Reporter’s Diary

Press, 17 February 1978, Page 2

Reporter’s Diary

Amphibian answer DRIVING those big gangmowers round Hagley Park looks a lot of fun, but they were never designed to cut waterweed. Runners taking their daily constitutional along the riverside track near the croquet greens on Monday came across a mower driver standing tall in the saddle of his tractor and urging it on as it struggled to pull the mower along the bed of the Avon River. It had apparently fallen in, and the driver was making a valiant effort to drive it out again. Water and mud flew in all directions, but the tractor gave up the struggle just as the cavalry, in the form of two more parks and reserves tractors, charged up from the Gardens side of the river to rescue the straggler. Waiting for mail RECENT references to the long time it takes some surface mail to reach New Zealand from the United States, Britain, and elsewhere have not been isolated cases. A flurry of mail has produced other examples. Most complaints refer to mail posted in Britain as long ago as October which has just arrived at Christchurch. “It used to be a lot faster years ago,” said one woman. “We pay a lot more now but the service is worse.” Mr J. C. Smith, the Chief Postmaster at Christchurch, blames shipping. “The mail is certainly not delayed here,” he said. “We are entirely dependent on shipping. Ships are sometimes diverted from their proposed routes, and they also have breakdowns. Shipping between Britain and New Zealand is also not as frequent as it used to be.” The Post Office had recently researched four particular cases of late mail. Shipping problems or delays in Britain had proved to be the cause. In

the case of inter-island delays in New Zealand (one reader mentioned a packet which took nine days from Wellington) Mr Smith said the service was sometimes subject to interruption by the closing of airports or industrial disputes. Hustler’s hint AMONG the helpful information which the latest issue of “Consumer” magazine provides for its subscribers is a hint for card sharps. An Army officer had drawn the Consumer Council’s attention to the fact that a well-known brand of playing cards included in each pack one card with a slightly different geometric pattern on the back. It turned out that when a new printing plate was made a few years ago for the purpose of changing the design of the ace of spades, the printer accidentally reversed the negative when printing the pattern on the back of the card. The back of the ace of spades in each pack consequent!}' has a pattern which is a mirror image of that on all other cards in the deck. “Consumer” advises poker addicts: “Watch the fellow who asks for one card and draws the ace of spades. It could be time to throw in your hand.” Wrong order PROFESSOR T. K. Warley, head of the department of agricultural economics at the University of Guelph, Ontario, is often asked why he left the United Kingdom for Canada. He told a conference at Massey University this week that he had been led to believe that Canada had a British system of government, French culture, and American technology. “That sounded like a good combination. But when I got there I found that Canada had British technology, French government, and American culture,” he said ruefully.

Older is better WHEN choosing a mistress, choose the older over the younger. She will be more discreet and as physically attractive as the younger one. One of America’s foremost aphorists—Benjamin Franklin, the noted inventor, signer of the Declaration of Independence, United States Ambassador to France, and lifelong admirer of beautiful women—penned that advice and apparently lived by it. Franklin's letter is included in an exhibit of historic love letters and oldtime Valentine cards on exhibition at the Rosenbach museum, Philadelphia, which specialises in antique and rare books. It is addressed simply to “my dear friend” and dated June 25, 1745. Franklin wrote that older women “are more prudent and discreet conducting an intrigue . . .and there is no hazard of children." Older mistresses were more desirable than younger ones, he said, “because the sin is less; the debauching of a virgin may be her ruin, and make her life unhappy.” Franklin also noted: “And as in the dark all cats are grey, the pleasure of corporal enjoyment with an older woman is at least equal and frequently superior, every knack being by practice capable of improvement.” Rush on cars LADA 1500, the Russianbuilt Fiat, is being bought “sight unseen” by Canterbury people who feel that the cars will be a good buy. Mr Ted Youngman, who has the sole Canterbury agency, said yesterday that he had already sold a third of the first consignment, even though they would not start to arrive until March 10. He had seen and driven the car himself, in Britain, but did not yet have an advance model to show customers. That was not bothering car buyers. “The interest is fantastic,” said Mr Youngman. “I expected some resistance to buying a Russian car, but people seem to be expecting good value because they know people work hard in Russia.” The Lada

is similar to the Fiat 125 and sells for $6300. Mr Youngman would not say how many he expected or how many he had presold. Dead pigeons IS there a bird-hater loose in the Botanic Gardens? Only a few days after the attack on a white swan by people or dogs or both, two native pigeons have been found dead there. Mr G. A. Tunnicliffe, the Canterbury Museum ornithologist, thinks it very suspicious that two pigeons, apparently healthy birds, should die on the same day. One was found in the Woodland area near the hospi-' tai, and the other on the Archery Lawn. Veterinarians are doing autopsies. The Botanic Gardens are home to several pairs of native pigeons, said Mr Tunnicliffe, and they are now so used to people that they are becoming quite tame. Asthma film A DOCUMENTARY film about asthma, made by Mrs Bernice Thompson, of Christchurch, will have its premiere showing at the Limes Room on March 15. Mrs Thompson, a physiotherapist, is a pioneer in asthma treatment and has raised worldwide interest and controversy since she began her work 19 years ago. The film features the breathing and other exercises which she advocates. After its Christchurch premiere, Mrs Thompson and her husband, who is a chest surgeon,plan to take the colour'film to Israel to show to an international conference of physiotherapists. It is also to be shown in the United States and Europe. Christchurch women’s service clubs — Zonta, Altrusa, and the Soroptomists — have combined to raise S3OOO towards the cost of the film, and the Canterbury Asthma Society has contributed $250. It is hoped that further fundraising will produce another $5OOO to make the project debt-free by the time of the Christchurch premiere. — Garry Arthur