Why did the rating go down if he went 4/5 against higher rated players?

Were there wacky rating rules in 1996? Poor  Mr. Britt has the tournament of his life but loses 7 rating points.

Look at the whole crosstable. He played in round 1 and drew against a  1992, apparently withdrew and re-entered, probably on a different schedule. That first game probably is causing what you see.

Good observation, but a draw to a 1992 would not even come close to offsetting the win over the 2455, 2243, and 1957, plus the draw with the 2343 and 2241. 

I can't say for sure what the formulas looked like back in '96 but I can say even now, if you have a player that has a game in an extra section, say due to byes but the TD pairs so people aren't sitting without games, that extra game can do weird things with the ratings.