WORLD TOUR AT 84After spending the greater part of his life as a coastguard, Mr Edward Jeffers, a native of Co Cork, who died last Saturday at the residence of his son-in-law, 3 Bathgate Drive, Strandown, Co Down, took to travelling, and three years ago, at the age of 84, made a round trip of the world, leaving Belfast on January 1st, 1925, and returning in June, 1926.
When he was strolling around the decks, he related afterwards, a young woman excitedly approached him, having identified him by a photograph in a newspaper, and said that she was Jean Walsh, from Dublin, and that she would have sailed for Auckland some time before, but was too timid to make the journey. After reading a report of his projected trip, she added, she said, "Well, if an old man of 84 years of age has the pluck to travel, why should I be nervous!" The two became great friends on the voyage. Mr Jeffer's 85th birthday, Empire Day, May 24th, 1926, was celebrated aboard ship on the return journey, and it was made a special occasion by the ship's company and passengers. Lady Weadon (ex-Mayoress of Melbourne) presented him with a fountain pen, a match-box, and enlarged photograph of the vessel (SS Oronsay), signed by the captain, while the Wembley Band, which was on board returning from a tour of India, played For Hes a Jolly Good Fellow. January 31st, 1928
AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT
Ken Noyle, radio compere, was nearly choked to death in Durban, South Africa, yesterday, by a 15-ft python, borrowed from the Durban Zoo for his Embarrassing Moments programme. After a short course on reptile handling he was to have handed the python to zoo visitors and describe their embarrassment to his radio audience. A group of American sailors was selected as the "lucky" recipients, but Noyle forgot his training, and the python found its tail loose. In a flash the huge snake wrapped itself round his chest and throat. The Americans thinking it part of the regular entertainment, roared with laughter. Rapidly suffocating, Noyle succeeded in staggered to the park office where the reptile keepers released him. July 7th, 1954
MILITARY MIND
A retired German army officer has been hospitalised in Cologne for multiple skin infections caused by the military medals he wore pinned to his naked chest both day and night. The second World War veteran, who served as a major in the Nazi Wehrmacht and later in the West German Bundeswehr, told a doctor he found it hard to adjust to civilian life after his retirement eight years ago. But wearing his medals pinned to his body helped because "the pain put him in a trance". His wife saw nothing odd in the fact that he wore the Iron Cross and similar decorations to bed and flew the flag in their bedroom. But she had him hospitalised when the seriousness of the infections began to disturb her. January 24th, 1977
HURLING WITHOUT BOOTS
An amusing incident occurred in the first round of the Senior Hurling Championship played at Galway on a Sunday in early May 1938 between Claregalway and Galway City.
Several players from each team wore new hurling boots and the game had not long started when one of the players, finding that wearing his un-broken-in new boots was too painful, sat down and took them off. He continued to play in his stockinged feet. Other players followed his example and before half-time at least 15 of the 30 players had removed their boots. May 10th, 1938
Culled from the archives of The Irish Times, available online at www.irish-times.com