february-2012

The stuff of
legends
Alligators in sewers, cartoon ducks in government: how well do
you know your urban legends? Find out with our exclusive quiz
1
QUIZMASTER: ROB CROMWELL ILLUSTRATION: CAROLYN RIDSDALE
Fully grown alligators
roam New York’s sewers,
feasting on hobos and
the city’s rats.
A) True — A juvenile male
and female were fl ushed
down the toilet by
irresponsible owners in
the 1970s, and have
subsequently bred
B) False — Small alligators
have been found, but they
cannot survive in the
sewers C) False — They
were eaten by sewer lions
38 Holland Herald
2
An American
collector of rare
cigars insured them
against fi re — then
smoked them all.
A) True — He sued the
insurers and won a
payout, but they then
had him sent to prison
for arson B) False —
What a ridiculous
notion C) False — He
lost them in a fl ood
3
NASA spent millions
trying to make a
pressurised ‘Space-
Pen’ that would allow
ink to fl ow downwards
in zero gravity. Russia
trumped them by
using a pencil.
A) True — The fi nal cost
reached more than $175
million B) True — JFK’s
original speech
promised “Calligraphy in
space within ten years”
C) False — Though a
private inventor did
spend almost $1 million
on the problem