A packet of vipers is sent through the post
Manchester Courier and Lancaster General Advertiser/ 1 September 1899
VictorianBritain relished its news reports, and as the literacy of the population grew, so did its desire for news. Local, national and international news – the public could not get enough.
Soon, newspapers relied not only on their own journalists but on reports from the newly set up ‘news agencies’. One popular agency was Dalziel’s, set up by Sir Davidson Dalziel Baron of Wooler in 1890. He had spent much of his early life working as a journalist in New South Wales and the United States, and on his return to England used these connections to set up his agency.
In 1899, a ‘Dalziel telegram’ was reported in newspapers across the country, carrying a tale of “dastardly attacks” on Ricciardi, the bishop of Nardò, in Italy. The bishop had previously been subjected to bomb attacks, and now, the Rome correspondent reported, his enemies had changed tack, become far more cunning. The bishop had received a packet marked “dried fruits”, but, being suspicious by nature, and cautious given the recent attacks, had sent it on to the police.
On opening it, the packet was found to contain “eight deadly vipers”, which sprang upon the waiting policemen. The reptiles “were only killed with the greatest difficulty” by the policemen.
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