"Talk of the 1946 newspaper from under the lino reminded me of this bit of strangeness," writes a sightly spooked John Blackhawk. "I ripped up the lino in two rooms in a house in Marrickville, to find the usual historical newspapers. Except they were all the same edition of The Sydney Morning Herald. Hundreds of identical ones. Weird. They were all dated with my birthday. Weirder. They were all carrying front page news of the 1964 Alaskan tsunami that battered the north-west coast of the Americas and killed 119 people. The date I did the ripping up was December 27, 2005 - the day after the Asian tsunami. The Herald that day led with that news. Weirdest."

We have been confronted with a shocking allegation of plagiarism. We hasten to add that the charge has not been directed at us, but if true, it would forever sully the reputation of that great American thinker, Foghorn Leghorn (Column 8, of late). "I would think that those quotes attributed to Foghorn Leghorn may well have originated with W. C. Fields," suggests John Pyle, of Newport. Foghorn Leghorn had many similar traits to W. C. Fields." Somebody please tell us this is untrue.

"Lady Agatha may have been happier 25 years ago when at least some people respected the formality she yearns for," writes Antoinette Hirst, of Double Bay (Column 8, Friday). "As a new appointment to a large high school, I was always addressed as 'Mrs Hirst' by the rather intimidating deputy principal. 'Why don't you call me Antoinette?' I ventured one day. 'Certainly, Mrs Hirst', was the polite reply."

"How's this for a bit of gobbledygook from a tax bill before the Commonwealth Parliament concerning GST," asks Kirk Wilson, of Pyrmont, who studies such matters in a professional capacity: "The amendments made by items 1 to 10 and 12 of this schedule apply in relation to supplies that are supplies of things that the supplier acquired through a new supply to the supplier." How is it, Kirk? Absolutely ace.

Some feedback on our "Do big cats eat little cats?" question of recent days. "According to David Attenborough's documentary on tigers, big cats do not like to eat meat-eaters," writes Tina Morris of Somersby, "preferring the flavour of animals who only eat vegetable matter." We're with the tigers on that score, but is it true of all big cats? Will a panther chow down on a moggie, for instance? We need something definitive.

We have a winner in our tinderbox contest, but we're none too happy about it, just quietly. "I claim the prize for spotting the first publication of 'tinderbox,"' writes John Greaves, of Redfern. "You printed the words three times today. I acknowledge that you may feel that references to your own competition don't count. However, one of them is a direct quote from a member of the public. I think this goes beyond reporting the competition itself, and crosses over into reporting of affairs in the public domain." This is unspeakable.

Column8@smh.com.au(no attachments please).Phone 9282 2207 fax 9282 2772. (include name, suburb, daytime phone)