Reporter’s diary

Press, 19 May 1981, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Sun-watching WEATHERMEN really do gaze into a crystal ball! Christchurch’s sunshine hours are calculated when the sun’s rays pass through a glass ball and are reflected on to a piece of cardboard.. Scorch marks on the card show how much sun has been recorded at the Meteorological Service base at Christchurch Airport. The measuring system was . developed in 1853 by an Englishman, a Mr Campbell. ’ In 1879 a Mr Stokes relined the instrument, and to this ' dav it is. known as the Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder. The -chief technical officer with the weather office., said that the recorder had been used - in

Christchurch since 1928, and That weathermen were still happy with its accuracy.

i Faithful service .

SIXTY YEARS of service

with one Christchurch law firm is being celebrated today by a law clerk, MrHarry Smith, aged 76. Mr Smith started working for the firm, which is well over 100 years old, in 1921 at the tender age of 16. The job has changed a lot since then, says Mr Smith. Many years ago he had the onerous task of lugging buckets of coal up stairways to fuel the open fires in solicitors’ chambers. However, he says that a sense of loyalty, enjoyment of the job. ‘‘and’ never really feeling old” have kept him in the job for so long. Mr Smith only works part-time now, and thinks he might throw in the job next year. Even then, he will not have the distinction of being the longestserving employee. that honour belongs to a former worker at the same firm, who was there when Mr Smith started, and who worked for the company for about 70 years. Unusual load

STRANGER THINGS than dogs have been carried on bicycles in Christchurch, according to Mrs M. Hewinson, of South Brighton. Mrs Hewinson remembers when, as a Ranger Guide in the 19305, she and her friends set out"’on . bicycles from' the Nurse Maude rooms in Madras Street each Saturday to collect items which had been lent by the association to the poor and the elderly of the city. These including blankets, air-rings, waterproof sheets, slippers, hot water bottles and, one day, a complete commode. ‘ - R was too big and heavy to go on one

bike, so we had to ride side-by-side with the wooden part on my carrier, and the porcelain part on my friend’s carrier. It turned a few heads when we went through the Square,” said Mrs Hewinson. Cool con

“COOKING” the books is a term usually reserved for illicit financial dealings. However, in one small South Island town the practice has been applied to, of all things, the daily temperature readings. So keen is the town’s council to keep progress and newcomers out, locals say, that it tries to portray the town’s regular temperatures as five degrees lower than they really are. This is so as not to give, the impression that the place has a pleasant, mild climate. The official readings-are allegedly taken in great secrecy. Similar readings taken by' others in the town would tend to confirm' the story, for their readings are invariably 5 deg warmer than the official one, although conditions in which both readings are taken are said to be the same. Dry pub? SPELLING errors irritate a reader of “The Press,” who says the mistake on a sign outside a hotel on Lincoln Road has bothered him for a long time. The sign advertises “deserts and coffee.” The word, of course, should be “desserts.” Flagged NORWEGIAN Hags held high by a group of 30 young-

sters attracted the attention of passers-by in a South Brighton street on Sunday. They were part of a group from the local Scandinavian Club taking part in the traditional children’s march that was held to celebrate Norway’s national day. What the adults didn't expect was the spontaneous vocal demonstration that climaxed the children's march. When they returned to the house where the adults were holding their celebration, the youthful “demonstrators” set up a loud chant of “we want waffles” — referring to the traditional Scandinavian waffles which the adults were eating while they watched the children march. Big prize LONDON-BORN Dame Cicely Saunders, aged 62, has received the world’s largest prize — the $200,000 Templeton Prize — for changing the face of death. Dame Cicely, who is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and who began her work over 20 years ago, “challenged the materialistic assumption that underlay much of modern medical practice and reinstated the spiritual and personal methods for the treatment of the’ terminally ill. Her methods are now in worldwide use,” the citation said. Dame Cicely, a specialist in pain control of cancer, later told a large gathering in London's historic Guildhall: “We believe that euthanasia, or assisted suicide, is a socially dangerous' and negative answer to a problem that should be tackled by other means.”