Reporter’s Diary

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33777, 25 February 1975, Page 3

Reporter’s Diary

Snooper ONE of the alphabetical gentlemen of the Security Intelligence Service — Messrs X, Y, Z, and company — was recognised by a spectator at Dr William Sutch’s trial as a former office-holder of the University of Canterbury Students’ Association. He was remembered as a notable nosey parker when at the university, and the spectator now wonders whether the man was recruited by Brigadier Gilbert’s department while a student. He may even have been a “plant,” the spectator surmises, and he suggests that there might be one or more of the man’s colleagues on the campus today. Riding habits RIDING side-saddle has made such a comeback among the horsey fraternity in Britain that enthusiasts have formed a Ladies* Side Saddle Association. But in Canterbury only a handful of sidesaddlers remain. Mrs B. G. Rutherford, of Waikari, a noted Canterbury horsewoman, says side-saddle rid- ' ing is both comfortable and ; secure (appearances notl withstanding) but the cost ’ of saddles — about $3OO — has become prohibitive. “I had a saddle here which I used around the place,”

said Mrs Rutherford, “but

I was not very good at it. I’ve given it away.” She said there were quite a few side-saddle enthusiasts in the North Island, and a special class was provided for side-saddle riders at the Hawke’s Bay Show. In Canterbury one of the bestknown side-saddle riders was the late Mrs Marmaduke Bethell, of Pahau Pastures. Gap in orchestra KODALY wrote a harp solo into his “Psalms Hungaricus” which the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra will play as the opening concert of the Arts Festival on March 8. But it looks as though the orchestra will have to make do with a piano instead. All efforts to track down a suitable concert harp for Barbara Hassall to play have failed, and unless one comes to light straight away she will not have enough practice time left. Frustratingly, her own new $4OO harp is sitting in the hold of the Medic at Lyttelton—where it has been for more than a week. Miss Hassall ordered the harp two years ago from the makers in Italy, and she’s itching to get her fingers on it. But even if it came off the ship tomorrow it would take three weeks of careful tuning to avoid damaging the soundboard.

Out of date IN spite of being right in Cathedral Square, the Government Tourist Bureau does not seem to have noticed the changes thai have taken place. Its 197475 “Tiki Tours” brochure illustrates Christchurch with a colourful but very

out-of-date photograph of the Square. A reader who takes obvious pride in the new paving and traffic system considers that the picture of buses in front of the Cathedral and cyclists in all the wrong places constitutes a “slur” on the city. Saving daylight ONE Christchurch woman will not forget the experiment in daylight saving. After a strenuous day last week she went to bed very early—6.3o p.m.—and fell into a deep sleep. She was too tired even to draw the blinds. When she awakened the hands of the clock pointed to 7, so up she got feeling thoroughly refreshed and ready to start another day with vigour. She heated the milk for her morning cereal and enjoyed her breakfast. But as she pottered about her flat she noticed that it was getting dark outside. Then the penny dropped. She had been asleep for only half an hour — and not for 12J hours as she had thought. Expatriate

NEWS from Fleet Street: Mr Alexander MacLeod, the former editor of the “Listener” who was sacked under controversial circumstances, has been appointed editor of the well-regarded quarterly journal “Round Table,” which describes itself as “a Commonwealth journal of international affairs.” Mr MacLeod, whose dismissal was approved by the findings of an official inquiry, is also diplomatic correspondent of the "Scotsman" — a job he held before returning to New Zealand for his post with the “Listener.”

Shaggy fish story AS every fisherman knows, there are days when nothing goes right. Mr Engel Tuyn, a Christchurch man now on a fishing holiday in the Marlborough Sounds, has reason to believe it. He was out in his boat last week, after days of fishless fishing, when his companion’s line got caught around the propeller. While he was overboard untangling it, some large marine monster took the bait of his own line and pulled the lot —hook, line, and rod—to the bottom. Back ■in the boat, he got out his spare rod and despondently started casting again. With the first cast he felt a good strong bite, but contrary to all the laws of fishing, his catch sped to the surface, emerged and flew up into the air. His bail had been taken by a shag fishing underwater. The bewildered bird flew up and down at the end of his line and finally regurgitated both squid and hook. The shag flew groggily to shore to recover, and Mr Tuyn turned his boat for Te Mahia and a good stiff drink.