The Odd Truth, Oct. 3, 2002
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.
Papa Smurf Runs For Senate
GREAT FALLS, Montana — Montana's Libertarian candidate for Senate has turned blue from drinking a silver solution that he believed would protect him from disease.
Stan Jones, a 63-year-old business consultant and part-time college instructor, said he started taking colloidal silver in 1999 for fear that Y2K disruptions might lead to a shortage of antibiotics.
He made his own concoction by electrically charging a couple of silver wires in a glass of water.
His skin began turning blue-gray a year ago.
"People ask me if it's permanent and if I'm dead," he said. "I tell them I'm practicing for Halloween."
He does not take the supplement any longer, but the skin condition, called argyria, is permanent. The condition is generally not serious.
Colloidal silver dietary supplements are marketed widely as an anti-bacterial agent or immune-system booster, but some consider it quackery.
Jones is one of three candidates seeking to unseat the Democratic Sen. Max Baucus in November. (AP)
Monstrous Pumpkins
JAMESTOWN, New York - A western New York man's pumpkin patch only produced three pumpkins this year -- but they're all whoppers.
One weighs 450 pounds, another about 800 pounds, and the third weighs 1,245 pounds. That's just 17 pounds shy of the world record.
Tim Bailey says he grew the pumpkins from "Atlantic Giant" seeds, and gave them a lot of water and organic matter.
He first became interested in large-pumpkin growing by talking with his brother-in-law -- giant watermelon grower Dave Fisher.
Bailey plans to sell and trade seeds from his biggest pumpkin with other growers.
His half-ton-plus pumpkin will be displayed in Elmira, New York, this Sunday. (AP)
Book Returned To Library 56 Years Late
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Winthrop University officials say they won't charge a man the estimated $4,088 late fee for a book checked out of the school's library 56 years ago.
The book, "The New Simms History of South Carolina," has been missing from the shelves at Winthrop University's Dacus Library since 1946.
Alex McFadden returned the long lost book Tuesday. He said he hoped the library would add it to its archival collection.
"Books are very dear to me," said McFadden, a native of Rock Hill and president of the Valdosta, Ga., Friends of the Library. "I thought this was interesting to discover."
McFadden found the history book 14 years ago while cleaning his aunt's house. It wasn't until he took it off the shelf three weeks ago that he realized it belonged to Winthrop.
The book's checkout slip had two names: Martha Holroyd, who was the first to borrow the book, and Elizabeth Leslie. McFadden believes Leslie, a former teacher, lent the book to his aunt, Kate Williams Murphy, also a teacher.
Library officials said McFadden did the right thing by bringing the book back.
"This will be another reminder for students to return the books," said Mark Herring, dean of library services. (AP)
The Long Road To St. Patrick's
NEW YORK - Prosecutors allege that a couple's public fornication in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral was just the end of a three-hour sexcapade. The court papers filed yesterday don't list all the stops the Virginia couple allegedly made. But law enforcement sources say they included the Disney store, the FAO Schwartz toy store, the Carnegie Deli, an ATM vestibule and a hotel lobby. Brian Florence and Loretta Lynn Harper were arrested August 15th. An officer made the bust after hearing about the public sex stunt on a local radio show. Sandy Levine, manager of the Carnegie Deli, says he saw the couple's privates as they finished a sex act just outside his eatery. He says the two never did anything inside the deli but did increase his business. The couple faces charges of public lewdness. (AP)
The Rural Treatment
LEBANON, Pa. — A judge gave a potentially smelly sentence to a man who drove through farmland.
Lebanon County Judge Bradford Charles ordered 19-year-old Jason Theirwechter to do community service, preferably on a farm, and said he hopes one of Theirwechter's chores is shoveling manure.
"I want him to see exactly what that farmer went through to grow those crops," said Charles. "Someone else put his own sweat and blood into creating it and you destroyed it maliciously ... I want you to experience how difficult it is to grow crops for a living."
Probation officers said they would try to accommodate Charles' order.
Theirwechter pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, agricultural vandalism, criminal conspiracy and corruption of minors.
In addition to the community service, Charles sentenced him to 48 hours to 18 months in county prison, and said he must spend the first 45 days of parole under house arrest.
Police said they saw Theirwechter drive through the field Aug. 31, 2001. (AP)
Kabul Zoo Gets Its Growl Back
KABUL, Afghanistan - It's starting to look like a zoo again.
Kabul's zoo has gotten a helping hand from China.
A Chinese company has sent a menagerie of animals to Afghanistan -- including two lions to replace Kabul's most famous beast.
Marjan the lion was the zoo's best-known animal -- with his one eye and defanged mouth.
The lion died earlier this year at age 25.
The Chinese also shipped over deer, bears, pigs and a wolf.
Kabul's zoo sits in an area of town that was devastated by the civil war during the 90's. The zoo degenerated into a huge complex of bullet-marked buildings and broken cages -- housing animals that are at times very ill and hungry.
The zoo boasted a wide variety of exotic creatures before the civil war -- when many animals died of starvation. (AP)