City Hall Condemned

CITY HALL DESTROYED

VANDALS CASED CITY OFFICIAL'S OFFICE EARLIER

TWO COSTUMED VIGILANTES SPOTTED — FRIEND OR FOE?

NEW BABBAGE, NB —  The new year rang in on a sour note in central New Babbage, as City Hall erupted into towering flames, choking the skies with pungent acrid black smoke.  Curiously, simultaneous with the fire, City Hall was likewise barraged by torrential flooding.  Officials seem at a loss as to explain what exactly happened.

Witnesses report seeing smoke bellowing from a third floor window, while some also reported an airship looming in the skies overhead.  Miss F Bucksimbodom, secretary to Mr O Undorby, assistant to the Mayor Mr M Tenk, was quoted by the Free Press as saying, 'I heard some odd sounds in Mr Undorby's office, some thumping ... [My Undorby] was already very agitated because he thought someone broke into his office earlier this week.'

Miss Bucksimbodom, and others, stated that a masked duo allegedly appeared to assist with the evacuation of the rapidly deteriorating building.  The two apparently went by the sobriquets of "The Night Crusader" and "The Blood Avenger", and opinions vary amongst eyewitnesses as to the authenticity of the pair's attempts at assistance.  A Mrs M Vanderklampt of Wheatstone said, 'The two seemed to be escaping the fire, not assisting with the evacuation.' while a Mr R Bladderstick of no fixed address said, 'Dey call down ter us all, waved real nice, said ev'rytin' would be dandy, made me feel lots better, it did.' [sic]

City Hall has, for the time being, been considered condemned.  All official business will be conducted at offsite locations.  Mr Undorby was unavailable for comment at the time of publishing.

Anarchist Bomber Arrested

SUSPECT ARRESTED WHILST DRUNK

HINTED THERE ARE MORE BOMBINGS TO COME

CONNEXION TO ANARCHIST GROUP UNCERTAIN

NEW BABBAGE, NB — A man was arrested at Doyle Place, in the Canal District, yesterday in connexion with the bombing of the tracks in the Fells, north of the City of New Babbage, on January 5.

The New Babbage Milita has not officially released the name of the suspect at the time of printing, but unnamed sources within the organization have unofficially named the bomber as one Mr E Grady, aged 29, of Phaeton's Landing.

Grady was arrested by Commodore Dagger of the New Babbage Militia at Ruby's Public House in the early evening yesterday, after some minor altercation.  Mr M Cutbush, bartender at Ruby's, was quoted as stating, 'He been in and out of here for two weeks near, get his self drunk and start heavily hinting about bombing the tracks. T'was no secret here.  Miss Dagger gave me a sawbuck to keep the drinks pouring into him, and he soon enough confessed outright to her. It were quite a show for the rest of us.'

Mr R Bladderstick, of no fixed address, who has imbibed with the accused on several occasions in the past, claims that Grady does not live permanently in New Babbage, stating, 'He got a room he stays in.  [He] works fer summan, [and] bragged 'bout how much he made for some job was mentioned in da papers and kep' hintin he was only waiting 'round for his next job.'

Mr Grady's connexion to the Tiny Scallion Group anarchist organization, if indeed there is one, has yet to be ascertained.  The Tiny Scallion Group claimed responsibility for the bombing earlier this month, in a statement addressed to acting mayor Mr O Underby, at City Hall.  Mr Underby was unavailable for comment at the time of printing.

Queer Localized Fog In Canal District

FOG FIRST WITNESSED BY DRUNK

REPORTED SMALL AND HIGHLY DENSE

POSSIBLY GREEN IN HUE AND GLOWING

NEW BABBAGE, NB — A queerly small and highly localized fog was reported in the Canal District of New Babbage last night, according to sources.

The small fog cloud — which was highly dense, and approximately eight feet in diameter at its widest point — was first noticed around 8 o' clock PM at Doyle Place, directly in front of Ruby's Public House, by a Mr R Bladderstick.

'It were like noffink I ever seen!' he stated later.  '[It] sat in place for near ten minutes, it were already there when I came out [of Ruby's Public House] ter take, er... take de fresh air, yes.  Dat's de ticket.  Still there when I came back in.  It were a long, er... breathe.'

The fog cloud was soon after observed to float slowly and meanderingly to the north west, where it was next spotted on Bow Street by a Miss Velma Forgrave, a local spinster.

'I have never in all my years witnessed something so utterly sinister.' she stated, from within her home, refusing to step outside to speak to a reporter from the Free Press.  'It would sit in one spot for minutes at a time, and then float somewhere else, only to remain immobile again for an ungodly amount of time.  It's reasons such as this that I stay indoors near always now.  I tell my nephew Cyrus constantly about how vile, how utterly and horribly vile, this world is.'

The fog cloud was last spotted floating toward the Shipworks on Canal Street around half 11 o' clock PM, where it is reported to have finally floated away into the sky over the Vernian Sea.

Reports that the fog cloud was chartreuse in hue, or emitted a faint phosphorescence in certain circumstances, have been unverified at the time of printing.