Pale Rider. In Orofino, Idaho, Elk Hunter Phil Ingram took aim, fired, dropped his quarry, later agreed to pay Farmer Homer Richardson $100 for the horse he blasted out from under him.

A Public Office. In Oakland, Calif., after they found $500 worth of heroin in his car, cops locked up Dope-Peddling Suspect Robert McShann despite his plea: "You gotta let me out of here or there'll be panic in the streets. I was just making deliveries."

The Good Hook. In Nashville, Charles 0. Sparrow was caught shoplifting, fined $50 for swiping a Bible.

I'm Confessin ... In Manhattan, Scofflaw Johnny Raffa was arrested, socked with a 30-day sentence and given his choice of a $2,900 fine or another 116 days in the cooler for ignoring 58 traffic tickets, after he showed up for his first professional singing engagement at the annual ball of the Traffic Squad Benevolent Association.

God Rest Ye ... In Grand Island, Neb., the daily Independent printed a classified ad:

For the Family Who Has Everything for Christmas 3 CHOICE LOTS IN WEST LAWN CEMETERY

Detective Story. In Buffalo, ordered to clear the streets of underworldlings after an outbreak of wrongdoing, police dredged up Randolph Benson, charged him with disorderly conduct after they searched him, found he was equipped with a knife, a length of rubber hose and a volume entitled: The Blue Book of Crime.

Truth Serum. In Pittsburgh, Motorist Francis Weiss admitted that he had downed "five or six cocktails," was acquitted of drunken driving after flabbergasted Judge Robert E. McCreary observed it was "only the second time I've heard a defendant admit to having more than a couple of beers."

The Great Debase. In Vancouver, B.C., School Trustee George Robson proposed that schoolchildren no longer be sent to Victoria to see the provincial legislature in action, charged that the trips "were of doubtful educational value" because the students "heard a great deal of acrimony and saw unparliamentary conduct on both sides of the house."

Ad Astra. In Tokyo, after he clambered up the 100-ft. smokestack of the Central Post Office wearing a Santa Claus costume, unfurled a huge banner touting a nightclub Christmas party and was dragged back to earth by guards, Adman Teruo Sawashige explained to law officers: "I was told to do something extra novel."

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