A Leopard by the Tail

     Yes, it is possible to kill a leopard in single combat, but it is not something recommended. Five years ago I reported two cases: taxidermist and animal collector, Carl Akeley, who straggled one, and the one-handed giant, Jean-Pierre Hallet, who slew one Tarzan-style, but leaping on its back and stabbing it. So this time, I shall tell the story of Captain Edward Wood, formerly a forestry official in British India, who gave a whole new meaning to the expression "swing a cat".

Of Cricket Balls and Sparrows

      Considering the Brits' penchant for tradition and eccentricities, I'm not surprised that the stuffed cricket is still in the M.C.C. Museum at Lord's. For those who are unaware, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London is considered the home of cricket, although it is owned by the Marylebone Cricket Club or M.C.C. Which brings us to the events of 3 July 1936.

      It was a game between the M.C.C. and Cambridge University, with Jahangir Khan, a pre-independence Indian bowling for the University, and Tom Pearce batting for the M.C.C. Pearce hit the ball hard. It sailed through the air - and killed a sparrow in full flight. Apparently both the sparrow and the ball are now in the M.C.C. Museum.

     Something similar happened at Kennington Oval, the home of the Surrey Cricket Club. I presume this was before 1934, when Jack Hobbs retired as batsman. He was considered one of the greatest batsmen of all time but, unfortunately, on this occasion none of the other members of the team were up to scratch. Surrey needed three runs to win when Hobbs sent the ball on a long flight towards the boundary. Just then, a sparrow got in the way. It was killed, of course, but the ball was slowed down, and Hobbs was able to make only two runs. A game lost because of a luckless sparrow!

Reference: 'The funny side of cricket' by Jack Graydon, Chums Annual 1939, pp 138-9

Women of Tunisia, 1913

      Far be it from me to claim an intricate knowledge of the fine points of Islamic law. However, I understand that men are required to cover themselves from at least the navel to the knee, and women all except their hands and face. For women, I gather that the head scarf is obligatory, but the face veil optional, its use dependent on custom. In rural areas, where women need to work extensively outside the home, it is rarer than in the cities. You will find many websites contrasting the bare heads of educated Muslim women in the 1960s and '70s with their scarf-covered sisters of today. But what was it like a hundred or so years ago? Well, the whole of the January 1914 issue of the National Geographic was given over to an account of North Africa, especially Tunisia, by a Frank Edward Johnson, and although women were only part of the story, they did appear in many of the photographs. As far as I can tell, the photographers were male. In other words, it is not as if some female photographer gained access to naïve inhabitants of the harem. 

The Fireman Prince

      We know him as King Edward VII - Edward the Peacemaker - but for most of his life he was Bertie, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Victoria. And because she refused to ever provide him with royal duties, even to train him for his future role, he was left to follow the dissipated life of the idle rich. History tends to remember him for his mistresses, his parties, and his gambling, but there was another side of him hardly ever shown to the nation. To understand this, you must be aware that his London residence was Marlborough House in Pall Mall.

Hide! The Comet is Coming!

      Halley's Comet, as everyone knows, appears every 76 years - more or less. Its return in 1986 was a damp squib. We were all disappointed. But in 1910 its appearance had some interesting effects. Here is the brief account given by Frank Edward Johnson about what happened in Tripoli, in what is now Libya, on that occasion.

     Rain water is the only drinking water used and is kept in huge cisterns build under the houses. During the passage of the Halley comet the Jews of Tripoli were afraid of dying and took refuge in their great cisterns, which they had pumped dry for the purpose. Twenty-four hours having elapsed, they came out of their hiding places to find the world the same as before.

     The Arabs said that they were in the hands of Allah and refused to take refuge in their cisterns. So the few foreigners and the Arabs were the only ones who had any drinking water left, and the Arabs sold drinking water to the Jews until the next rains, about six months later.

     And if my experiences were anything to go on, the two groups would have lived in separate quarters of the city.

Reference: Frank Edward Johnson, 'Here and There in Northern Africa', The National Geographic Magazine, Jan. 1914, at pages 95-6