Reporters Diary

Press, 23 June 1978, Page 2

Reporters Diary

Liquid lunches NORMALLY healthy people who are in the habit of downing a few beers with a ham roll or sandwich at lunchtime are highly likely to find themselves stricken later in the afternoon with a debilitating illness — hypoglycaemia. Sounding a little like a medical attempt to take all the fun out of a “liquid lunch,” hypoglycaemia is the term for a low level of blood sugar. Its symptoms are trembling, anxiety, racing heart, headache, hunger, feelings of weakness, tiredness and poor concentration — lateafternoon symptoms common in offices the world over. Research in the United States into the effects of bar lunches have found that a true liquid lunch — a few glasses of beer or several gin-and-tonics. for example — is just as likely to cause hypoglycaemia as a lunch consisting of sandwiches or a ham roll washed down with beer. In other words, the sandwiches do not counter the effect of the alcohol. Anyone who can manage to restrict his lunchtime intake to tonic,

without the gin, or gin without an added sweetener, is far less likely to suffer from the dreaded disease than someone who has had a "sub-in-ebriating” dose of alcohol along with a sweet mixer or a starchy bite to eat. Linguist DURING discussion of a planned four-da’y tour of teaching hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney by Mr Ron Parker, chief executive of the North Canterbury Hospital Board — who will make the tour during his holiday in Australia — a finance committee member could not resist commenting on Mr Parker’s Australian origins. “We could not be sending a better person,” the committee man said. “He knows the language.” Tongue-tied RELIEF at being able to speak openly about the 18 per cent rate increase is the feeling of the chairman of the Timaru City Council’s finance committee (Cr W. Greenwood). Now that the committee has discussed its estimates openly at a

meeting and has recommended the necessary rate increase to the council, Cr Greenwood says, he is glad to be rid of the hypocrisy of keeping his mouth shut for the last fortnight. “It is galling to be asked by a reporter what the figure might be, and to have to give an oblique answer in fairness to the reporter and the council, when you know very well what the rise is likely to be,” he said, “particularly when every instinct tells you there is no harm in the public knowing.” Supportive IN CASE anyone wants to send a telegram to the Dutch team playing in the World Cup final early on Monday morning in Argentina, the Netherlands Society has provided us with the address. The society says that if telegrams are sent today to the team, they will get there in plenty' of time to cheer the players on. The address is: Oranje Holland Football Club, Hotel Potrerillos, Ruta 7 S/N, Potrerillos, Argentina. Good catch TWO fishermen at Castle* point Beach, east of Masterton, have found a bottle washed up that was

thrown overboard somewhere in the Pacific from a yacht during the Whitbread round-the-world race last year. The reward for their' lucky find is three bottles of Portuguese port. The bottle, tossed overboard from John Ridgeway’s yacht Debenhams, contains a message written in four languages, including English, that the “finder of this bottle is entitled to a prize of three bottles of Fonesca Bin 27,” to be sent free of charge. A return address in Portugal is enclosed for claiming the reward. Value for money AN Englishman who went to the Christchurch passport office thio week to apply for New Zealand citizenship was told by the Department of Internal Affairs officer that his application was in the nick of time. In about a fortnight, the would-be citizen was told, the application fee would go up from $lO to $2O. With all the reports he has heard recently about New Zealand’s migration loss, the Englishman says, he wonders if living here is worth $2O. Sudden heat IN spite of drizzling rain yesterday afternoon, the

temperature soared from 9deg to 23deg within a matter of seconds, according to the electronic clock on top of the Government Life building in Cathedral Square. The sign flashed “23” several times before it was corrected by maintenance staff. Red. white, and blue A WITNESS in the Magistrate’s Court at Greymouth this week, whose financial affairs reflected the rosy glow of debt, was presented with a judgment summons court order — an exhibit in the case being heard. “You will be familiar with these. They are commonly called blueys,” said the solicitor who had handed the piece of paper to him. “This one is white,” replied the witness. “All the ones I have ever had were on white paper — none of them were blue.” Fiery scene DURING some fiery crossexamination by Mr L. M. O’Reilly in the Supreme Court yesterday, smoke was seen rising from beneath the Bench, not far from where Mr Justice Roper was sitting. An electric heater had fused, it was discovered.