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London Daily Express Column Carries Exaggerated Story of Recent Riot Here

Radcliffites in Nightdresses Join Armed Police in Holding Off Hooligans, Says Report

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

"Two thounsand Harvard undergraduates, many of them drunk, attacked early today a girls' school"-- so ran the lead sentence in the London Daily Express story of the riot here two weeks ago. Although Harvard was spoken of as "America's Number One University," the battle put up by Radcliffe was featured throughout.

"Hooligans" Amuk

"Dozens of girls in nightdresses and pyjamas watched the battle from dormitory windows. They screamed hysterically and urged the police to drive back the hooligans." Exemplifying the fact that a story can be enlarged by travelling across the sea, the Express reports that "the crazy gang of undergraduates" battled the defenders of the girls' domain "for more than three hours."

"When it looked like a victory for the students the girls themselves joined in by pouring buckets of hot and cold water on the heads of the young men." Only "tear gas and armed police reinforcements" allowed the girls to escape unmolested, according to the report.

What a Fire

Speaking of "the bonfires which threatened school buildings," the article states that only the quick arrival of many fire engines "racing up and down" averted a general conflagration.

After a more or less perfunctory statement that a large number of students and police were treated in hospitals for their injuries, the column reads, "later forty ringleaders of the attack filed before the university dean."

In conclusion, it was noted that the dean placed men on probation for their conduct, "but at the express wish of parents names of the culprits will not be disclosed.

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