IRISH TIMES ODDIITIES:A selection of quirky stories from the
Irish Timesarchives.
A WOMAN HERMIT
A woman who was found unconscious in the snow on a mountainside at Legfordrum, four miles from Strabane, and taken to the Union hospital, is stated by the country people to have lived in the open on the top of the mountain for nine years. She had not been known to enter a house during that period. People living in the district supplied her with food.
January 19th, 1924
HIDDEN TREASURE
Securities worth a million francs (about £5,700) were found in a hollow tree trunk in the Bois de Vincennes by an early morning stroller. He saw two men descend from a green car and go to the tree, after which they returned to the car and drove off. The stroller went to the tree, where he found a wrapped newspaper parcel containing the securities. He took it to the police station. A booklet with the securities, which were inscribed stock, gave the name of the owner, a Belgian, whose Paris flat was burgled a few days ago.
August 19th, 1938
DONKEY SAVES CHILD’S LIFE
In the village of Bergante, in the south of Italy, a donkey was grazing slowly “on the long acre” by the estuary of a river, when five-year-old Aldo Gahmbetto fell into the water and was carried away by the current.
Immediately, the animal began to bray, perhaps in the hope of getting help.
There was nobody about to hear him, so he waded into the water and swam close to the boy. When Aldo had a good grip, the donkey returned to the bank, deposited Aldo on dry land, and went back to his grazing as if nothing had happened.
September 23rd, 1950
A LUCKY FIND
Master Jack Leslie, while digging in a bank on the estate of Sir John Leslie, Glaslough, picked up a medieval Episcopal ring. The ring fits a large size of thumb. The stone is the size and colour of a cherry, while the setting consists of four layers in chased silver resembling a coronet. The inside of the ring shows much wear, but the exterior is very well preserved.
January 16th, 1928
ITALIAN UFO
Hundreds of people from northern Italy to Sicily reported seeing an unknown flying object before dawn yesterday. Various witnesses said the object was shaped like a cigar, a torpedo, a triangle, an arrow, a funnel, a balloon, a half-moon, a rugby ball or the letter V. Reports from Sicily said it had a dark hole in the middle and “two rays like wings”.
September 15th, 1978
BANDIT TRAPPED IN VAULT
Mr A E Wilson, manager of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, has trapped a bandit in a vault and qualified for the £1,000 reward offered by the Canadian Bankers’ Association for the capture of a bank thief.
Joseph Leonard (18), a sailor, walked into the bank, and, producing a heavy revolver, drove Mr Wilson and his two assistants into the bank vault.
He then entered the vault himself and prepared to loot the safe. Suddenly Mr Wilson darted out of the vault, slamming the door and imprisoning his two assistants and the bandit.
On the arrival of the police Mr Wilson opened the vault, and the bandit walked out holding two revolvers – which were subsequently found to be unloaded.
August 31st, 1925