GETTING IT IN THE NECK
A lion, just escaped from a menagerie, took an early morning stroll down a Paris street, writes Reuter. A soldier who happened to be passing made a gallant attempt to capture the brute, but all he got for his pains was a bite in the neck.
Later the affair came up in court, and the soldier was asked whether he would accept approximately £160 as compensation for the injury he had suffered. “That’s cheap at the price,” said the soldier with a smile. “I don’t mind beginning all over again!”
January 11th, 1935
A FIVE-YEAR PLAN
A thief who was working on a five-year plan has been caught by the police at Suma, Japan. He is Monzaburo Fujita, a 36-year-old gardener. Suspicions were aroused, states Reuter, by the life of luxury which Fujita was leading. A watch was kept on him, and it was discovered that he was systematically robbing his employers. When questioned he confessed to the thefts, but said that he was putting all the money in a post office savings account. At the end of five years he had intended to draw it out and build a bungalow for himself.
October 12th, 1934
CRIMEAN RELICS
Sir, – The sale of the historic bugle on which the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava was sounded has been noticed in a great number of daily papers, both in this country and in some of the English papers, but it was only in some of the English papers that attention was drawn to the place where the bugle was made and in those journals we read the following: “The bugle also bears the stamp of the maker, which is as follows – J McNeill, 148 Capel Street, Dublin”.
I think in justice to the firm, which is one of the oldest musical establishments in Dublin, their fellow citizens ought to be informed of the above fact.
I remember seeing in McNeills place of business the identical block on which the bugle was made, and my memory also carries me back 42 years ago when the firm supplied some musical instruments for the band of which I was a member, that of the 95th Regiment, now the 2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment. Yours c, BM
April 12th, 1898
LIVED LIKE A HERMIT
William Kelliher was so successful in leading the life of a hermit in the busy city of Boston that no one knew of his death until four months after it had occurred.
His body, little more than a skeleton, was found in a sparsely furnished attic in an otherwise unoccupied building, of which he had been caretaker.
Kelliher, an Irishman from Co Cork, lived in the utmost simplicity, but his bank books are stated to show that he left approximately £1,400.
A will found in the attic provided £100 for his funeral, £100 for a distant relative, and the balance of his savings to three sisters in Cork.
January 26th, 1938
STRIKE-ON-A-BIKE
A bank robber staged his fourth strike-on-a-bike yesterday and outrode his pursuers in Frankfurt’s heavy traffic. He entered the bank, walked up to the cashier, pulled a gun and said: “Please turn over the money, but only the large bills.”
One of the other employees pushed an alarm button while the bandit collected the money – about 25,000 Marks (£2,150), and rode off on a bicycle parked outside.
Police arrived eight minutes later, delayed by detours and traffic jams.
January 3rd, 1967