Thursday 22 December 2011

Don't laugh, this is a true story


A 10-years-old sheep on a farm on the Isle of Wight has been fitted with false teeth. The plastic teeth were fitted last week and in seven days the sheep put on 20lb.

That gem appeared in today's Daily Examiner but it wasn't a recent news item. It happened 50 years ago. Regular Examiner readers appreciate the work of Chris Nield who compiles "Backward Glances: Extracts from The Daily Examiner 50 years ago today".

In other 'old' news reported in the Examiner today:

* Sir Earle Christmas Page, former Australian Prime Minister died in Sydney to-day. Lady Page and close relatives were at his bedside constantly as he fought for his life. [Well, truth be known, Sir Earle died on 20 December.]

Footnote: The Australian Dictionary of Biography states that Sir Earle's first wife, Ethel, predeceased him. Ethel died in 1958 and on 20 July 1959 Sir Earle married his secretary Jean Thomas at St Paul's Cathedral. Sir Earle fought his last election in December 1961. Suffering from cancer, he hardly appeared in the electorate and died in Sydney on 20 December, not knowing that he had lost his seat after forty-two year.

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