Unredeemed. In Fresno, Calif., a gunman tried to rob Sam's Fairway Grocery wearing a sheet of trading stamps over his face with stamps ripped out to make eye holes.

Ruse in the Night. In Seattle, when a ringing telephone roused Darwin Barker, and a shadowy figure at the foot of his bed said, "Go answer the phone," Darwin hurried off obediently to see who was calling, went back to his bedroom to discover that his trousers, his wallet and the intruder were gone.

Infantry. In Bonn, West Germany, when Ulrich Draeger received notice from the draft board to report for examination, his father put him in a perambulator and wheeled him to the draft board office, where four-month-old Ulrich got a lollipop and was sent home.

Gourmet Bomb. In Tokyo, when schoolteachers went on a hunger strike, a parents' group prepared a savory meal in the open air, told the hungry teachers to help themselves, but only if they agreed to go back to their classrooms.

Drooltide. In Birmingham. Christy Hillman, 2, had a coughing seizure, reached in her mouth, took out a three-pronged, three-inch cedar twig she had swallowed from last year's Christmas tree.

Spoil Change. In Hendon, England, after David Lalor bought an old car for ninepence, he cleaned out the interior, found seven-pence-halfpenny.

Hook & Shatter. In Ku-ring-gai, Australia, the municipal council asked for a new fire engine after learning that the old one was so beat up it sometimes had to go to fires backwards.

Shake Charmer. In Norwich, Conn., Yvette Richard, 11, discovered that by standing on the lawn while whirling a hula hoop about her waist she could make worms rise from the earth all around her.-

Imports Invited. In Newcastle, England, the Montague colliery, last operating coal mine in the city, announced that its veins are running out and it will soon have to shut down.

Shredded Feat. In Metropolis, Ill., Carl Bock, 19, held up Fitch's Dime Store, got away with a bag full of cash, was fleeing through a parking lot when his pistol fired into the bag, scattering money in all directions.

-Hypothesized New York State University Agricultural & Technical Institute Biologist Louis Pyenson: "When it rains, the drops falling on the earth set up a vibration, and the worms come out. So it must be with hoop twirling. When the twirler shifts weight to keep the hoop spinning, there are vibrations, and the worms rise from the earth."

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