89 Red Cows

Jokesmiths all over Russia were making public mock last week of Terpilici State Farm near Leningrad from which 89 cows "disappeared" in a single recent night.

Sternly questioned by a newshawk from Leningradskaya Pravda, State Farm Manager Youdine exclaimed two weeks after the disappearance : "Is it possible? I didn't know we had lost any cows!"

Other Terpilici comrades said that 40 of the 89 lost cows had been found, the rest having doubtless been eaten or sold. Scathingly the weekly Ekonomicheskaya Zhizn cartooned a man with a lantern "searching for an honest cow" and asking of one startled, guilty-looking beast: "Pardon me, but aren't you one of Terpilici State Farm's cows?"

Across the border, Polish Jokesmiths joined the fun. A story circulated about one Wieslaw Hawrylowicz who escaped from Russia disguised as a cow. "Would you believe it! He sewed himself up in a real cow's skin and hobbled over the frontier on all fours in full view of Red guards so dumb they never knew the difference!"

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