Reporter’s diary

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Old ways SINCE THEY bought ' Woodford, a Papanui Road house, 18 months ago, members of a Christchurch family have become intensely interested in its history. They held a ball last week-end to mark the centenary of the old house, and did everything they could to make it seem like an event in the 1800 s. They had a maid, a butler, and a footman. Some guests arrived in a horse-drawn gig. All arrived in period dress — tails and gowns. All were given formal programmes outlining the ball’s events. The homeowners even went to the trouble of writing out a description of the evening, based on social notes published in newspapers in the old days. Part of the social notes go like this: “After an absence of some 40 years, the walls of the exquisitely bedecked formal rooms echoed to laughter and splendid music of the formal ball, and, in spite of the abnormal closeness of the weather, all were, observed to have thoroughly enjoyed the event. Items of history and anecdotes relating to former owners were related briefly throughout the evening, and proceedings were appropriately capped immediately at the conclusion of supper by the cutting of an anniversary cake and singing of a hearty rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ by all assembled. After the conclusion of the formal programme, in the small hours of the following morning, Mr Baker entertained with a rendition of hymns, Christmas carols, and show music on the harmonium.” The Pelican

WHEN A Christchurch man was in Europe recently he was intrigues by a article in the “Business Travel” magazine. - The “V

story was by Jeffrey Archer, the novelist and former Conservative member of Parliament in Britain. Mr Archer had this to say: “Other than the wonders of good ordinary French cooking, I adore going to The Pelican in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is run by a sweet, little lady who really knows how to cook.” No-one in Christchurch has been able to tell the man where The Pelican is, or was. Did Mr Archer have the right name, or the right city? Still beeping THE LITTLE chap is still out there, measuring. Scientists at a Californian research centre this week monitored signals from a spacecraft that was launched 20 years ago and had a life expectancy of six months. Signals from Pioneer 6 were recorded about a year ago as it circled the Sun. It was intended to be part of a network of four weather stations that could help predict solar storms for about 1000 customers. Pioneer 6 went on and on, and could go on for another five years, operating with a solar cell that powers an eight-watt transmitter. A large dish antenna in Australia is trying to track its signals. The spacecraft was the first to observe the far side of the Sun. It has been credited with discoveries about solar wind, cosmic rays, and the solar magnetic field. Colourful spout WHEN the first Victoria Square redevelopment proposals came out more than two years ago, they got a very mixed reaction, including a lot of hooting, from city councillors. One suggestion said that the Bowker

Fountain could be moved, perhaps to Latimer Square or Cranmer Square. A Christchurch man who remembers the sense of occasion that accompanied that fountain's opening is happy that things will stay pretty much as they are under the latest plan, even if less water goes through the fountain. He was brought into town as a boy in the summer of 1931 to see the Bowker spout its first water with the coloured lights turned on. He had never seen anything like it. Naturally, he would have been sad to see that part of his past changed. When the fountain was opened, it was the only such illuminated fountain in the southern hemisphere. It was given to the city by H. C. Bowker, a businessman. Coincidence SYLVESTER Stallone’s latest episode in the saga of a fighter named Balboa is opening in Christchurch at what might be considered an appropriate time. “Rocky IV” begins at the Westend on Boxing Day. Music message C.A.R.S., a Queensland organisation dedicated to educating the public about deaths on the road (its name means Citizens Against Road Slaughter) has put out a music and message tape this Christmas season. “You Walked Away” is a song by Altered Natives, a group of musicians who came to-, gether to help the cause of fighting the road toll It tells the story of a family man whose vehicle collides with the car of a drunken driver. One lives. C.A.R.S. is encouraging radio stations in Australia and New Zealand to play the song. Future songs will be about the dangers of speeding (“Never Enough Time”) and

how to answer a child who asks when a dead parent is coming home (“Mummy, What Does Never Mean?”). C.A.R.S. is willing to pay a percentage of profits from the song to any community organisations that work to promote road safety awareness and assist road trauma victims and their families. The Queensland organisation started its work in mid--1984 in response to a television appearance by a relative of a road trauma victim. It publishes a monthly journal, “The Public Outcry.” The cassette has been given to a local radio station so that it can be played on air. Christmas spirit AS SHE was walking through The Shades the other day, doing window shopping for Christmas, a woman, aged 92, walked into a jeweller’s shop. She bought a gift for a young niece. It was during the bus strike, and.the woman was asked how she had reached the central city. She had taken a taxi, she said. In that case, said the person serving her, they would take $4 off the purchase price. —Stan Darling.