Reporter’s Diary

Press, 28 July 1976, Page 2

Reporter’s Diary

Snails and mail SOME months ago, a picture was published in the Diary of part of an aerogramme from the United Kingdom which had been chewed through by snails. The address of the recipient was carelessly lost, so we have been unable to pass on a request from Mr F. W. Howell, of 81 Dillon Street. Blenheim. who would like to get his hands on some snail-bitten mail. He is a postal historian, and says he has been trying for years to obtain an envelope or cover marked 'Damaged by Snails” to add to his collection. He is not interested in the contents of such a letter, and would be quite happy to receive one that was permanently sealed so that he could not read it. Part of Mr Howell's collection consists of a specialised section of the aerogrammes of Great Britain. from their inception in 1941 to the present day. He plans to display them at the National Philatelic Exhibition in Christchurch in March next year. He says the "damaged by snails” label is well-known to postal historians, and that it results from the depredations of snails awakening in the spring from their hibernation in old Victorian postal boxes built into stone walls. The snails are particularly partial to the gum on the stamps. Popular issue FRANK VINE, editor and owner of the Akaroa "Mail.’’ is having trouble getting this week’s issue to press. The centennial issue of the newspaper, published on Saturday, has proved so popular that he is being kept busy doing a bulk reprint. And that is twice as big a job as usual, because the centennial issue was eight pages instead of the usual four. Mr Vine has had many requests by mail and by telephone for copies of the special issue from people all over the peninsula. The little newspaper's 100th

birthday attracted a Television One film crew from Christchurch, and a telegram of congratulations from its sister publication, the Greymouth “Star,’' which was founded by the same man, Joseph Ivess. ( all of the pipes KILTED Scots from all over the world will be swirling through Edinburgh in May next year for the first International Gathering of the Clans in a quarter of a century. At least 40,000 visitors of Scottish descent are expected to cross the border at the invitation of the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, convenor of the council of Scottish chiefs and a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce. After a week of festivities in Edinburgh they will head off for their ancestral territories to be entertained with family gatherings, ceilidhs (wild Scottish musical parties), piping, fiddling, curling, and tastings of whisky and haggis. The clan chieftains will be among the principal hosts. Mac Thomas of Finegand plans to entertain relatives at a cocktail party in his flat, and the MacSporran is to hold a barbecue lunch at the Pitfirrane Hilton. But many chieftains live outside Scotland. The Mac Neill is a serving officer in the American army, and the chief of Clan Donachaidh, the Robertson of Struan. is a dark-skinned Jamaican schoolteacher. First-class travel IT SEEMS an extraordinarily expensive business to send a sheep to South America. Lincoln College council was told yesterday that a Brazilian customer had paid $BOO to freight heme a stud Southdown ram bought from the college stud farm. That was more than twice the beast’s purchase price of ,$3OO. History lesson THOSE embroiled in the ex'cmciatinglv boring Christchurch orchestra

controversy might find it ; instructive to read the old > “Lyttelton Times” of.' August 18, 1917. There, \ according to a browsing : historian, can be found reference to two Christ- | church orchestras—the i Christchurch Symphony t Orchestra and the Orchestral Society—with not the i slightest hint of any sour i note disturbing their ap- ■ parentlv harmonious rela- i tionship. Book reprieved THE DUNEDIN publishers, John Mclndoe. Ltd. have sorted out their problems ' with all those women photographers whose I book “Fragments of a j World" was recently with- ! drawn from the market. : “Difficulties surrounding . publication have been re- | solved.” says the editor, Mr Brian Turner, “and the book will now be released as planned.” \ol genuine FUNNY, the things you miss when you’re away from New Zealand. Some pine for pineapple chunks (the candy variety). Others, especially when living in Britain, develop an insatiable craving for roast pumpkin. The British feed most of their pumpkins to their cattle. Only by shopping with West Indian. immigrants in Brixton is it possible to find any at a greengrocer’s. One Christchurch man enjoying the hospitality of a London family decided to give them a little taste of New Zealand cuisine by introducing them to Vegemite. He writes home in dismay that the jar he bought from the New Zealand shop behind the High Commission in London was labelled “Made in Australia.” JI hile it fasts THE WORD has gone out from National Party headquarters urging workerbees in all electorates to canvass partv members for their subscriptions before Thursday. And Thursday, of course, is Budget Day. What worse omen couid there be? — Garry Arthur ,