Reporter’s Diary

Press, 19 October 1976, Page 2

Reporter’s Diary

Russell's gold ALEC SCHULTZ, whose father was a ganger at Seddonville at the time of the 1929 earthquake, well remembers the two gold prospectors, David and James Russell, who were believed to have been buried by a slip near the upper Mokihinui River north of Westport. He was a boy of 14 then, and the Russells were regular visitors at his house. He saw them leave on their last prospecting trip too, and scotches the story that their horses were later seen being washed down the river. Mr Schultz says the pair left on foot. His father had the only horse in town. The whole gorge for 17 miles slipped into the river, he recalls, and the river was blocked for six weeks. Then the townspeople heard a rumbling up in the hills and cleared out quickly before the w ter broke through. Mr Schultz thinks the bodies of the two prospectors would have been washed down with all the water and silt. He remembers David Russell, the father, as a wiry little man who looked the complete prospector in a big wide-bri «- med hat. He struck a reef of gold he says, at a place called the Rough and Tumble, 17 miles from Seddonville, but he had trouble getting water to it. “I saw one lot of gold that he brought Li.:k,” said Mr Schultz. "It was

about a cupful.” He plans to get in touch with Mrs Sarah Leitch of Rangiora who is a trustee of the Russell family and is seeking information about the deaths. On wrong foot THREE men appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to obstructing the police in the execution of their duty in Noahs Hotel bar. Two of them admitted assaulting the police, as well. Mrs Janet Anderson, who represented them in court, explained that they had been celebrating their release from prison. Two of them had been released that very day. One became the worse for wear, and the manager called the police. When they tried to remove the man from the bar, his friends intervened and a scuffle started. Mrs Anderson told the Court Jhat the man had an artificial leg, and his friends were concerned about it. “He became detached from the leg,” she told the Court. Mr F. G. Paterson, S.M., fined them each $25. Passing parade A HEAVILY bearded young man stole the limelight from the tulips which hundreds went to see in the Botanic Gardens on Sunday. He was wearing an ankle length dress of bright red and cream. Much gayer, Mid one observer.

Teaching aid MOST clouds have a silver lining. The shortage of white 100 paper has been annoying one family because they resent having to pay more for the coloured variety. But they say it has taught their two small children to put names to different colours. Rligh's log

A LOG kept by Captain William Bligh during his epic six-week voyage in the launch of the Bountyafter the mutiny in 1789 is to be auctioned at Christie’s in London next month. The “Sunday Times” says that the log, which has only recentlycome to light, is expected to fetch between £30,000 and £60,000. The leatherbound 107 page pocket book, measuring about 15cm by 10cm, was preserved by Bligh's family — unknown to historians — after his death in 1817. The descendant, who now stands to make a small fortune out of the sale wishes to remain anonymous. The "Sunday Times” said that before this log re-emerged, another record of events, the journal, which is kept in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, was accepted as the original source of all accounts of Bligh’s 3600 miles passage to Timor and vengeance against the mutineers. Persuaded

WE’LL probably never know how many smokers gave up after watching TVl’s hard-hitting documentary from Thames Television called “Dying

for a Fag,” but its message was so graphic that there must have been quite a few. It was certainly the last straw for one heavy smoker. His doctor had advised him to stop, and he knew perfectly well that he should, but it was not until he saw the documenary, with its gruelling interview with a man dying of lung cancer, that he decided to pack it in. He was smoking more than 60 cigarettes a day. Converted

DENNY HULME, the former world champion racing driver, must be a reformed character. He has probably used up an entire oceantanker full of petrol in the course of his racing career, but now he has become one of the entrants in the Mobil Economy Run — a rally designed to show which cars use the least fuel. He will be "light-footing it,” as the organisers put it, around the South Island next month in the company of several other well-known motorsport contestants. Mind you, they will have to burn up quite a lot of petrol just to show howlittle they have used. Philosopher AN OLD chap was telling friends in the Richmond Club about a burglary that happened at his place. The burglar had lean pickings, he said, because there was nothing there to steal. He had explained it to the police when they called. “It would take two to rob me of anything,” he told them. “One to give it to me. and another to take it away again."

Heresy FORTUNATELY no officials of the Municipal Electricity Department were present in the M.E.D. theatrette yesterday to hear the rank hersy being uttered by a cooking demonstrator. Mr Philip Lim balanced his wok over the element of an electric stove and warned the ladies of the Electrical, Association for Women that he was not sure whether “this thing” would prove hot enough for Chinese cooking. “You need gas to cook it properly,” he said. But he proved himself wrong. His chow mein went down very well. How now .. . PUNTERS are scanning the nominations for the 1976 Melbourne Cup looking for a horse by the name of Brown Cow. Victory for a horse so named would be totally appropriate, rounding off to a nicety the big spring double across the Tasman. For the few who do not already know, the first leg, the Caulfield Cup, was decided last Saturday in favour of How Now'. Nasty growth ONE FOR the rest of the animal kingdom: A man visited the doctor with a toad adhering to his head with a vicelike grip. The doctor showed considerable concern. "How on earth did that get there?” he inquired. “Well doctor," replied the toad, “it started as a wart on my backside ..." —Garry Arthur