Reporter’s diary

Press, 27 November 1986, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Brett v. Brett

BRETTS ROAD, in St Albans, was named after Colonel De Rinzi Brett, says the ‘Cyclopedia of New Zealand.” The descendants of George William Brett disagree, and believe it was named after their ancestor, who built the first house in the road which now bears his name. Staff at the Canterbury Public Library checked the card files, back the Colonel, but add that the Cyclopedia, published at the turn of the century, is unreliable, and George William Brett could equally claim the honour of giving his name to the road. Readers who may be able to shed light on the matter could write to the great-grand-daughter of George: Mrs M. O’Connell, 15 Herewini

Street, Rotorua. Flying joker PRE-FLIGHT safety demonstrations are a fertile breeding ground for black humour. On a Qantas flight between Sydney and Norfolk Island an Australian steward, demonstrating the lifejacket, concluded: “Finally, this is the whistle to attract the sharks.” He certainly attracted passengers’ attention. Secret delivery SCHOOLBOY lan Drever calmly delivered his girlfriend’s secret baby while his unsuspecting parents watched television downstairs in their Edinburgh home, reports our London correspondent, Robin Charteris. The 15-year-old lan delivered his 2.6 kilo

son after Debbie Smith, aged 17, had spent 13 hours in labour. Mrs Drever thought her son was joking when he told her “Come upstairs — you're a granny.” “I am extremely proud of what he did, but also annoyed,” she said. Mother and son are progressing well at an Edinburgh hospital and the parents plan to be married when lan is 16, next May. Poverty lines WHO SAID beggars can’t be choosers? In Sokoto, northern Nigeria, beggars have decided to reject small coins from almsgivers as a protest against devaluation. The Nigerian “Daily Times” quoted a spokesman for the Sokoto State Destitutes’ Association as saying that the decision to refuse the 10 kobo (about sc) coin was made at an emergency meeting. The Nigerian naira (100 kobos) has lost 60 per cent of value against the dollar in the last few weeks. To be precise DETECTIVE Colin Irvine provided some light relief when giving evidence during drug trials in the High

Court at Wanganui. When asked by defence counsel Mike Lance: "You have been involved in a number of murders and crimes of violence?” Detective Irvine replied: “Only in investigating them, sir.”

Time, gentleman, BEER-LOVING Jimmy Young is calling time on Britain’s longest bender. The ex-publican has been on a giant pub crawl for 25 years, calling at a staggering 23,729 bars. Now 68, Jimmy says he is getting too old and cannot stand the pace. “I wanted to clock up 25,000 pubs, but I won’t make it now.” (There are reported to be 41,900 pubs in Britain.) At his peak, he visited 40 pubs a day, a number that has fallen to 20 over the years. His devotion to his “research” won him a place in the Guinness Book of Records for 15 years. Unappreciated HERE IS a timely tale, to cheer up those depressed by their soggy environment during the last few days: A young couple living in Toongabbie, just Sydney, were

flooded out of their home and lost all their possessions in the storm which lashed Sydney last' August. They have just received a bill from their local water authority, for “excess water use.” —Jenny Feltham