Cambridge Fire officials, panicked by incessant threats--which they attributed to the Lampoon--to make off with their engine and drive it to New Orleans instead of Kenosha, dispatched their armor-plated apparatus 24 hours ahead of schedule. City Councillor John D. Lynch, however, claimed last night that the six Radcliffe girls abroad caused the early departure.

Police cruisers guarded the city's Public Works garage all night Thursday as mechanics prepared the fire engine for its 1100-mile safari. Numerous phone calls warned the fire officials that the Lampoon was planning to abscond with the engine and, according to one official, threatened "to keep it longer than we kept the Codfish out of the State House."

Lynch said that mechanic-driver Justin C. McCarthy was accompanied by six Radcliffe girls from the Midwest, "bag and baggage," as he left at 4 a.m. Friday morning. Councillor Edward Crane '35, however, insisted that one of the six was from Lesley College. A spot check last night indicated that it was unlikely that six 'Cliffedwellers drove home with McCarthy.

As an additional precaution, the city's name was stricken from the engine's side as it went on its sepulchered way. Lynch complained that the fire department "had pulled a fast one by quitting Cambridge early with only the driver and six girls along."

"Protect Taxpayers"

Fire Chief Henry A. Kilfoyle received numerous requests for the rides which he had offered to students from the Midwest. He regretted having to turn them down, but he said that "I have to protect the taxpayers and not take any chances of getting the old pumper stolen." The engine went to Kenosha for repairs.