RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30076, 9 March 1963, Page 19

RANDOM REMINDER

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: (8) Correspondence

Party Lines Sir, —I am a farmer's wife, and our telephone is on a party line. We in the country miss out on many amenities available to city folk, and I think it is time something was done to give country people a proper telephone service. Our party line system is most unsatisfactory. One has only to pick up the receiver to hear others on the line talking, usually about someone we know. It is difficult to get on with the full round of , work a farmer’s wife must do each day.— Yours, etc., GLASS HOUSE. TV Reception Sir.—The New Zealand Broadcasting Commission is taking its duties rather too lightly. I have had television here for nearly a year, but reception has never been good, in spite of my repeated complaints, and since the man in the next cell installed his Hi-fi radiogram, it has been impossible, As well, the warders have to tinker round with their own sets so much that by the time they bring the supper round, it is cold.— Yours, etc., C BLOCK; Sign Of Spring Sir, —I was feeding the birds on my lawn yesterday when I saw the first notornis. This is unusually early, and according to tradition, it may mean b wet summer. I also have in my garden the

first snowdrop. I also have a tomato measuring eleven inches across. Can anyone beat this? If they can, I have a Portuguese stamp, about 1720, with the perforation in the right-hand corner and the unique spelling mistake in the printing. I would be glad to hear from other readers about this.—Yours, etc., FIRST CUCKOO. Quaint Custom Sir, —When I was on the Continent in 1908, I was captivated by a pretty tradition in the German town of Krackenschwitz. Before every meeting of the Town Council, the councillors walked in procession through the streets, and the simple, happy people of the town were able to revile them, make complaints and threats, and toss at them old ends of sausage. It somehow cleared the air, and made for a happier life for the people of the town—Could not Christchurch follow this lead.—Yours, etc., PRO MONO. A Question Of Taste Sir, —Your recentlypublished photograph of the Bottle Lake brownies shows how little regard you have for the feelings of the individual. The picture made it clear that one of the troop leader's sockettes had not been washed for a week. How low can you got—Yours, etc., MUM.

Irresponsible Pedestrians Sir, —The pedestrian problem in Christchurch is getting quite out of hand. Life in the welfare state is depriving the pedestrian of all sense of responsibility, as well as agility. There was a time when a man could motor through the city in some comfort, but nowadays pedestrians are a grave hazard. On a summer night, the motorist can gather them in like moths in the radiator grille, without any avenue through which to seek compensation for dents and scratches on the paint-work. What is the A.A.C. doing about this?—Yours, etc., OUTRAGED MOTORIST Inconsiderate Drivers Sir,—T h e motorist problem in Christchurch is getting quite out of hand. It is not possible to make one’s way about the city without being nudged and pushed about by mudguards, honked at at ranges down to six inches, and addressed in most inconsiderate language by the angry red drivers of these dangerous machines. It is about time the AA.C. forgot about how parking meter money should be spent and paid some attention to the discourtesies of the road hogs.—Yours etc., IRATE PEDESTRIAN