Reporter's Diary

Press, 26 July 1978, Page 2

Reporter's Diary

Piggy bank WATERHOLE IKE, a four-year-old pig from Nevada, is the holder of United States Social Security number 530-80-4623, according to the “Congressional Record.” Waterhole Ike is a regular at a tavern in the town of Golconda, Nevada. His owner, Mark Cowley, who runs the tavern, decided to syndicate Ike, sold his shares, and ended up with enough money to open a savings account for his pig. But before the bank account could be opened in his name, Waterhole Ike had to have a Social Security number, so his guardian duly filled out the proper forms, signing them “Waterhole Ike, by Mark Cowley." The Social Security Administration obligingly gave Ike his number, and the bank opened Ike’s account. But the bureaucrats, who became worried that the prosperous pig might be getting welfare payments have been assured that, even if Ike should reach the unlikely porcine age of 65, there is no danger of his receiving a monthly cheque because

he has had no earnings credited to his Social Security account. And it is unlikely, they have been told by the Social Security Administration, that a request for welfare benefits would be successful without a personal interview. Probably no more unlikely though than a four-year-old, beer-drinking pig, son of Go-Pig-Go and Three Stars, who has been issued with Social Security number 530-80-4623. For the birds

AFTER reading about feeding the birds during winter, in a story on the Children’s Page in "The Press” yesterday, a woman telephoned to tell us about her experiences feeding the birds in her garden in the last fortnight. She says she hung up a plastic mesh vegetable bag, filled with lumps of fat, from the branch of a tree outside the kitchen window two weeks ago and hundreds of wax-eyes have visited her garden to eat the fat. In only two weeks, the waxeyes have become so used to her that when she went out to the tree on Monday

to take a close-up photograph, they were not frightened away. Camera shy MEMBERS of the Australian rugby team in Christchurch on Monday at the beginning of their tour of New Zealand, were a trifle camera shy, our photographer discovered when trying to get the whole team in the picture. She noticed the television news team was also having difficulty in getting an over-all shot of the team. So she asked the team manager about it. He told her that the team was wary of being photographed as a whole because they had found in the past that many of the photographers who took a team photograph cashed in on their subjects by producing and selling posters, — without even asking for the team’s permission. Public relations CHRISTCHURCH no longer has a public relations officer, but the office itself is alive and well, and still functioning in Oxford Terrace receiving inquiries from both near and far. Two visitors to the city on Monday asked at "The Press" office for certain information.- They had been told that the Public Relations Office was

closed, but the staff at our front counter telephoned the office number and were told to send the visitors round to Oxford Terrace, Where their inquiry would be answered. Yesterday, the office had a call from South Africa. It was a woman inquiring after a friend whose telephone number had been changed. Again, the public relations office was able to help. Dutch account A READER in Addington has sent in a clipping from the Dutch newspaper "De Limburger,” dated July 17, which contains an account of the performances by the National Band of New Zealand at the Eighth World Music Contest. Our office Dutchman has translated it for us and provides the following abbreviated account of the band’s performance, which gave New Zealand second place over all, behind the American Largo Band of Gold. “Before an audience of 25,000 the New’ Zealand and American bands fought it out on the last day for the highest honour. Both put on an impressive show and received standing ovations. The New Zealanders in particular displayed a perfect march, but the Americans won the most points and stole the show.” The

report, also mentions the Maori concert group ac« companying the band. They “danced with joy spontaneously” when their band did so well. A plaudit too for the leader of the band, Mr Mervyn Walters. “Under his leadership,” the report says, "the New Zealanders performed as seldom seen before.” Sharp end A YOUTH being chased by the police in Los Angeles this week came to a sharp end when he fell through the glass roof of a flower shop, and landed astride a giant cactus plant. Medical orderlies had to be called to extract dozens of cactus quills from his body. Apparently the youth started running when he saw a police car — no-one knows why — so the police gave chase. As it happened, he was charged with trespass. No joy ride WHOEVER pinched “The Press” Rangiora office Volkswagen on Saturday cannot have had much of a joy ride in it. The muchmaligned old VW, whose mileage recorder is on its second time round the clock, got no further than 10 miles from Rangiora before the back wheel fell off. —Felicity Price