Reporter’s diary

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

A world apart

THREE staunch rugby followers came from Dunedin for the first rugby test in Christchurch last week-end. All three enjoyed the match and decided to stay in Christchurch until Sunday. Before leaving for Dunedin they went to a local church service. The collection plate was passed round the congregation and all three, still in a cheerful mood after the All Blacks’ win, put in a few dollars. Later during the service the plate came round a second time and the men again reached into their pockets — but one of them stopped his two friends from putting any more money into the plate. All three put their money back into their pockets and- watched the plate pass by. A Christchurch friend of the three, who was sitting behind during the service. was mystified. After Church he was talking to his Dunedin friends and the reason for their lack of generosity was revealed. "Well; I never. Did you see that? That man taking round the collection plate during the service wore a HART badge," said an annoyed visitor.; . ,£;‘. .... Plea for.help .."THE PRESS" £ recently received a plea for help, but;

one rather difficult to* decipher. The letter, written in German, would, but for one German-speaking journalist, have been filed under “unreadable.” The letter turned out to be a plea for help from a young German couple who wanted jobs in New Zealand. They had decided to write to a newspaper, whose address they had been given by a German employment office. Obviously nobody had told the couple about New Zealand’s own employment problem. Exam scripts

A STORY about the wreck of the ship } Mataura in the Strait of Magellan in 18911, which appeared ■ in . “The Press” last Saturday, reminded Mr Eric Lowe of a family story. Apparently the ship was carrying the The University of New Zealand degree examination* papers for 1897, which were then marked in Britain. Mr Lowe’s mother and aunt were among the unfortunate students whose papers, representing months of work and study,..were lost. Both had sat their Master of Arts examinations at Canterbury College. Mr Lowe’s mother was offered, and accepted, a master's degree with secondclass honours after an assessment of her work. His aunt, however*, chose to sit

her examinations again the next year and was rewarded for her efforts by gaining first-class honours.

Not worth cash

THE TALE of the lost examination papers is confirmed in Dr J. C. Beaglehole's history. of University of New Zealand.. He wrote that the system of sending papers to Britain for marking was justified by the claim that it gave “a status and prestige to the New Zealand degrees which they could never possess under colonial examiners." He said that "the papers were not even sent by mail but as cargo. Wool bales on board were salvaged, but there was no money in examination scripts.” Diet against tour MANY nationalities joined to protest against, the Springbok tour on Saturday and among the crowd was a determined, well built Cook Islands wOman. She turned to the woman walking near her in the march and said: “I'm here just to show that the Islanders do care. I’ve stopped eating in protest against the Springbok tour and I've been protesting since they arrived in New Zealand. My protest has been a success. I've lost two stone.". >

Good neighbours

NEIGHBOURS are often useful, a regular of the Gladstone Tavern discovered on a recent evening. He had parked his car on Peterborough Street, outside the St John Ambulance Association rooms, but on returning to it found that it could not be driven away. A wheel was stuck in the gutter, and in spite of many revs, he could do nothing more than shed rubber against the gutter. So he enlisted the aid of a forklift driver from the Railways Road Services depot opposite. The rescue work was watched by an audience of one — a reporter. Toheroas SOUTHLAND may soon be the only “breeding" ground open to the public for two of New Zealand's greatest delicacies. Oysters can only be gathered in Southland and it now looks as though Oreti Beach, near Invercargill, might be the only place where toheroas can be taken this season. A Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries survey of toheroa stocks at Muriwai, Dargaville. NinetyMile Beach: and Te Waewae Bay. in western Southland, shows that toheroas could be threatened ;if there is an open season this year