From the archives

25 YEARS AGO

GOOD-TIME girls may have unwittingly solved the problem of how to display shy grouse at field sports shows. The game birds are so sensitive that, when confined in pens and surrounded by large crowds, some just lie down and die, said the chairman of the World Pheasant Association. Grouse will be shown in special pens lined with one-way glass. The birds will not see the spectators, just their own fine feathers reflected in the mirrored surface The idea came to the chairman in Bangkok where he was on holiday.

50 YEARS AGO

AGREEMENT has been reached between representatives of Glasgow Corporation and the Ministry of Aviation for the corporation to take over the administration of Abbotsinch Airport when it replaces Renfrew at a cost of £4.3 million as the airport for the Clyde Valley.

This was announced yesterday by the city treasurer, Councillor Richard Buchanan, after a special general finance sub-committee recommended acceptance of the financial proposals for the corporation to take over the airport.

100 YEARS AGO

MADAME Melba reappeared at Covent Garden and she did so very appropriately on what was practically the 25th anniversary of her first appearance there.

During the year of her absence Madame Melba was badly missed, but the rest seems to have had its effect on her voice, for she sang as well as, if not better than ever. Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème is a part she has often played with very great success at Covent Garden, and it was a wise step to choose it for her rentrée.