The Bones of a whodunnit
QUESTION Who were the boy detectives Norman and Henry Bones on Children’s Hour?
NormaN BoNes, a perennial 16-yearold with an inquisitive mind, and his cousin Henry, aged 14, lived in the middleclass comfort of Ingoldisthorpe, Norfolk.
From there the intrepid teenagers solved a series of neatly plotted mysteries, such as The Phantom Telephone Line, down which the ghastly mr Hayward scared the locals; House of shadows, in which Dr scott mason harboured criminals; and The mystery of Tyford Towers with its ghostly monk.
The Bones boys were created by anthony C. Wilson, a classic tweedy, bachelor schoolmaster.
He was encouraged to write after a boy at his prep school at Feltonfleet, Norfolk, had begged ‘Please, sir, will you tell us a story’ and he duly obliged.
The enthusiasm with which his pupils greeted his stories encouraged Wilson to submit the idea to the BBC.
Josephine Plummer, a producer for Children’s Hour, was entranced and a mystery at Ditchmoor was broadcast in July 1943 with Charles Hawtrey, later of Carry on fame, as Norman and Peter mullins as Henry.
mullins was soon replaced by Patricia Hayes, who was listed as Pat to give the impression she was a boy.
The programme was a great success and the characters featured in more than 120 episodes, only coming to an end when Children’s Hour was axed in 1964.
Wilbur Carpenter, King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
QUESTION The word data, though the plural of datum, is considered a singular noun. When did this happen to media?
meDIa, like data, is the plural form of a word borrowed from Latin. The singular, medium, developed the meaning of an intervening agency, means or instrument.
The first use of the term as a mass noun can be found in the journal Biblical repertory. It stated in January 1850: ‘our periodicals are now the media of influence. They form and mould the community.’
a more strictly communicative sense can be attributed to the writing of G.snow in Noble T. Praigg’s 1923 book, advertising and selling. He states: ‘mass media represents the most economical way of getting the story over the new and wider market in the least time.’
In Latin, datum is a singular noun that pluralises as data. some people think of data as a mass, not as the plural of a thing you can count, and use it as a singular mass noun in the same ways as meat, wind and coffee.
Elaine Hathaway, Windsor, Berks.
QUESTION How does a capybara defend itself from jaguars and anacondas?
THe earlier answer explained how capybaras swim away from the threat of jaguars and anacondas.
However, the assertion they are the size of a springer spaniel is off beam.
an average springer is 2 ft 7 in long (excluding tail), 1 ft 7 in tall at the withers and weighs 3 ½ stone.
a capybara is a little taller at 1ft 10in, but longer at 4ft and is double the weight of a springer. It’s more like a rottweiler.
Sam Johnson, Blackpool.
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