7 MARCH 1925, Page 13

A SPORTING CHANCE FOR THE FOX

• [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

Sin,--The story which appeared in two Sunday papers a fortnight ago, about a fox getting into a private house and being taken in the chimney, seems to have aroused a great deal of indignation. As the gentleman who owns the house, and whose name was mentioned, is a personal friend of mine, and as the story contained certain inherent improbabilities, I wrote to enquire what was the truth of the matter. The fox never entered the house at all. It crossed my friend's lawn and was taken in some old drain or flue pipe in a farm a short distance off. This is another instance of the value of the maxim of Dr. Routh, the old president of my college, Magdalen, Oxford : " Always verify your references."—