St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 35

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 3D Elves And Trolls Bury Treasures, Get In Some Digs II 1 1 ft 0 i If Oct. 25, 1982 Renyold FrgusonPoat-Dipatch Byron Preiss, editor of "The Secret," which contains clues to a treasure. Preiss holds a cask similar to the ones buried. Under his arm is a Djinn Rummy.

If you want to find the precious booty, you have to get "The Secret," which really is a book. JUwwtf -J 'Hm rim 'fv'X' it At the place where jewels abound jfJJrf Fifteen rows down to the ground Ufcl m'ddte twenty-one rQt From ena to end Only three stand watch As the sound of friends Fills the afternoon hours Here is a sovereign people Who build palaces to shelter Their heads for a night! Gnomes admire Fays delight The namesakes meeting Near this site. to celebrate with bands and bunting a previous (successful) revolution ia politics and morality, while jailing, at least ostracizing, anyone advocating political or moral change in the The authors of the lavishly and hilariously Illustrated book, by the way) were Sean Kelly and Ted Mann, both Canadians. Kelly's past includes a terra as editor of the National Lampoon, and Mann is the current senior editor of that publication. the editor, grew up in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Stanford University's Graduate School of Communications.

They warn us of countless other terrifying forms taken by the descendants of the original Fair People. The Tupperwerewolves tedium domesticum), for instance. Or the Werner Von Brownie "which you will find wherever you see a red-faced power company public relations executive holding a Geiger counter with a melted probe, talking in reassuring terms about acceptable levels of radiation while spitting out her teeth." Or the Djinn Rummy, found wherever less-than-fine wines are sold. The guide explains that "the Djinn (pronounced 'gin') has a great and famous power. It can take away three wishes from whoever is lucky enough to find it: the wish for a job, clean clothes and a place to sleep." And the Philharmonic Ore.

the guide explains, "is the moving spirit behind the granting of vast sums of public money to subsidize art forms which are patronized largely by persons with vast private wealth. If music be the food of love, the Philharmonic Ore is providing food stamps for the upper class." There's a lot of love among the Fair People. It just doesn't show. i This may or may not be the sketch that matches the poem at left. One of 1 2 poems in the book that, when matched with the correct drawing, will indicate the location of a precious jewel.

By John J. Archibald Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Byron Preiss said it's all well and good to publish a book for adults about Trolls and Leprechauns and Tree Fairies and such, and to put in some clues about where a dozen of the little peoples' precious jewels have been buried for smart readers to find, but "But somebody had to hide the jewels, and it wasn't easy," said Preiss. He developed and edited a Bantam Book called "The Secret," and now the New York resident is going around trying to draw attention to it. "Off and on for nine months this year, I traveled this country and Canada, hiding the stuff. "You can imagine what airport security people say to a man trying to carry a 6-foot shovel onto an airplane, I tried to convince them I was on a 'horticultural "One time I almost got caught by police when I was burying one of the casks.

I had to hide under a pile of leaves until they left. Another time, some dogs got in an uproar about me being around. "I had other experiences, but describing them might give clues about where I was, so I can't talk. If a reader wants to consider the police and the dogs as clues, that's up to him or her." The publishing of a book that includes obscure directions to an actual treasure fits in with a trend, apparently begun in 1978 by a British publisher who distributed a book titled "The Golden Hare of Masquerade." In it were clues to the location of a jewel-studded rabbit. "Masquerade" became an obsession with many Britons until the treasure was found in a London park three years later.

There are similar such treasure hunts going on in this country, but none promoted by a book company. Among the other search projects are two games of the "Dungeons and Dragons" type "Treasure of Unicorn Gold" and "Treasure of the Silver Dragon" which include hints as to the location of valuables. The games are distributed by Metagaming of Austin, Texas. A calendar distributed by Chrysler Corp. contains puzzles that, if solved, can lead to college scholarships.

the guide, to be alert for in the Midwest: The Spirit of St. Louis (Latin name: Babbit redwt). "The dauntless Charles Lindbergh, in a craft named after this creature, flew solo to France, beheld the splendors of ancient culture and gay Paree, went back home, and declared himself an isolationist. That's the Spirit of St. Louis at work for you, fellah.

"Much otherwise inexplicable American behavior is the work of this being. The Spirit of St. Louis inspires us Guide. "They can nudge a knuckleball over the corner of the plate, and by spreading their wings and lowering their flaps, transform an arrogant pitcher's fastball into a hanging curve. "They are most noticeable by their absence: It is invariably observed that a losing or strife-torn team 'lost its Team Another hybrid is known as the Elf S.

Presley. He accompanies show-biz folk on the road. "The squeal of feedback, the off-key plonk of a guitar string snapping, a dead mike during a vocal; all these misfortunes may usually be attributed to the tireless efforts of Elf S. Presley," according to the guide. And anywhere the urge to push your luck burns a hole in your soul, the guide warns, you will find Daemon Runyon, the low roller's companion.

"He draws your attention to a sure-thing longshot in the Racing Form where he has previdusly inserted a typo. He helps you draw to an inside straight if somebody else is holding a flush. He lets you win from welshers and lose to Mafia dons." There's one particular hybrid, warns find concealed not more than 3 feet below ground is a fancy cask about 8 inches long that contains a key. When the key is mailed to Bantam, the jewel will be sent in return. At least one gem is situated "within reasonable driving distance" of all residents of the United States and Canada, according to Preiss.

The total value of the stones is estimated at $10,000, but they are not equal. "The stones that are worth the most will be the hardest to find," Preiss said. It's a rule you would expect from a group that calls itself the Fair People. Only part of "The Treasure" is concerned about the history of the strange little folk and their clues. Much of the volume describes the activities of the creatures who evolved from the intermarriage of the various tribes of Fair People.

You've encountered some of them. A group that flourished in the recent baseball season is known as the Team Spirits. "Although invisible, Team Spirits can influence the outcome of most sports events," states the Fair People "The jewels described in 'The Treasure' are a peace offering from The Fair People," Preiss said in all seriousness. "They are the Elves and Trolls and Rhine Maidens and others 12 groups in all who fled from the Old World when civilization began to encumber them. "They migrated to the New World and encountered the Indians, whom they liked, because the Indians had a great respect for nature.

But 300 years later, the New World was 'discovered' and pretty soon the newcomers began to crowd the Fair People again. "They have nowhere to go, so they have offered jewels in exchange for the right to live beside Man peacefully." Preiss spoke so earnestly that I became a believer. But why had the Fair People let the Bantam Co. hide the precious stones? "They trust us," Preiss said, "because we have told their story honestly. We're the mediators, sort of, between the Fair People and Man." I understood completely.

The actual jewels are not buried, by the way. What the clever hunter will OCTOBER IS GREEN PLANT MONTH LUSH BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL FOLIAGE Fact Fare Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of fiction's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, was born in 1857. The adventures of Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson, as they pursued the dreaded Moriarty and other Victorian criminals have been the basis for more than 100 films. Doyle died in 1930.

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The cute bags are gone and you're reduced to plain brown ones. January and continuing through to the end of the school year, lunch Is a challenge. You're down to cold chicken necks, a wedge of cheese that is late for its own funeral, a cold pork chop with a bite out of it and compressed squares of assorted oats and grain that's supposed to fill you up until dinner, but doesn't. If you have an II a.m. lunch period, the bread is still frozen.

The seven basics have dwindled down to a bunch of carrots with the tops still on and a jar of maraschino cherries. The fried egg sandwich that smelled so great at breakfast now has all the appeal of an eye transplant. The brown lunch bag has given way to a shopping bag that also hides dirty gym clothes. No one knows why school lunches follow this cycle, but they're as predictable as the kid who doesn't eat any of them, but trades them for a baseball card and a Scratch 'n Sniff I Mothers everywhere are about to enter the second stage of their home-; packed school lunch experience. There are three cycles during a school year each reflecting a mother's care and concern for her young child's nutrition and well-being.

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Steam pours from the wide-mouth of thermoses revealing the promise of fresh vegetables in homemade broth. There is a little plastic spoon, knife and fork. Fruit is sectioned and cut for easy access and desserts are personally monogrammed. A napkin with a toothpick in it and a mint to leave a cool lasting taste complete the lunch. Daily, I there is a note saying, "Mommy loves I you.

Hurry home." It is all gift-l wrapped in a floral bag with the name printed in calligraphy. From late October to January, the second cycle begins to emerge. Bologna I still has the rind on it, peanut butter 119 vnviwc Charcoal 1 Peck Bag Potting Soil wmxt I Here it is: If, for any reason, you decide to drop out during the first 5 days, you get your money back. Every cent. No strings attached.

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