Reporter's Diary

Press, 28 October 1977, Page 2

Reporter's Diary

*'Cute” aircraft THE PHASING-OUT of the ancient Bristol Freighter from the R.N.Z.A.F. reminds a colleague of the arrival of the first 41 Squadron Freighter at Tan Son Nhuit airport in the early days of the Vietnam war. Even then, the airport was busy and most of the aircraft — mainly United States bombers, freighters, and combat planes — were modern jets. The story, as told by a veteran of 41 Squadron, proceeds: the lumbering little Bristol Freighter, cleared for landing, sets down on the huge runway and taxis to its assigned place on the tarmac. One of the watchi n g United States servicemen lounges forward to greet the crew of the Freighter. “Say, that’s a cute little aircraft,” he observes- "Did you make it yourselves?"

Jf elcome additions A BRIEF notice on the bulletin board in the mess at Scott Base announces the arrival of five more mouths to feed. “Betty has had quins. Mother and offspring well,” it says. The quins are a litter of husky pups born last week-end. Betty, their two-year-old mother, produced the long-awaited pups in a rpecially-built fibreglasslined kennel. Down on the sea-ice dog lines with the rest of the huskv pack, the pups’ father, Tiea. appeared quite unmoved by his newly found parenthood. showing more interest in an already wellgnawed scrap of seal meat. The new arrivals

have a proud lineage — Tiea is a son of Apolotok, a leader, and the biggest of the Scott Base pack when he died last winter, and Betty’s sire was Osman, the team’s “Grand Old Man” who died last January’, aged 10. The new pups will eventually be a valuable addition to the lines, as several other dogs are getting old. That image

NOT just newspaper columnists, but Fifth Columnists in the Fourth Estate have been blamed for the failure of a Government campaign in India. That country’s Prime Minister (Mr Desai) must have had in mind the Hollywood image of reporters as hard-drinking blokes with a flask in the hip pocket •hen he launched his attack. The reason that his prohibition campaign is getting such a poor response, he says, is that “95 per cent of Indian journalists are liquor addicts.” Hou- big?

WHITEBAIT must come big on the West Coast, which (according to the unkind) also has mosquitoes as big as sparrows. A Canterbury’ salmon angler and his wife were netting ‘bait on a remote West Coast river and he left his wife on

guard while he ambled downstream to engage in conversation another whitebait hunter. The second fisherman launched into a protracted account of his woes, finally decrying West Coast whitebait, saying that they were “different from Canterbury ’bait.” The angler replied that there were only five types of whitebait in Canterbury, and four of them were also found on the Coast. “Yes,” said the fisherman, “but you can taste the bones in these ones.” At which the angler hurriedly excused himself, saying that if that was the case his wife might be in need of a lifejacket.

Influence TELEVISION’S influence on the young is a muchdebated topic, and it appears there can be physical as well as mental effects. The scene was a suburban garden; grandfather was getting assistance from his slightly built 13-year old grandson. They were digging an extremely hard-packed patch of the vegetable garden, grandfather separating clumps from the concretelike mass with a shovel, and grandson following behind with a spade to break the clods up. A particularly large clod was proving troublesome. Finally grandson waved the spade above his head

and with a cry of “Kung Fu” swung it down on the clod. He broke it up. He also broke the handle of the spade. Awkward

THE ROYAL Society for the Protection of Birds has had to postpone its major project for the year, a film about the nesting habits of ospreys. After a lot of research, the site for filming was found: an eyrie to which a pair of ospreys had returned for some years in the Scottish highlands. The birds were expected back this year and so a hide was built near the eyrie and the camera team settled down to wait patiently- The birds returned as expected, but after looking the place over decided to build a new eyrie — right on top of the hide.

Who said Grace? BEING eaten by a lion is, we learn from Rhodesia, “an act of God.” This official verdict was reached by Rhodesia’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Jack Mussett, who refused compensation to the family of a game warden who was killed by a lion while on duty at a game reserve near Zimbabwe. Oops AN ITEM in this column yesterday about the nesting starlings which find the engines of a United States Navy Dakota the ideal place to build, confused two societies. The problem was laid at the door of members of the Aviation Historical Society, but that body has nothing to do with the restoration of aircraft at Ferrymead. The people who are having all the problems are the members of the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society, whose objects are the restoration of planes. Many members of the one society are also members of the other, but the aircraft belongs to the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society. “