IRISH TIMES ODDITIES: Allen Fosterwith more from The Irish Timesarchives.
A record shot
ON NEW Year's Eve, a "record" shot was made on the south Wexford sloblands by Mr Michael J Kavanagh, Wexford, who was also a crack shot in Palestine during the Great War and was one of the troops who victoriously marched into Jerusalem under Lord Allenby. Mr Kavanagh shot three geese with one shot out of an ordinary 12-bore gun, with No 4 shot. All three birds fell quite close to one other, two quite dead and the third mortally wounded.
January 5th, 1930
Hazel nut in appendix
A recent operation performed in Derry Infirmary revealed a remarkable secret. A boy of nine years was admitted suffering from appendicitis. When the surgeon was performing the operation, he discovered a full-grown hazel nut with shell complete in the appendix affected. The operation was successfully performed and the appendix - with the nut inside - is being preserved.
March 24th, 1927
Octogenarian holes in one
Driving 195 yards over a difficult hazard, Mr James Wardlaw, a veteran local golfer of 79 summers, from Galt, Ontario, succeeded yesterday in holing in one. He was escorted to his home by his fellow club members, headed by a brass band.
June 7th, 1930
His severed leg
"Throw it overboard" was the stoical remark today by a 44-year-old Scotsman, Mr Robert Robertson, when his leg was severed by the tautened tow- line of a tug that was towing a steamer on Lake Ontario. The captain of the tug had ordered the tow-line to be severed when the tug was in danger of capsizing, but Mr Robertson was entangled in the line. During the four-hour trip to hospital, he calmly smoked and made jokes. He will probably recover.
October 25th, 1930
Bright sparks
Dublin engineers are chuckling over a contretemps at the lecture on the Shannon hydroelectric power scheme that was given on Monday night in the Engineers' Hall, Dublin. An electric lantern was installed to show slides, but after a few had been thrown on to the screen, the machine went out of action. First one and then another of the electrical experts offered to put matters right, but the lantern still refused to work.
Eventually half-a-dozen electrical engineers were endeavouring to detect the fault - but it was still undiscovered when the meeting adjourned.
February 8th, 1928
Gave up parachute in doomed plane
His parachute being defective, one man could not jump with the rest of the crew from an RAF aircraft, badly damaged over enemy territory in 1942. The pilot gave up his own parachute and, after the last of the crew had jumped, attempted a forced landing. He was thrown clear of the aircraft and was taken prisoner.
The pilot was 24-year-old Paul Alexander Hilton, R.A.F.V.R. of Exeter (now warrant officer), who receives the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (flying) in the latest list of RAF awards.
March 30th, 1946
• Culled from the archives of The Irish Times, available online at www.irishtimes.com/archive.