Monday 19 April 2010

'nothing like these spiders has, apparently, ever been seen before'

What with one thing and another, I have been doing some old fashioned (circa 2003) link-following this morning. As previously mentioned, there's not a lot wrong with old Antipodean newspapers. Last time out, we were in New Zealand. This time, Australia and The Canberra Times. The story I came to read is, in full:
SPIDERS ATTACK A TOWN

Huge, poisonous spiders were lately invading the town of Antofagasta, in Chile. They are attacking the inhabitants. Their bite inflicts great wounds like the cut of a knife. Twenty persons, including nine children, were sent to hospital suffering from such wounds.

Nothing like these spiders has, apparently, ever been seen before. They are of a species unknown to Antofagasta. The Antofagasta doctors have telegraphed for help from the Central Government, declaring themselves powerless in face of an invasion " of spiders of the most virulent kind."

"Large and black " was the further brief telegraphic description of the invaders.
Other stories from the same page:
Bees as Messengers
(Berhard (probably Bernhard?) Guehler, a german beekeeper, has been tying messages to bees. Never once has a bee not delivered the message, and bees are less likely to attract attention than pigeons.)

Dwarfs Form a Union
(an 'amusing story about the dwarfs of Hungary' who have, inspired by the Nazis (we're in 1934, incidentally) formed a dwarfs union to promote dwarfish racial purity. 'Their leader, their Hitler, is said to be 30 inches high!')

Banning the Beards
(Present Russian regime considering banning them as unproletarian. 'Beards have always been a source of trouble, even in Britain. It is not so very long ago that the 'beaver' game reduced elderly gentlemen throughout the country to a state of fury.')

1 comment:

Claire said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQWgUht-ObI