IRISH TIMES ODDITIES:DOG KILLED 30 COBRAS Jill, the cobra-killing dog, has fought her last fight.
She was owned by a lawyer of Hyderabad, Deccan, and in the past two years has accounted for 100 snakes, including 30 cobras. Jill could smell cobras even when they lay hidden deep in their holes, states Reuter, and would lie in wait for hours until they appeared.
She also taught her puppies how to deal with snakes. An eight-foot King Cobra ended her career. She encountered the snake at dusk, and after a long fight brought it to her master’s feet, only to fall dead from a bite in the neck.
December 29th, 1933
AN IRISH SEA SERPENT
On arrival at Ramsey, the three-masted Norwegian schooner, Felix, of Rudkobing, laden with timber, Captain Jorgenson reported to the Customs officer that he had sighted a remarkable monster of the deep answering to the description of the sea serpent. The vessel was off Rathlin Island, north of Ireland, when, according to the story, an amazing denizen of the sea made its appearance above the water only three fathoms away.
It wriggled on the surface for the space of a few moments, and then disappeared from view. Although the head of the monster was not distinguishable, captain states that the proportion of the body he saw was not less than 12ft long.
The remarkable dimensions and uncanny appearance of the object caused considerable excitement, and the captain avers that throughout his lengthy seafaring experience he has witnessed nothing at sea so unusual in appearance and astounding in size.
July 9th, 1910
A SACRILEGIOUS DOG
When a man named Clegg was charged at Ballycullane (Co. Wexford) with having an unlicensed dog, he said that the animal was very wicked, “and even bit the priest”. The Justice commented: “A sacrilegious dog”. Defendant said he kept the animal tied up, and had since destroyed it. The case was struck out.
September 20th, 1929
MAN LIVED 10 YEARS IN SEWER
Giuseppe Cattaneo (60) took his first bath since 1942 at a home for old people yesterday in Treviglio, Italy. He told fellow inmates: “Living in a home again seems strange. I have lived in a disused sewer for the last 10 years.” Cattaneo was found in the sewer on Saturday night. Police found him on a pile of straw and surrounded by a stool a saucepan, a frying pan, and a faded picture of a woman. When they approached him, he shouted, “Here come the liberators”. He said he moved in after his landlord ejected him in 1942. He left the sewer only two or three times a month. He lived on what he could steal.
December 8th, 1952