THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Fifty gross of cheap shaving brushes found to be infected with anthrax bacilli have (according to a report in the Daily Express) been seized in Newcastle and district by the authorities. They have been imported into England. No evidence is available as to how the brushes came to be infected, but there is no improbability in the suggestion that the nation which has poisoned wells and committed other atrocities should have selected this means of diabolical attack on its enemies.

50 years ago

Tay Road Bridge officials are to announce that 100,000 vehicles have used the bridge in its first week’s operations. The tolls were based on an anticpated daily traffic flow of 5,000 vehicles. The bridge has done about three weeks’ business in less than a week. It was stated that for the second successive day, 11,000 vehicles had crossed the bridge, giving a 91,000 total since opening day. “Pretty bright” is how Bridgemaster Captain Harry Smith describes commercial traffic.

25 years ago

Dundee schoolgirl Lisa Martin met her favourite cartoon characters yesterdqy after she was chosen as the youngest winner of the Royal Mail’s Young Letter Writers’ Competition. Seven-year-old Lisa, from Ardler, topped the under-eight category with her letter from Jerry the mouse to arch enemy Tom the cat. Jerry’s pleas for the battling duo to make peace over a tea of cream cakes and cheese caught the eye of the judges, who included poet and author Liz Lochhead. Lisa’s prize was £100.

One year ago

Dundee United’s German goalkeeper Luis Zwick has told how he overcame childhood epilepsy to pursue his career as a professional footballer. The 21-year-old Berliner said that he had his first epileptic fit at the age of 12 and by 15 he was cured. Arriving in Dundee last summer having previously played for Hertha 03 Zehlendorf in the German fifth tier, he recently signed a two-year contract at Tannadice after he impressed as an amateur with their development squad.