The Bank crash!

The financial situation of Bank of Middleford is right now not the most brilliant. The new money transfer system by telegraph has been working out quite well but the investment side of the bank has not. Due to lack of investors the director of the bank, Mr Pinot, decided to take matters in to his own hands and started a fraud of large scale. By using the telegraph he managed to make counterfeit transfers in the name of Papandopulus. A name he borrowed from a Greek friend who did not mind. So far it worked out well if it had not been for Papandopulus using Mr Pinots name in a fraud against some German and French banks.

Mr Pinot to the right after a Tennis match against Papandopulus to the left
In the far back the Fench representative

It all burst open when the representative of the French bank came to Middleford to negotiate the interest rate of the latest investments. Mr Pinot is right now in custody, Papadopulus is missing and Mayor Flint is worried. Fortunately Mr C managed to recover most of the money by reverse engineering. He simply used the transfers that were telegraphed and made the same transfers in a negative number but in a high-speed transmission. Papadopulus did not have the time to interrupt the line from his hideout before the money was back to the Bank of Middleford. This so-called speed telegraphing was done by the famous telegrapher Eddie Eightfinger.

Eddie Eightfinger to the left in this picture. The picture taken before the speed telegraphing was made. In the centre of the picture Mr C with a fake moustache

The Accident!

The Experimental Train Company in Middleford conducted a so-called live test on their latest invention, a liquid fired engine. The purpose of the invention is to use a more “clean” fuel than coal and to use a fuel that is locally produced. The MacWall distillery does express their gratitude to the invention and does promise to produce as much fuel as possible.

The Inventor Mr Errol Jones is pleased to present his patent regarding the nozzle that mix the fuel with pure oxygen or pure hydrogen.

Mr Errol Jones the inventor was pleased.

The first run was quite successful and the engine reached a top speed of 105 mph. On the way back the engine driver filled the tank with more fuel before he set of. Unfortunately the fireman got a taste for the fuel and in a state of less sharpness he mixed up witch handle to turn for oxygen and for hydrogen. In a desperate state of making a  quick decision he decided to turn both of the handles at the same time. The speed reached was terrifying and both the driver and the fireman decided to jump of the engine or to be more correct the fireman more or less fell of the engine. In an act of bravery Mr Jones saw the runaway engine and throw the switch in the signalbox and sent the runaway engine on a sidetrack.

The engine hit the stop and got air born. The explosion that followed was devastating. Luckily no body was injured and the engine was quickly put a way from the public. But three weeks later a letter reached the Experimental company where Germany was asking for the blueprints of the newly invented flying bomb.

The only picture of the engine before it was taken away

The World Cup in Rubgy!

Middleford RC have made a proposal to the Rugby Football Union to host the World Cup. The letter was written on a tablecloth from The Black Swan signed by no less than the captain in the team Mr Oswald. The reason given for hosting the World Cup was the lack of tweed tasting ale and railway system in France. In some blurry handwriting one could transcript the word garlic and snails but not the whole sentence. Mr Oswald was very pleased with the idea and in a state of joy that only Stoffton Brewerys ale can give you he sent it away with the mailman.

The team before the letter was written in the pub
Mr Oswald to the right

The RFU has in their answer to Middleford RC written as follow:

“ Dear sirs!

Firstly we would like to thank you for your letter. We are not sure we understood everything you mentioned in your letter but can insure that we have no intentions stealing your best players for a tournament we have not heard of nor did know existed. We will take the proposal in consideration but think that Middelford is a bit to small to host a tournament of large scale taking in consideration that you sent the same invitation to France, Germany, Italy and some other countries we have not heard of.

We did not taste your cloth but it was a bit damp and we can insure that it smelled like tweed we don’t really understand why but it kind of made sense to the rest of the letter.

We do appreciate your effort but must decline your proposal

Regards

Mr Farnham

P.S. Where on earth are Mombunu and does Sweden really have a rugby team?”

The Fox Hunt!

As a tradition Sir Randal has invited the nobles of Middleford to Swivelness farm to participate in the yearly fox hunt. In this case the nobles of Middelford contains, among others, Mr Incognito because nobody really knows who he is but appears to be important, Mayor Flint because everybody knows who he is and the Russian Chargé d’affaires because he represents the diplomats in Middelford. Needless to say, Mr Incognito activated Mr C to blend in among the others in the hunting team.

Mr Incognito with Herbert

The hunt it self started out quite splendid, if you were a fox. Firstly the beagles seamed to fancy the smell from the kitchen before they went of for the real hunt. Unfortunately the information from the Russian foreign ministry to the Chargé D’affaires regarding the fox hunt was wrong. The Chargé D’affaires dashed of on his new horse stressing the Beagles to their maximum speed and still losing. 30 of the 32 dogs fainted before they reached the first fence.

The Russian Chargé D'affaires was misinformed and failed the dress code

To save the situation Sir Randal persuaded the Middleford Rugby Club to help him in scaring out at least something that could be shot. After three long hours with out a single fox to be found the forward John Daglish got a plan of how to end the misery with the hunt. He ran over to the Farm and “borrowed” Mrs Randals fox scarf from last years hunt. The idea was as simple as it was brilliant. On the way out to the pastures he also borrowed a hog from the pig stable. With some work the hog was all dressed and ready and was chased out in the open. Sir Randal was a bit surprised over the sound from the fox and that it was a bit fat. But to be a good sport he gave the shot to the Chargé D’affairs who not only missed the “fox” but also by accident hit John Daglish in the rear. The Rugby team turned as one man and ran after the Chargé D’affairs over the fields back to the consulate.

DI Stevenson is having some problems. Reports regarding a big fat fox ruining gardens in Middelford have started to drop in. Some stating that the fox not only ruins the gardens but also makes a terrifying scream. Some people says its an omen that the world is coming to an end. The Chargé D’affaires, in his turn, is having problems explaining to the Russian Foreign Ministry why he cant leave the consulate.

A New Consulate

Mayor Flint is glad to announce that Russia has decided to open a new Consulate in Middleford. The grand opening will be held in a short while but first they had to find a building for the consulate. After a couple of days the Russian Consulate was opened in a building next to the Middleford Shoelace factory.

This in its turn gave Mr Incognito a headache and after pulling a few strings he asked Mayor Flint to act in the interest of Middleford. Since Police officer Stevensen famously lacks the skill of reading, is colour blind and have a bad judgement he was promoted by Mayor Flint to become detective inspector. In this position he will not be able to do any harm since there hardly are any crime in Middleford to investigate and his contact with the public is narrowed down to a minimum. Especially since the new Russian diplomats found officer Stevensen a bit annoying trying to understand were the town Russia were.

The new lad to replace DI Stevensens is no less than Gregor Stue from Witless. Every morning he rides his Penny-farthing to work and the high position on the boneshaker gives him a splendid view over the landscape and the area he is guarding. Or as he use to say “ No crime to small no boneshaker to high!” This in its turn gave Mayor Flint a bit of worries since he did not want any crime for DI Stevensen to investigate.

Gregor Stue before he became Mr C

On one of officer Stues patrols Mr Incognito stopped him and asked if he could help Middleford Shoelace factory with some intricate matters. The rumours had it that the Russian consulate was trying to get information from The Andersen Fabulous Steel Spring factory. Officer Stue was glad that he could help Mr Incognito and accepted the task. Mr Stue is now walking around in Middleford in a big coat and a hat. The new Russian consulate is being under surveillance by the Middleford Shoelace factory.  If Stue was to contact Mr Incognito he should use his new code name “C”. 

Preparing for the Olympic Games

In Middleford as in many other villages in England there is a sports club that gives young people the ability to participate in sport activities. In Middleford Sir Bridge and Miss Little manage the sports club.  Miss Little is quite good in fencing and use to practice with the other ladies at the club. This would have been unthinkable some time a go but since Sir Bridge has a crush on Miss Little he allows the ladies to participate in the club.

One day Sir Bridge decided to start practicing for the new event in Athen 1896 called the Olympic Games. His goal was to qualify to the masters foil and hopefully win the event. To impress on Miss Little he challenges her in a match on the masters foil. After the match that Miss Little won by 10 – 1, giving one point to Sir Bridge as good sportsmanship, Sir Bridge proposed to Miss Little since he figured out that if he could not win in the masters foil he could win her hart. The wedding is planed after the games in Athen.

Miss Little with the heart that Sir Bridge won

Mr Gordon Peter who won “The Longest of Races” will participate in the bicycle race in Athen but needs a service team to help him during the race. Dave Hickory has volunteered for the task but needless to say Gordon turned him down but mentioned at the same time that France needed a good service man. 

The Great Race

The Middleford Bicycle Club held their annual bicycle race called “The Middleford Tour Championship”. The president of the club, Mr Stowe, is very pleased to show a strong starting line for Mayor Flint who is given the great privilege to give the start signal to the competitors. The favourite to the victory for the bookmakers is Mr Jeff Barns cycling for the Black Swan Team, he gives 0.7 back on each pound sterling.

The french bikes with air filled tubes

The examination of the competitors by doctor Igor Mortis before start gave nothing to worry about for the team managers. The Andersen Fabulous Steel Spring Team uses the new bikes produced in France with tubes filled with air while The Black Swan Team and others uses penny-farthings with extra big wheels.

The race was of and first to Witless was young Gregor Stue racing for The Witless Dragons Team chased by Mr Jeff Barnes for The Black Swan Team both racing on Penny-farthings. The Andersen Fabulous Steel Spring Team were having a lot of difficulties since the tubes on their bikes tended to have flat tyres and were more or less out of the race. Two accidents occurred but it was nothing Dr Igor Mortis couldn’t manage to great relief for the president of the club and the undertaker.

Gordon Peter before the
water stop

On the way back to Middleford from Witless malt master Dave Hickory at the water stop made an unfortunate mistake. All the teams got raw spirit from the Macwall distillery instead of water in their bottles. Needless to say the teams had a hard time making it back on their bikes. But Gordon Peter from the Witless Dragons Team managed to make it across the finishing line first. The race was later called “The Longest of Races” since the last one to cross the finishing line did it three days later or to be more correct Mr Jeff Barnes was missing for three days until someone found him singing in a ditch half way to London.