IRISH TIMES ODDITIES: Ride ashore on bullocksThe New York correspondent of the Daily Mail, telegraphing on Wednesday, says: "Calmly smoking cigarettes until the sinking ship carried them down, four male passengers and the second engineer were lost with the steamship Taboga, off Los Santos, 93 miles from Panama, rather than attempt to save themselves in boats already crowded with women and children.
The steamer was carrying cattle as well as passengers, and the herd stampeded, upsetting a lifeboat, which was being launched. Every person in the boat was drowned save two, who got ashore on the backs of bullocks.
June 9th, 1911
Penny in child's throat
The extraction from the gullet of a child of a penny, which had lodged in the throat for three months and would eventually have led to the death of the child, was mentioned by Mr F D McMullan, Honorary Secretary in reviewing, at the annual meeting . . . at the Benn Ulster Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, Belfast. Dr Killen said the hospital had been 55 years in existence, and during that time it had dealt with an immense amount of work. They had added new operating rooms for eye work, and separate ear, nose and throat work. Several thousands of pounds had been spent in bringing the hospital up-to-date. Most of the expenses was for structural alterations, and it was hoped that in the next year or two the surgical and medical work would be brought up to a like standard. Some new methods would be introduced.
April 7th, 1927
Asleep in shop window
Two Berlin policemen, patrolling one of the main streets of the city one night, suddenly noticed that the plate glass window of a shop was smashed to pieces, states Reuter's Berlin correspondent. Convinced that burglars were at work, they drew their revolvers, entered the shop through the hole in the window, and called out "Hands up!" The sole reply was a hearty snore, which they found emanated from a man lying fast asleep on a sofa. Awakened, he told them that as he had no money and no place to sleep he decided to use the comfortable-looking sofa which he had noticed in the shop window, and as the only way to get to it was to break the window, he broke it. This prank cost him two months' imprisonment, however.
December 29th, 1930
Litterbugs in forest
Deputy Surveyor of the New Forest, Mr W A Cadman, told the botany and other sections of the British Association that by the end of the season (March-October), 235,000 people would have camped in the New Forest, and 800 tons of litter, excluding abandoned cars, and 22,000 to 25,000 milk bottles would have been collected. Litter lorries would have travelled 21,000 miles. The main difficulty concerned campers and picknickers.
September 2nd, 1964
Accidental tourist
John Chandler, an Irish ship's pilot, landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after making his third involuntary transatlantic crossing in 20 years, because storms prevented him from leaving the ship. Piloting the Cunard liner Franconia out of Cobh Harbour, Chandler found himself stormbound and was forced to remain on the liner while she crossed the Atlantic. He had a similar experience in 1940 when he landed in Halifax. Before that he ended up in New York in 1930 on his first forced passage.
January 17th, 1950