RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33601, 1 August 1974, Page 20

RANDOM REMINDER

AUGURY

Fate moves m mysterious ways. Although it might not rate a line in the national Rugby records, the annual match between Christ’s College and Christchurch Boys’ High School is of particular importance to the players on both sides, and especially to those who attended the schools in the years gone by. So it was not out of the way for an old boy of Christ’s College who works in a large Christchurch firm to send, on July 17, a teleprinter message to the Ann’s headquarters in Wellington, knowing it would re-

ceive the attention of the man in charge there, an old boy of Christchurch Boys’ High School. The message, despatched at 9 a.m., referred to the splendid weather that day, and expressed the hope that in the annual blueblack and black-white clash, there might be a change of fortune: the School team has been winning in recent years. The sender said he would “teleprint the result, if sentiment and/or condition will allow.” The Christchurch message sender added the words: “Good luck—you’ll need it.” The reply from Welling-

ton was recorded at 11-15 a.m., some three hours and a half before the kickoff. It said: “Thank you. Am confident of result, but will be most interested in the margin.” The School team won again. 3ut the interesting point was that the first message, from Christchurch, was number 340 in a series, and that was on the message. In the reply, there was a tiny typographical spacing error. The message from Wellington to Christchurch was prefaced by the phrase: “With reference to your 34 0.” The score? 34-0.