IRISH TIMES ODDITIES:A DETERMINED INVENTOR: Mademoiselle Biget, the young airwoman who had a narrow escape from being burned to death last Sunday in Paris while testing a suit of her own invention which was supposed to be non-inflammable, has refused to give up her experiments, and made another test today.
Her overalls were painted with the special precautions, but again blazed up, and Mdlle Biget had her arm badly burned, and was taken to hospital. She is not seriously injured, however. She is still determined to perfect her invention, which she hopes may save the lives of many airmen.
March 17th, 1928
CLOUD BY THE BRIDGE
Sir, - Last Friday I was fishing on the Boyne by the disused mill below Stackallen Bridge when I saw a most unusual spectacle. It was a windy day with a lot of low grey cloud; the time about five in the afternoon.
There is a large wood on the opposite bank, in which there are several trees much taller than the rest. I saw what looked like a thin wisp of cloud hovering off a branch of one of these trees. It was at an angle of about 75 degrees to the ground. It kept changing its shape from a long thin wisp to a funnel shape, then to a large bulging cloud.
It also disappeared from time to time, and reappeared out of thin air in another position. I had the impression that its substance was not solid but vaporous. In short, in many respects it resembled the Cheshire Cat.
After a while, it seemed to float off from near the tree across the wood, again disappearing from time to time. Later I observed four other similar wisps near other trees, and they too showed the same behaviour.
It certainly was not bees swarming. The only explanation I can think of is a swarm of very small insects, perhaps flying ants, but the Cheshire Cat-like behaviour seems inconsistent with this hypothesis. Can any reader throw any light on this phenomenon?
- Yours, etc, John Carroll Greenmount, Castlebellingham, Co Louth
July 27th, 1966
A DISGUISED VICAR
The vicar of St Luke's Grimsby (the Rev GA Bullivant), at the adjourned Licensing Sessions, yesterday described how he disguised himself to investigate conduct at a parish hall. Allegations had been made by the chief constable as to the character of persons visiting the hall.
The Vicar said that he disguised himself as a fisherman. He saw nothing objectionable. The dresses were crude and the dancing was crude; but he could not object to that. He attended for a fortnight, and eventually his suspicions were aroused by a couple entering a motor car, and he gave orders that they were not to be admitted again.
The magistrates declined to renew the licence.
March 14th, 1928
BY LOCUST AIR MAIL
The locust air mail has arrived, writes Reuters from Durban, Natal.
Mr CJ Smith, of Pinetown, Durban, has just caught a locust to which was tied with cotton a tiny scrap of paper.
It bore Christmas greetings from "C Nietrey, PP Burg".
"PP Burg" stands for Paulpietersburg, which is 200 miles from Durban on the Natal-Transvaal border.
Mr Smith is writing new year greetings to Paulpietersburg - but he is sending it by ordinary post.
January 11th, 1935