Reporters Diary

Press, 29 August 1979, Page 2

Reporters Diary

Flying high ARMAGH Street shoppers and office workers have been watching the rising progress of the new Commercial Bank of Australia building with interest, many of them wondering how high it will go. The final storey has at last gone up, and workmen have erected a flagpole on top of it. To mark the occasion, they have hoisted an unusual flag — a pair of pantyhose, which were photographed yesterday flapping in the breeze. Worth celebrating JUST UNDER three years ago, a group of sub-con-tractors finished their work on a Governmentfunded building in Christchurch. The building has now been occupied for 2| years. Last Easter, the funds were finally certified by the contractor, and the sub-contractors have been waiting since then to get paid. But yesterday, Mafeking was relieved — well, almost. The sub-con-tractors received a letter from the contractor apologising for the long delay, confirming that the cheque had been made out at last, and inviting them all to a special function to receive their cheque and celebrate the occasion, belated as it was. Peace and quiet NEXT TO a still day in the country, it seems, the bedrooms of New Zealand are the quietest place to be. According to an article on the effects of noise, printed in “Rails” magazine, 40,000 of the 200,000 New Zealanders suffering permanent deafness lost their hearing through exi cessive exposure to noise. The noisiest noise is, of course, a rock music band with powerful amplifiers blaring. According to a chart accompanying the article, a rock music band produces about 110 deci- . bels. Not far behind in decibel levels are power mowers, rivet guns, trucks, and rush-hour city traffic, which all record between 90 and 105 decibels. A pneumatic drill produces 85 decibels, a vacuum cleaner reaches 70

decibels and a normal conversation (as opposed to an argument) clocks in at a mere 60 decibels. So, all things considered, a quiet day in the country (25 decibels) or a suburban bedroom (35 decibels) are the best places for a bit of peace and quiet — provided, that is, there are no vacuum cleaners, normal conversations, pneumatic drills or rock groups in the vicinity. Shout it out AS A MATTER of interest, the best way to judge whether noises are too loud is supposed to be the “shout test,” the “Rails” magazine report says. If, at a disco, a rock group performance, or a motorsport meeting, you find you have to shout to make yourself heard by the person standing next to you, then you are being subjected to a noise of about 90 decibels. If you have to shout to make yourself heard during what you might fondly imagine to be a “normal conversation,” then you must be having an argument at 90 decibels. Cost of living A READER has taken issue with a report in last Wednesday’s “Diary” about the high cost of living in Sydney and Melbourne. According to the report, which was based on a world survey of living costs printed in “Business International” magazine, Sydney and Melbourne rated among the most expensive cities in the world, topping even New York for their respective living costs. But our correspondent says that he found the cost of living in Melbourne very cheap, especially taking into account the high wages there. He says he thinks the world survey of living costs must have been made by company representatives staying at the most expensive hotels and lavishly entertaining their clients.

From the bottom A SYMPATHISER with the independent South Island cause has come to light in Wellington. She has written to the Christchurch City Council suggesting that it start a campaign to have the weather forecast for New Zealand read out from south to north instead of the top-to-bottom way as at present. “I checked with the weather office, and there is no scientific reason for having the weather announced from north to south,” she writes. “I’m sure that Britain’s weather forecast doesn’t start with the Shetland Islands. I think weather forecasts should begin with the south of the country. Besides, it would do Auckland. good to have to wait for a change!” Road test? THE Christchurch City Engineer (Mr P. G. Secular was seen pedalling energetically along a particularly bumpy section of Victoria Street the other day, a reader reports. Our informant said he wondered if Mr Scoular was testing the road surface while doing his bit to save fuel. “At least, on a bicycle,” he said, “he is likely to gain an intimate knowledge of those roads in the city that could do with a bit of repair.” Blue streakers A MID-WINTER “streak” by two Hawera men at the week-end turned into a “blue streak.” They set off unclothed at a great pace along Hawera’s High Street, the town’s commercial area, on Sunday about 11 p.m. On reaching their “getaway” car at the end of their run, they found a traffic officer, with notebook and pen at the ready. He kept them shivering in the cold while he wrote out a traffic offence notice.