Reporter’s Diary

Press, 2 December 1978, Page 2

Reporter’s Diary

Close to home I A WELL - KNOWN I Christchurch laywer, Mr [ M. J. Glue — who I is endearingly referred I to by his colleagues as “Rumpole of the Magis- , trate’s Court” — was a i court duty solicitor yester- ! day. Before proceedings i started! he duly interviewed all the defendants | in the waiting room, including one lad up on 13 charges of converting cars ! on November 22 and 23. Only seconds before the morning session was to begin, Mr Glue leapt up from his court bench and started waving several charge sheets about, protesting loudly. One of the cars allegedly converted by the defendant was Mr Glue’s own, so the case was hastily handed over j to another laywer. hi good company ■ MR GLUE'S unexpected discovery yesterday, howi ever, was nothing new in 1 the legal world. One of Mr 1 Glue's close colleagues, | Mr A. K. Grant, experienced a similar sur- ! prise some time ago.' A young man had left a trail of dud cheques around town, using a stolen chequebook. As duty solicitor one day. Mr Grant was asked by a court clerk if ■ he would appear for the ; young man. who faced several charges of false pretence. “You wouldn’t happen to know what the name on the cheques is?” Mr Grant asked. “Oh dear.” said the clerk, realising a connection for the first time. “It’s yours.” Mr Grant declined the case. Take-auay church THE VICAR of St Columba’s Church on the Main

South Road, which burned down on Monday morning, left a note for the dustmen when he put out his rubbish bags the day after the fire. It read: “We also have a church and a hall that is now rubbish for you to take away, but it won’t fit in the Kleensak.” J anishing ferry ARATIKA, the Railways Department’s Cook Strait ferry, is missing. She sailed mysteriously 11 days ago and has not been seen since. Red-faced Railways officials are unable to explain the disappearance, and no amount of searching the high seas has borne fruit. The Aratika, a 1.5 m scale model resplendent in a glass case, vanished from the entrance foyer of her big sister, Aranui, during an official reception after a refit in Dunedin. The model is worth about $3OOO. Big party A GROUP of 250 children from Templeton Hospital, their parents, and hospital staff will be treated to a $5OOO Christmas Party today, thanks to the generosity of the marketers of Choysa tea. Lots of food and soft drinks will be available as well as games and presents for the children, entertainment by several magicians, and an appearance by Father Christmas in a vintage car. The children of Templeton Hospital were chosen to enjoy the big Christmas party through the Canterbury branch of the Children's Health Research Foundation.

Games coin SAMOA will commemorate the Xlth Commonwealth Games, which were held at Edmonton, this year, with a special coin. Samoa first competed in the Games at Christchurch in 1974, and sent a team to Canada. The reverse of the coin, which shows three athlet-

es, was designed by a New Zealander, Mr James Berry. The obverse side depicts the coat of arms of Western Samoa, and the value tablet. The striking of the commemorative coins will be limited — the Royal Australian Mint will strike 1000 frosted gold proofs which will sell for $2OO apiece. Five thousand sterling silver frosted proofs will sell for $27, and for the less extravagant 20,000 cupro-nickel coins will sell for $3.80. Proof! PUPILS at a Camberwell, Britain, school were asked to write not more than 50 words about the harmful effect of oil on fish, according to a report in the London “Daily Telegraph.” One 11-year-old wrote: “When my mum opened a tin of sardihes last night it was full of oil. and all the sardines were dead.” Launching site DON GRADY, formerly a journalist on “The Press” and now public relations

manager for Trans Holdings, Ltd, has chosen Picton as the site to launch his new book, “Guards of the Sea.” About 120 people have been invited to the cocktail-party launching, most of them from Marlborough. The book, which Mr Grady says took 2000 hours to write includes a log from an old American whaling ship which the author obtained only eight weeks ago. The log covers three months of whaling in Port Underwood, around Kakapo, Ocean, and Robin Hood bays. II ide an ake THE REPORT in “The Press” yesterday about wide-awake drunks coincided with an episode of “The Archers” radio programme, a reader tells us. The programme was about a woman who drove, a car believing that she was more sober than she actually was. “But two types of 'wide-awake persons cause accidents,” our informant said. “The wideawake drunk, mentioned in your report, and the wide-awake driver who thinks he’s great behind a wheel when, in fact, he’s a terrifying menace.” Early start A LINCOLN woman has told us why she thinks there have been more births in the Lincoln area recently. A “Diary” item several days ago contained an excerpt from the Lincoln parish magazine, in which the vicar had commented about the remarkable increase in baptisms he had performed in the last few months. “We have concluded that the D.S.I.R. bird-scarer just outside Lincoln is the cause,” she said. “It starts pounding away every day at 5.30 a.m., and wakes everyone up.” —Felicity Price