lakkoi, got into the prison, and took their three men away. At breakfast time the Lakkoidans found that their prison was empty. "This is war!" they said, and they got out their guns. The three local gendarmes, on the side of law and order, suggested reporting to the Governor of Crete. This the villagers would not hear of. All the male population, about 400, went out, with the mayor at their head, to besiege Karanoseaphida. They surrounded the village and opened fire. The besieged people joyfully hid themselves behind cottages and barns, and fired back. For a whole day the battle went on, and then the Governor of Crete, hearing of the disturbance, -sent a mounted officer riding hard to tell the villagers to stop tho war. They refused. The officer galloped back. In the cad, the Governor had to bring up a column of infantry and another column of cavalry before the Lakkoidans and the Karanosea-

phidans would ngreo that their mutual honour had been avengod. The Governor inquired into the casualties. He found that about 10.000 rounds of ammunition had been spent, one sheep killed, and one man and one woman slightly hurt. The wounded are extremely proud of themselves and the villages are at peace.