Reporter’s Diary

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34046, 9 January 1976, Page 3

Reporter’s Diary

Bang on!

WHAT IS made of brightly coloured paper, makes a very small bang when pulled apart, and has a motto or a small gift inside? The answer for many years has been — a Christmas cracker. But a correspondent reports these Christmas din-ner-table trimmings had a better name when they first appeared in 1860 for an English Christmas. Because the first crackers contained a mixture of novelties they were given the delightful title of Bangs of Expectation. Tom Smith, a sweet manufacturer. started wrapping sweets in bright coloured paper. These became popular at Christmas, and to boost sales Mr Smith added kiss mottoes, charms, and bits of cheap jewellery to the sweets. Later he added a friction strip of saltpetre to create the bang.

Golden gift

FROM THE “Economist”. London, comes a suggestion for the boss, searching for a present for his secretary who has everything. Why not a box of paper-clips, hand made in 18-carat gold by the London jeweller Hamish Aikman? The clips are largesize, for pinning big-busi-ness size files, and a box of 100 costs about $12,000.

‘Son of Jaws'’

THE SUCCESS of the redpa i n t-and-plastic saga, “Jaws”, has spawned a shoal of imitations including “Swarm”, about killer bees on the rampage; “Claws”, which stars a giant bear; “Bug”, with a giant cockroach attacking Los Angeles; and “Squirm”, in which thousands of worms surround a small town. “Variety” magazine suggests sequels to “Jaws” might include “Clause”, the story of a loan shark who violates contracts: and “Gnaws”, the horrifying tale of an 8001 b beaver. Perhaps the whole lot could be rolled into one programme called “Yawns.” Fire water A JAPANESE firm in Kobe has developed a flying fire engine to attack difficult fires in the centres of cities. An anti-sub-marine patrol flying boat has been equipped with four seawater tanks able to lift 19 tons of water at once and fly at a low altitude over a fire. The water is mixed with fireextinguishing chemicals before being sprayed over the fire. Provided the aircraft can land to scoop up water reasonably close to a fire, the makers claim it can deliver more than 100 tons of water an hour.

Poisons guide RHUBARB, potatoes, daffodils, kowhai, and buttercups can all be poisonous to humans in certain circumstances. The Health Department and the Government Printer have issued a revised edition of the valuable handbook, “Plants in New Zealand Poisonous to Man,” by Mrs Jose Stewart. Reluctant gardeners will find in its fine coloured illustrations and useful descriptions ample excuse for avoiding almost every plant they have; sensible people will acquire a copy from a Government Bookshop and keep it handy at home. The illustrations reinforce the message that children should be warned against eating bright and shiny plants and flowers. Adults, too, run risks; more adults than children are poisoned by rhubarb, for example. If someone is poisoned the rules are: get rid of the poison by making the patient vomit; get medical help from a doctor or hospital and try to supply a sample of the cause of poisoning; if the patient is not breathing, apply artificial respiration. A valuable book. Moral light

INDIGNANT citizens of a quiet suburb in York, England, are harassing the patrons of sexv films in a local cinema club. One resident spends hours in his armchair. watching through a window which overlooks the new Beacon Cinema Club. As people leave the cinema, he telephones fellow members of the Beaconsfield Street Residents’ Protest Group. They rush

from their homes and shine torches, take photographs, and jeer at the sex-movie patrons. The club maintains it is a private organisation with the right to show films to members in peace, but the residents say it is a moral danger to their community. Only on expenses NEW ZEALAND lamb in various classic French styles is one of the main dishes on the menu of what is possibly the most expensive restaurant in the world. Frank Valenza, who runs The Palace, the most expensive restaurant in New York, says he does not use Australian lamb because it is too old and too gamy. New Zealanders on a visit t j New York would come out with little change from $2OO after paying for a meal for two. There is a fixed price of $5O for dinner, drinks cost $5 a glass, wines up to $5OO a bottle, and liqueurs up to $4O (for Cognac). Sales tax is 8 per cent, and the small print at the bottom of the menu “suggests” a tip of 23 per cent of the bill. Figure it out

COMPUTERS have arrived in Christchurch supermarkets. With the advent of small pocket calculators, housewives are being reported rapidly punching buttons to determine the relative price-to-weight value of various articles. Another triumph for consumers, but how many bargains have to be uncovered from the figuring to pay the price of the calculator?