That's a Joke, Sis

In the California legislature, Republican Assemblyman Charles Chapel. 57. has a reputation as an incurable practical joker; his humor runs toward infuriating Roman Catholic colleagues by solemnly informing them that someone has just introduced a resolution attacking the Pope. But last week Chapel gave himself a hotfoot--and it could cost him dearly.

Chapel was one of 50 passengers on a United Air Lines DC-7 about to take off from Sacramento to Los Angeles when Stewardess Judy Churchill noticed his briefcase in an overhead rack, asked him to put it beneath his seat. "Well," said Chapel, "all I have in it is a revolver and nitroglycerin." The stewardess ignored him, but Chapel pressed on. "Didn't you hear me?" he asked. "I have a revolver and nitroglycerin in my briefcase. Aren't you supposed to report that to someone?" She was--and did. As a result, the flight was held up for more than 50 minutes while Chapel's effects were searched and he was questioned. And he was formally charged with violating a California law (which Chapel voted for in 1961) making it a crime punishable with up to three years in prison to give a false report about a bomb or explosives on an airplane. Said Chapel: "Those airline people got hysterical about it. If they had a sense of humor, there would have been nothing to it.

They've had a few bomb scares, and the least little thing sets them on fire, I guess.

God, I wish I had stayed in Sacramento." Said Sacramento County District Attorney John M. Price: "If he thinks it is a joke, let him talk to a jury."

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