IRISH TIMES ODDITIES
HARD TO SWALLOW
A cobra in the Dublin Zoo has made sure of its Christmas dinner - of an unusual kind. The keeper of the reptile house noticed that in a den or cage in which three cobras were kept, one cobra was apparently getting more than its share of food. The keeper then moved in into another den where there had been only one cobra. The cobras, strangers to each other, appeared to be friendly - and there was never any idea they would be otherwise - but when the keeper went to the den next morning he found only one cobra. The appearance of that cobra left no doubt in his mind as to what had happened in the night.
December 22nd, 1955
STRANGE COINCIDENCE
While the parents of 12-year-old James Clark, who had been paralysed by a fall from a horse sat at his bedside in hospital, their other son, William was brought in badly injured, writes Reuters's Sydney, New South Wales, correspondent. He had also fallen from a horse - and was paralysed. William, who was 14, died shortly afterwards. Both boys were keen horsemen. The younger lad was thrown when his horse stumbled, and his right side became paralysed. When the other boy fell off his horse as it jumped a gulley it rolled on him and he was picked up unconscious, and, like his brother, paralysed down the right side.
November 14th, 1934
A RUSSIAN CLAIM
Moscow radio has claimed that the first bicycle was invented by a Russian serf, who rode the machine across Moscow's Red Square in 1801 after a 1,350 mile cross-country trip.
According to the radio, the bicycle is kept in the Nizhny Tagil Museum. The front wheel of it is twice the size of the rear wheel, and a wooden plank serves as a saddle.
December 28th, 1956
PIG WITH EXPENSIVE TASTE
The pig which takes part in a London suburban pantomime is every evening at the interval taken into a crush room where it receives attention from admirers.
One evening last week, while the pig was being handed round, a gentleman happened to take out his pocket-book, and in doing so a £5 note dropped to the floor. Before it could be rescued by its owner the pig had swallowed it at one gulp, and then proceeded to eat as desert the chocolates provided by its admirers.
February 6th, 1909
A MIRAGE
Sir, I would be greatly interested to know if any of your readers can tell me if a mirage is uncommon in this country. Last Wednesday (September 18th), from the summit of Slieve Foye, height about 2,000 feet, I was watching with a friend the clouds drifting by. Two figures suddenly appeared on a white cloud on a slightly higher level than ourselves - guessing roughly, about 150 yards away. The figures were framed in a most beautiful rainbow ring, the ring just large enough to encircle the figures only. It was a reflection of ourselves, wonderfully sharp and clear.
The time was about 5.15pm. We were standing between the sun and large masses of white cloud; the rays were dazzling.
Yours, etc. Agnes M Rutherford,
Coast Guards, Carlingford, Co Louth.
September 25th, 1912