Reporter's Diary

Press, 26 December 1979, Page 2

Reporter's Diary

j Short journey A PILOT trying to hand- • start his small plane by . swinging the propeller lost •; a finger and moments later, lost the plane as . well. According to the Civil Aviation Division of • the Ministry of Transport • in Britain, the pilot unt>d • the plane’s picket lines. « set the brakes and throttle, but did not chock - the whee’s. The eng’ne fired on the third swing I and the arc jnollef H’adp • amouta'ed the pilot’s • inde v fin«er. throwing h*m A on the gro-'nd Its engine running, rhe nlane then moved off down the air-

strip, gathering speed until it ran through a fence, disappeared down a steep bank, and tipped over. D kite lie WHILE Canterburv peopie sweltered yesterday eating their Christmas dinner in the stifling nor’west heat. Londoners revelled in a traditional white Christmas. It started snowing 'here on Fridav evening, ."nd by Christmas Dav the city looked like a picture on a Christmas card. Bookies had laid odds of four to one against theje being a

white Jhristmas in the British capital — arid a single snowflake was all that was needed for gamblers to collect. According to one report in a London newspaper, interest in the possibility of a white -Christmas has been High. The report mentioned the following conversation, x overheard in ", department' store last week: “Do you ,think we will have snow. Tot Christmas?” asked one man. “I hope so,” replied the other. “It’s the only time my lawn looks as good as my neighbour’s.” Hot spring! SOUTH Pacific Television’s special live telecast from th" Church of the Good Shepherd at Tekapo on Christmas morning was apparently seen by about 200 million people all over the world. Called “Star Over Bethlehem.” the programme was shown at 10 a.m. and again at 6 p.m. on TV2. Viewers wou'd have recognised the tune. "Hine O Hine.” sung by Rhonda Bryers and parishioners of' the Tekano church. It is none other than TV2’s nightlv close-down signature theme, accompanv-ing the nonular “Goodnight Kiwi.” One viewer noticed that when the live telecast crossed to New Zealand from Franc. the announcer said * it was

“Springtime , in Tekapo, New Zealand.” Humbug! . FATHER Christmas is an evil influence and should be banished, says a minister ef. : • th .Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church. Mr Jan Viljoen has called on hfs parishioners in the south coast town of Port Elizabeth to j shun the Father Christmas concept this year. He said. Father Christmas had come about because of confusion, between Christmas arid the celebration of the feast of Saint Nicholas,-which both fall in December. “At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus and if parents want to tell their children about Father Christmas and give presents, let them do it at the proper time — and that is definitely not Christmas,” he said. “It is high time we rid our Christmas celebrations of this meaningless and irrelevant figure.” \amesake ONE DAY last week, when Christmas cheer had been flowing abundantly in the office, an executive answered his telephone. “Hello.” said the caller, “it’s Mary O’Leary here.” (The name has been changed to protect the innocent). Now it so hap-

pened that the boss’s secretary was called Mary O’Leary. “What the hell are you doing ringing me up,” he said, thinking she was playing a prank on him. “Oh.” said the caller, sounding a little offended. “1 was ringing up to ask you about the . . .” It was not the boss’s secretary at all. It was a woman with the same name calling on legitimate business. Profuse apologies were made by the embarrassed executive to calm the troubled waters. Cat burglar WHEN HIS pet cream Burmese cat arrived home the other day with a pair of newish-looking socks, a Spreydon man thought it quite funny. He had been weaning the cat off chewing up his own socks and had finally succeeded, and now it looked as though the animal had discovered an alternative supply. But over the next few days, the cat arrived home with no fewer than four more pairs of socks, all from an unknown source. It was definitely getting beyond a joke, and he inquired of his immediate neighbours if they had noticed any socks missing lately. But to no avail. Then on Christmas Eve. the Burmese arrived home proudly dragging a pair of ipen’s trousers — recently

dry-cleaned, and still with rhe cleaning label on them. The embarrassed owner wonders if anyone in the Selwyn StreetRoper Street area has noticed any clothing missing recently. If so, his telephone number is 35222. Impressive fleet DURING his trip to Japan recently, Neill Birss, news editor at “The Press,” was shown around the offices of “Yomuiri Shimbun,” Japan’s biggest daily newspaper. With a circulation of 7| million in its morning edition and 4| million in the evening, the daily circulation of “The Press” in excess of 77,000 pales into insignificance. So does our mode of transport. At the “Yomuiri Shimbun,” the reporters have a chauf-feur-driven fleet of 100 limousines at their beck and call when they have to go out on a story. Sign of the times? A READER just returned from Sydney wonders if it was a sign of the times — .Christmas cards with the message “To My Husband” on them, being sold in packs of four.

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