Reporter’s; diary

Press, 5 June 1982, Page 2

Reporter’s ; diary

On the trams BEFORE bus drivers wore, their smart but comfortable medium blue uniforms, without hats or ties, they used to wear dark blue and black serge .uniforms like the one

pictured. The Ferrymead Tramway Historical Society would dearly like to borrow a few of these uniforms which are now apparently hard to obtain. The society, which runs the Ferrymead tram, has also been unable to find any material suitable for making replicas. So, the society is appealing to old clippies, tram drivers, and even latter-day bus drivers to lend them their uniforms (hats, jackets, greatcoats and badges) as well as ticket bags, and any old cuttings or photographs for the society’s records. The uniforms will be put to a practical use — they will be worn by the men who run the Ferrymead tram. Anyone-able to help should telephone 599-653 or 599-758.

Blunt diplomacy ' THE LANGUAGE of diplomi acy, as far as the Somalis are concerned leaves, a lot to be desired. The Somali Embassy in London put out a press release recently after a • demonstration’ outside the embassy. /“A small number of Somalis mainly formed of retired seamen, drunkards and habitual vagabonds have demonstrated outside". the

Somali Embassy today,” it read. “They were paid hirelings who have recently returned. from Ethiopia .where they received) instructions and advance payment from a radical Aram country.”

Almost great mates, ALEXANDER Haig, known throughout the world for his “Haigspeak,” has come up with another, quotable quote. Speaking about, the United States Defence Secretary, Mr Caspar Weinberger, Mr Haig said: “We get along so well that when ‘Cap’ and I are in Washington,, we have breakfast every week alone — except for our tasters.”. Identity crisis

IN SPITE of extensive and expensive attempts by the New Zealand Railways to make its identity well known in the community, through countless advertisements and television commercials, there appears to tie some confusion over the Railways logo. According to one Railways employee, the logo is frequently getting muddled up with other ones. Just this week, he said, an advertisement call-

ing for'-tenders for a' Rail- - ways house at Blenheim had the National Party logo' underneath it. “Honestly, the, ; Railways has no allegiance to the National Party,” he said. In the past, Railways : advertisements have had the Police Department logo and the Post Office logo on them, instead of the “NZR” one, Silly season THE “DAILY MAIL”, news:, paper, London, has been, inviting readers to send in . “conversation-stopping”., sto-. ries, with the prize of a bottle of champagne' as a lure. The competition,., leading into the annual summer holiday “silly • season”, in Britain, has drawn some interesting entries . The criterion for a conversationstopper is that it. should stun a gathering into • silence. Here are .a few: “an elephant is the:only animal with four knees,” “all polar bears ar.e left-handed,” . “Hungarian hunter Endre Bascany imi-. tated the love call of a stag so well that another hunter shot him,” “The longest solo flight by a cow was half-a-mile, recorded in lowa. in 1962 during a tornado.” .