Strike a light! It’s oven-ready rodent

THe mother collaring a mouse (Peterborough) reminded me of a funny incident. My friend’s landlady was in her kitchen when she spotted a mouse. No shrinking violet, she chased it round the room, eventually scooping it up in a dustpan. at a loss what to do next, she threw it in the gas oven, slamming the door behind it. In those days, gas ovens didn’t light automatically — you had to use a match — and the gas was poisonous. after a few minutes, she

thought the mouse must be dead or at least unconscious. she turned off the gas and opened the kitchen door in readiness to chuck the mouse outside. Opening the oven door, she peered inside, but it was so dark that she couldn’t see the mouse. so she struck a match to provide some light . . . and regained consciousness with singed eyebrows and hair, laid on her back outside the back door. the fate of the mouse was not recorded.

Denis Sharp, Hailsham,

E. Sussex.