Reporter's Diary

Press, 7 June 1980, Page 2

Reporter's Diary

Close contest THE BAND of the Ist Battalion, Parachute Regiment — mentioned in yesterday’s item as being the regiment from which are drawn most of the Special Air Service members, who became heroes overnight with their daring raid on the Iranian Embassy in London last month — has been in the headlines before, it seems. A reader telephoned yesterday to tell us that the band took part in a contest five years ago after the pop group, The Who, challenged it to see who could make the most noise. The band pulled out all the stops but was narrowly beaten by just a few decibels by the loud amplifiers .of The Who.

Crocodile story ' IT ALL began . with a “goodwill visit” by H.M.A.S. Derwent to Subic Bay, in the Philippines', during a three-month tour of' South-East Asian waters early this year. Two sailors from the Derwent, visiting the Crocodile. one of Manila’s many bars, had hardly settled themselves down when they saw the barman throw two live chickens into a pond. Curious, the two sailors asked .what was going on. The barman explained that the pond contained a live crocodile with a liking for live chickens. The sailors remonstrated; the barman

was unrepentant; whereupon his jaw was broken with one blow. He reeled back, smashing a large bar mirror. The sailors then jumped into the pond, grabbed the crocodile, and carried the 1.5 metre-long, writing animal out into the street. They then lost their grip or their courage —or both -— and tossed it away. It landed in a Jeepney (a decorated Jeep bus) whose passengers ■ smartly jumped out. One of them was run over by another vehicle in the ensuing melee. Hearing a fracas behind him, the . driver of the Jeepney turned round. Coming face to face with an enraged crocodile, he lost control of the bus and drove through the plateglass frontage of another bar, injuring some of its patrons. The crocodile then slithered, off the Jeepney into the street and was run over' and killed by a lorry. .Costly episode BUT THE story doesn’t end there. The sailors, understandably horrified, took flight, but were soon caught by a posse of policemen, bar owners, bus passengers and bystanders. Naturally, the numerous victims sought compensation, and negotiations were finally settled with the help of Australian diplomats in the Philippines, at -a figure of $50,000. The creW of the Derwent ? were so im- • ’ V

pressed with the great crocodile show put on by their shipmates that they held “tarpaulin musters to raise the $50,000 to. pay the damages. Staking claims

A VISITOR from Christchurch to the recent Dunedin Agricultural and Pastoral Show reports seeing insensitive labelling in the sheep and cattle pens. Some adults were visibly horrified, and children were hustled on when their parents saw the labels plastered on many of the pens, he said. At the back of a number of pens, holding sheep and cattle of numerous varieties, were the usual certificates and ribbons for best in class, best in show, etc. Alongside these were labels proclaiming the unfortunate prizewinning beasts had been “Sold to . - • butchery. Our meat’s a treat to eat. A lot of people, it would seem, do not like to be reminded of the source of their rump steak, Sunday roast, and lamb chops.

Potty trained ONE CAT story leads to another, if seems, if this week’s “Diary” is anything to go by. A Fendalton reader telephoned yesterday to tell us about her cat No, it hadn’t got shut in the dishwasher or clothes. dryer like the two mentioned this week. This cat, she said, was quite crazy. It had developed a penchant for potty training, and was vying with her young toddler for the use of the pot. “I think this cat must have spent too long with its mother,”

she said. “We didn’t get it until it was 12 weeks old, and since then, it has been using my _ son’s - potty every time it wants to go about its business. If we put the cat outside, it waits until we let it in again before it will do anything. When it comes in, it rushes straight for the potty.” Woollen or wooden? UPON hearing the announcement that Mosgiel had gone into receivership, a business group (which does not wish to be named) made an ap- ■ proach to buy Mosgiel’s Ashburton factory, Alford Forest Mill. Mid-Canter-bury fanners saw merit in the idea and sent a telegram to the member of Parliament for Ashburton (Mr Rob Talbot), the Minister .of Trade and Industry (Mr Lance AdamsSchneider), and the member for Rakaia (Mr Colin McLachlan), seeking support for the Ashburtonbased group. Stock answers were received from the secretaries of Mr Talbot and Mr AdamsSchneider. They noted that the telegrams had been received and promised they would be drawn to the members’ attention. But the reply from Mr McLachlan’s > secretary raised a chuckle among members of the meat and wool section of MidCanterbury Federated Farmers this week. The secretary had replied: “I have referred your telegram to the Minister of Forests for his consideration.”

Juilty