Alan Fosterpresents a selection of Irish Timesoddities
90-year-old woman's feat
Miss Anne Clarke of Magherahaan, Raphoe, Co Donegal, who is bordering on 90 years of age, has just mowed, tied and stacked an acre of oats, the bulk of which was six feet high. This feat was accomplished within a week.
September 6th, 1931
Have you a H-bomb?
Using or carrying hydrogen or atom bombs is forbidden by order in the village of Vacluse-la-Fontaine (826 inhabitants), near Avignon, in southeast France. Mayor Jean Garcin proposed the order after Communist councillors asked the council to pass a resolution in favour of outlawing the hydrogen bomb.
March 10th, 1950
Extraordinary shooting case
An extraordinary incident is reported from Clermont, France. A young woman, going to a cellar to fetch some wine, received, on opening the door, a bullet in her face, which instantly killed her.
Her husband explained that he had suspected that the cellar was being robbed, and, therefore, had fixed a loaded pistol inside the cellar in such fashion that it would be discharged the moment the door was opened. The police, on being told that the couple were on bad terms, and that the wife's life had recently been insured, arrested the husband.
January 4th, 1911
Drawing made with candle and wick
When a large framed picture fell from the wall in the home of Mr and Mrs Finnerty, Abbeygate Street, Galway, it was found that instead of being merely an excellent black and white picture of a three-masted sailing vessel in a stormy sea, it was a candleograph made in 1875 by James Edmund Wood, Ocean Street, Plymouth. A note at the back of the picture states it was done entirely with a candle and wick, and that no pencil or brush was used. The picture is full of detail and measures two feet by a foot and a half. The Finnertys bought it framed 26 years ago as an ordinary black and white work.
April 6th, 1946
Aerial treatment for the dumb
Two nose dives of a thousand feet each gave a young girl from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada a thrill yesterday, but failed to remedy her inability to speak. Physicians recommended this aerial method of treatment.
May 9th, 1929
A quiet wedding
At a wedding in a village in eastern Finland yesterday the guests began to quarrel among themselves. All the lamps were extinguished, knives were freely used, and 12 people, including the bride, were injured. One of the victims received 20 wounds. Most of the guests were intoxicated before the quarrelling began.
August 28th, 1930
This sneeze cleared his head
A man sneezed in Rome yesterday, and got rid of a revolver bullet which had lodged in his head for 20 years. He did not know it was there.
Thirty-eight-year-old Mario Aspromonti of Rome said he was in bed, preparing to sleep, when he sneezed - a big, forceful sneeze. He felt something hard and heavy in his throat and spat it out. It was a revolver .25 bullet.
Aspromonti said that he was 17 when he was accidentally shot by the owner of a shop where he was working.
His employer was cleaning his revolver when a shot went off. The bullet ricocheted off a marble counter top and hit Aspromonti on the forehead.
Fearing a police investigation they agreed not to call a doctor immediately. The next day Aspromonti was feeling well and they concluded the bullet had only grazed his head, without sticking in it. The sneeze 20 years later showed they were wrong.
January 11th, 1956
Culled from the archives of The Irish Times, available online at www.ireland.com/archive