Show e IN NEW YORK YO K J m is E By PAUL HARRISON NEW YORK Oct Od 22 It 22 It seems strange that folk tales could flourish in n New v York but flourish they do with the aid of raconteurs and ladies ladies' clubs and strangers falling lalling into fellowship fellowship fellow fellow- ship at speakeasy bars Manhattan folk tales though never begin with Once upon a time time time- but start instead Instead in In- stead with A alA friend of ot mine had the most amazing experience last night night- These stories you see ree are arc always kept up to date and consequently have come to involve a lot of people For Tor example almost anyone you ou meet these days knows someone whose cousins cousins cousin's cousins cousin's cou cou- sins sin's uncle was the employer of the girl who figured in the corpse in the subway incident The popularly accepted version of this tale talc Is that the girl had worked until after midnight getting out a lot lotof lotof of correspondence and finally started home huddled alone in one car of an almost empty express s when three men entered Two evil looking burly fellows supporting between between between be be- tween a third who seemed completely stupefied from liquor At least that was the Impression given after the trio had lad lurched onto the seat opposite the girl Each of the thc guardians g kept an arm about his helpless companion and occasionally tossed of off some coarse joke about his condition Meanwhile too too they intently stared at the girl and she grew very uneasy The man manin manin manin in the middle seemed to be watching her too through half closed expressionless expressionless eyes Pretty soon the train stopped at a station and an elderly gentleman came into the car He looked at the three men then rose as if to leave and managed managed man man- aged to lurch almost Into the girls girl's lap lapas as the train rounded a curve folio follow fol ollow ol io low me out of here he commanded in a low voice She followed and they left the train at the next station Im Ima a physician said the elderly man I noticed that the fellow in the middle was dead Hed He'd been dead for hours The Mushroom Mystery 1 Then theres there's the poison mushroom story People are always popping up to declare that a friend of ot their next door neighbor knows a woman who actually attended that unhappy dinner party Shortly before the guests arrived arrived arrived ar ar- ar- ar rived the cook is supposed to have mentioned to her mistress that the mushrooms hadn't looked very fresh but that shed she'd tried some on the dog and guessed they were all aU right The dinner went off happily enough enough until until l the maid came with the dessert and whispered to the hostess that the dog had just died She screamed rushed to a telephone and began calling doctors and lances By the time these arrived with stomach pumps the guests were rather pale around the gills Some were stretched out ut on the floor and andone andone andone one woman had dispatched a frenzied wire to her husband in St. St Louis Louts Before going to work though one of the doctors decided to have a look at t i the he do dog Pretty soon he returned led looked witheringly withering at the th e Dr stricken Madam company b addressing the hostess you dog was run over by a truck i. i Letting Cat Cit Out Oat of flag Bat Another of the current folk concerns a 1 ferryboat commuter tad ant tada a dead cat The cat departed this tJ while resident in the apartment and he decided to the he remains into an inconspicuous brown rown paper bundle which could b be dropped from the ferry on his warlo to the office M As he nervously loitered near nett rail of the ferry though it U lee that someone always was watching him turn He decided to take the II to La the office and try again that eve ne- ning But he met some friends on the next bo boat so he carried the cat lack hick home determined to succeed next ext morning He didn't sue succeed eed and that evening it was the same De Jes he decided just to leave thi package on the boat boot But hi us wi scarcely over the before kindly guard rd rushed after him and f stored the carrion cat Or was it the cat The parcel f l la a little different somehow Could I Ibe 1 be that that that- Feverishly the man t open a corner peeped inside and ck so hysterically that people stare at him curiously This package ci tamed a I leg g of l lamb mb |