Reporter’s diary

Press, 11 October 1985, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Ripper Robert IT HAS been a while since telephone book tearing was in fashion. As the books got thicker over the years, rippers got thinner on the ground. You might call Robert Findlay a throwback, if you are big enough or can run fast enough after you say it. The Kumara man, who describes himself as a car dealer, aircraft broker and company direc 7 tor, grew up on the West Coast. He was in Christchurch this week on a visit, and was challenged to tear a Christchurch telephone book in half, which he did. Because the Auckland telephone book is published in two volumes, white and yellow pages, the Christchurch book is the thickest in New Zealand, with 1104 pages. Mr Findlay says he has built himself up over the years by eating Cascade whitebait. Yesterday, he did the job again with a book given by the New Albion Tavern. With an appropriate amount of heaving, twisting

and straining, the book was wrenched apart from the spine. Mr Findlay has torn slightly thinner telephone books in Alberta and Florida. He said he has been offered big money to do it on stage there. He gave the impression that he has not committed himself so far to such a lucrative life under the spotlight. “That took a bit of doing,” he said after demolishing the Christchurch book.

Grocery basket A CHRISTCHURCH man was surprised to read in a letter to the editor the other day that a loaf of bread could not . be purchased in the United States four years ago for less than SUSI. He was in Philadelphia in May, when a 240 z loaf of white, sliced bread cost SUSS4c. What was more interesting was a newspaper’s market basket of prices for 35 grocery items. The list ran regularly. From May, 1984, to May this year, the price difference was only SUSB2c. The rise was mainly a result of an increase in the price of coffee.

Why they move ACCORDING to an account of the Irish moving statues of Mary in “Zealandia,” other than supernatural explanations have been offered for the phenomena at Ballinspittle, , County Cork. Heated air in the statue’s grotto, round the lighted halo, could have caused the shimmering effect. Shock waves from a Concorde supersonic airliner could have caused a similar effect or

group hallucinations could have been at work. The Bishop of Cork and Ross has said that unusual statue movements would have to be observed for up to a year before an official church commission would be appointed to examine the phenomena. A television reporter said that he saw the statue's facial features shimmering late one night. It was filmed, but the shimmering did not appear on the developed film. ... Knock PROBABLY the most prosperous shrine area in Ireland is the tiny village of Knock. About a dozen Mayo County Council souvenir shops and many bed and breakfast places have sprung up round the church where an apparition was seen by villagers in 1879. It was a time of famine, poverty and drenching rain. Before darkness, the first witness saw. an unusual brightness on the church. Then “statues” were seen in the gable against one wall. They were holographic figures, one obviously of the Virgin Mary. The other two figures seemed to be St Joseph and St John the Evangelist. Mary’s eyes were raised towards heaven, according to the gathering, which numbered about 20 in the end. One woman tried to kiss Mary’s feet but passed through the apparition, which was hovering less than a metre above the ground. The apparition stayed, in the pouring rain, for about two hours. Cement from the apparition gable was said to have a wonderful power afterwards. Pilgrims stripped the wall un-

til it was in danger of collapsing. A protective covering of boards was placed against the wall. Today, the area is inside a large glassed-in structure, with statues depicting the three figures and other things seen by the villagers — a cross, angels and a lamb. The Knock shrine was very popular in its first 25 years, then experienced a declining appeal until the fiftieth anniversary, when there was the first visit of an archbishop of the diocese to Knock as a pilgrim. It was the first official sign of Church approval for the religious exercises practised there. Four Popes have visited the shrine, including Pope John Paul II in 1979 during the shrine’s centenary. The large Basilica of Our Lady, Queen of Ireland, is a new church built to accommodate all the pilgrims. The parish priest, Monsignor Horan, has been quoted as saying that the local airport runway will be extended by next year to allow its use by jumbo jets from the United States. Ghost-walker

KIRSTY Gillespie, a teacher trainee, has been playing the ghost scene in this week’s Christchurch Teachers’ College production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” There have been no strings or wires attached, since the Fruma-Sarah character is on stilts for the scene. During rehearsals, there were some worries that- Kirsty, who sings a monologue while up there on the sticks, might pitch forward into the orchestra pit She had catchers below in that happened. Her

gymnastics background helped in the balancing act. Grimy knight

SHE SAYS it was one of those things that leave you standing like a stunned mullet, open-mouthed, wideeyed and bemused. One of our Rangiora reporters who lives in the big city to the south was in the town’s main street late at night, ready to drive home after a council meeting. The car, which had been doing everything right a few hours before, would not kick into life. She lifted the bonnet, with no idea where to start and wondering how to spend a night marooned in Rangiora. Out of the dark came a man on a bicycle. He was wearing garage-grimy overalls and came to a halt. The apparition asked if she was having trouble with her car. She tried not to appear too bewildered as she asked him the obvious. Yes, he was a mechanic. He found the problem in two minutes, said he was glad to oblige and pedalled off into the night. The reporter’s belief in knights in shining armour, especially the models in blue overalls and on bikes, has been revised. Driver .

A WOMAN was driving down Papanui Road yesterday when she braked hard to avoid a minor accident near the intersection in front of her: Another woman’s car had come in contact with the back of a truck. The car driver got out with a furious look on her face. “I thought you were on strike,” she shouted at the truck driver. 4*;.. —Stan Dating