General News

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30339, 15 January 1964, Page 12

General News

Call From Panama 1 The Lyttelton hotelkeeper, Mr A. Scott who telephoned his brother, Mr E. W. Scott, at Panama on Monday evening, received a call from his brother at 1 p.m. yesterday. The New Zealand-born executive editor of the i “Panama American” told the Lyttelton man that things were still very bad in Panama and that he had been unable to return to Panama from the Canal Zone where he has been for three days. Little Brother The biggest teak log ever to be exported from Burma has arrived at London docks. The timber board in Rangoon christened it “little brother.” It is 33ft long, has a girth of 18£t at its middle and has a timber content of 668 cubic feet. If sliced into veneers it would provide sufficient wood to cover an area of two and a quarter football fields.—Londoh, January 14. Frosts In Bay Frosts were recorded in some areas in Hawke’s Bay yesterday. Havelock North had 4.5 degrees and Waipukurau 3.3. The grass temperature in Hastings was down to 35.2 degrees. These temperatures represent a drop of about 30 degrees. Last night was the coldest January night in Hastings since 1955. Gisborne also had a frost of 2.9 degrees.—(P.A.) Vostok Antenna Because of the altitude of the Russian Antarctic base of Vostok, more than 13,000 ft above sea level, the nine American Seabees who were flown there from McMurdo Station at the week-end to construct a 130 ft antenna are being given a little time-to get acclimatised. Although work has not begun immediately a target date of January 26 has been set for completion of the job. The antenna will be used in part of a combined Soviet-United States cosmic ray forward scatter programme.

Windy Day Temperatures in the city yesterday were moderate, but a gusty north-east wind made conditions outside unpleasant. The temperature at noon was 60 degrees and by 4 p.m. it had risen only one degree. The sky was clear in the morning but by late afternoon a lot of high cloud had appeared. Beer Measure “I’ll have soz in a barrel glass,” said a woman customer to a Christchurch publican yesterday. She said she preferred soz in a barrelshaped whisky glass to a normal soz vase-shaped glass. She paid 6d. The publican curious, tested the soz barrel shaped glass after the woman had gone. He found that the glass held 6oz, a size which is not normally sold in New Zealand hotels. “I have never tried that before. I think I will give her a job behind the bar,” said the publican. Keen Spectator The most regular patron of the public gallery at the Sydney Stock Exchange is a welldressed, elderly man, who shows the keenest interest in dealings in the speculative oil shares. He is pointed out to visitors as “the man who made a killing on A.O.G. shares” several years ago, and made a trip to Europe on the proceeds. He is a commissionaire at a Sydney hotel. This story was told yesterday by Mr R. Bond, a former exchange dealer in Sydney, who has come to live in Christchurch.

Bull Stuck In Ditch A two-year-old bull spent Monday night jammed tight in a 6-foot deep by 5-foot wide channel which runs through Mr H. Orlowski’s property in Bain street, Invercargill. How it got there has yet to be determined. The bull was noticed about 8 o’clock and Mr Orlowski was confronted with the problem of how to get the beast out of the ditch. He decided a mobile wrecking crane was the only solution. The operation to free the bull took about five minutes. It was stuck so firmly “it couldn’t move one way or the other.” Cork was used to cover the chains passed around the bull so it would not be injured. Then with the chains taking the strain, the placid bull was righted. “The bull is none the worse for wear,” Mr Orlowski said last evening. “Throughout proceedings the animal was calm, cool and collected.”—(P.A.)