Halloween Pranks: Modern Range War

Halloween Pranks

In the 1930s, two churches in Bradley with bells in relatively short steeples and standing in close proximity to each other became the setting for a Halloween prank enacted by a group of mischievous and ingenious boys. At each church, as groundwork for their shenanigans, they secured one end of a sufficiently long rope to the bell clapper and tossed the other end out of the steeple to the ground. The boys launched their stunt by ringing one of the bells from a hidden vantage point on the ground. Trying their best to control outbursts of laughter, they watched as the local law enforcement officers raced to the scene and entered an empty church in pursuit of the perpetrators. Once the officers engaged in an inspection of
Subsequent to two households modernizing their kitchens, a polite managed contest between an electric range and a gas range ensued.

Several businessmen; including David Larsen, proprietor of Larsen’s Produce, and Ronald Rehnquist, the owner of Bradley Oil Company; met at a local restaurant for a morning coffee break and conversation. During one these coffee breaks, the contemplative men considered the relative virtues of gas and electric cooking ranges. Dave’s spouse used a modern gas range in her kitchen and Ron recently purchased an electric range for his wife. Each man thought that he had made the wisest acquisition and each refused to concede his stance. Consequently, the obstinate opponents pressed for proof. The assembly of executives, in the best managerial tradition, set a date and the rules for a contest pitting one range against the other. The air of confidence in an anticipated victory, which each contestant exhibited, nurtured the expectation of an entertaining competition. Nonetheless, a consensus existed that Ron’s unfounded and unbridled optimism would lead to a disgraceful defeat and that he, as the loser, would buy everyone a cup of
However, instead of sitting at their table to drink coffee and solve the world’s problems, the men undertook an essential mission. Energized with single-minded competitive fervor and armed with a coffee cup on loan from the restaurant, the mass of masculinity strutted down the street to Dave Larsen’s residence. Subsequent to arriving at their destination, Dave filled the cup to a predetermined level and poured the water into a pot. An official timekeeper recorded the minutes from when the gas ignited until the water boiled. Once the men ascertained the heating power of the gas flame, the contest moved to the Rehnquist kitchen. The men repeated the scientific procedure by following each minute detail. When the water boiled, the official timekeeper proclaimed the electric range victorious, astonishing the attentive