A so-called Auszügler, a former farmer who had already turned over his farm to his son and had been living on his own for eleven years on the ground floor in what had formerly been a cellar, was found dead by the postman, who was attempting to deliver his pension, in Breitenschützing, an Upper Austrian village which, because of the heavy fog that enshrouds it almost all autumn and all winter long, has driven many of the inhabitants of Breitenschützing mad. The Auszügler, an invalid who had lost his right leg in World War II in the Caucasus and had received the Iron Cross Class One for bravery in the face of the enemy, had, so as not to freeze to death and because his son and daughter-in-law, who were always fighting, had ignored their father and father-in-law for months and not given him any wood, finally thrown his wooden leg into the open fireplace, as the police discovered in their investigation, but in spite of this he froze to death when the fire burned out. The son and the daughter-in-law have both been reported to the police.

The Milkmaid

THE MILKMAID

Last week we witnessed the spectacle of five cows running, one after the other, into the express train in which we had to return to Vienna and of seeing them cut all to pieces. After the track had been cleared by the train crew and even by the driver, who came along with a pickax, the train proceeded after a delay of about forty minutes. Looking out of the window I caught sight of the milkmaid as she ran screaming towards a farmyard in the dusk.

The Needlewoman

THE NEEDLEWOMAN

The fortune-teller Gruber, in Wels, was murdered by the haulage contractor to whom he had prophesied that his wife would die before the year was out. Under the pretext of showing him the house he had built for himself, the haulage contractor had lured Gruber into his future dwelling in Lichtenau, killed him, and walled him up in a so-called blind passage in the cellar. In court, the haulage contractor admitted that as early as March he had decided to murder Gruber, the fortune-teller, if his wife lived past Christmas. Between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve he arranged a time for Gruber to come and visit him to drink to the New Year and to see how he had realized his ideas in his new house. Gruber is described as unsuspecting, the haulage contractor as crafty. The famous Viennese specialist in forensic medicine, Breitenegger, was able to determine the time of Gruber’s death to the minute, even after eight weeks. The haulage contractor had been carrying on an affair with a Leonding needle-woman for years.

The Loden Coat

THE LODEN COAT