THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

The Rev. A.S. Hutchison, UF Church, Errol, at present on active service on a hospital ship, in a letter to his congregation says: “We were twice the means of rescuing men whose ships had been torpedoed by the enemy. On the first of these occasions we steamed right into sight of a vessel held up by a submarine. The commander of the latter ordered us to stand by and pick up the crew who were allowed to leave in small boats. Eleven shots were then fired, the ship keeping above water for about 20 minutes.”

50 years ago

An opportunity for 50 youngsters to improve their tennis has been organised by Mr I.G. Woodcraft, Carnoustie. The project started last March, when 200 players, all listed on past championship entries, received a letter offering them the chance to take part in the project. Of these, about 50 said they would like to take part, and coming from Perth, Arbroath, Forfar and Fife, started training under Mr Woodcraft. He hopes to develop the idea over the seasons and increase numbers taking part.

25 years ago

The “mane” attraction at the Riddell family home on the outskirts of Perth just now has pet poodle Pip convinced he is barking mad. Linda Riddell and her daughters Arlene and Deirdre are hand-rearing a week-old lion cub called Clarence. Dad Malcolm Riddell is chief game warden at Blair Drummond Safari and Leisure Park, near Stirling. Last week Clarence was abandoned by his mother and father Sam and Millie, shortly after he was born. Now the family are taking turns to feed the cub.

One year ago

A Tayside man’s career as one of the first employees at airline firm Boeing has been honoured by the company. The story of one of the company’s pioneers, James Alexander Duke, has been included in an online collection of stories about unsung heroes. Five generations of James Alexander Duke’s family have worked for the Seattle firm after he followed a hunch in 1921 that aviation would continue to be an important industry. Mr Duke was born in Dundee in 1887 and grew up in Angus.