Piccadilly Circus was the scene of an appalling fracas this afternoon.
Shortly after two o'clock a quietly-dressed middle-aged man, at present
unidentified, was observed stealing cautiously from the Tube station with a
thick wad of Treasury notes in one hand and _a copy of "The Times" in the
other!_ The sight of this latter seems to have sent several passers-by
completely mad. The wretched stranger was instantly set upon, his journal
torn from his hand and his limbs very severely mauled. The Treasury notes,
unremarked in the fearful _mélée_, fell into the mud and were devoured by a
passing Pekinese. Those now in possession of the priceless document were in
turn set upon by others, until all Piccadilly Circus became a battlefield.
The deplorable behaviour of motor-bus and taxicab drivers added greatly to
the carnage, for these men, rendered frantic by the thought of the loot
within their reach, repeatedly drove their vehicles into the seething mass
of humanity in their efforts to acquire this unthinkable treasure. No
official estimate of the casualties is yet to hand.
_Stop Press_.--Reason to believe unknown archdeacon got away West with part
of sheet of "Finance and Commerce." Police, specials, military and
fire-brigade now in pursuit.
_From the Press generally_.