Reporter’s diary

Press, 26 June 1987, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Desperation

"THE PRESS” Travel editor, Les Bloxham, was mentioned in passing in an article on New Zealand in the May issue of “National Geographic.” As a result, he received a letter from one Mrs Gladys Botwin in Haifa, Israel. Would he mind helping her so that “my Jewish Refusenik cousins may be issued exit visas from the Soviet Union to join their family in Israel.” According to Mrs Botwin the couple applied in 1976 for visas and were promptly dismissed from their jobs. Since then the father has been imprisoned by the K.G.8., the family harassed and “had their apartment searched frequently.” The tragedy is that the woman would be so desperate as to write to any stranger who may be remotely able to help; the second is that Mr Bloxham, for all that he would want to fly a Cessna into Red Square and rescue the family, can’t.

Gummy gummers FOLLOWING yesterday’s item about built-up gumboots, three shoe repairers contacted “The Press” to say they still rebuild heels on gumboots: one is to be found in Amberley; another shop is. in High Street, Christchurch; and another in Ferry Road. Some . modern synthetics are difficult to deal with they said. Some cannot even be bonded to because glue will not penetrate the material. The

task of stripping a heel and starting to rebuild from scratch is long and usually unprofitable, which possibly accounts for the lack of craftsmen willing to undertake the job. Cobblers again USE OF THE TERM “cobbler” may have almost disappeared, but our naval informant says that a cobbler in the Navy has always been known as a "snob” anyway. True enough, a journeyman (whoops, journeyperson) cobbler or shoemaker’s apprentice is the oldest meaning for the word snob, dating back to 1781. In Cambridge it denotes a townsman as opposed to a gownsman. Now it is mainly used to describe a vulgar person who apes the ways of those in a higher social position than him or herself. Top fish NORWEGIAN salmon are popularly believed by connoisseurs to be the finest in the world. But they have been ousted — by Stewart Island salmon. The New Zealand entry in a recent blind tasting in California gained top marks in the competition run by that city’s Professional Food Society, beating fish from Norway, Chile, and wild caught and farm salmon from the west coast of the United States.

Rotary bo-bo SOTHjKBY’s will auction the qpsign for what must

be every farmer’s dream machine, reports the “Daily Telegraph.” Roland Emmett drew the annotated diagram of an all-in-one design which, when built in 1953, stood a good 10.66 m long. Called a Hogmuddle Rotatory Niggler and Fidgeter, it incorporates a worzeldigger, scrubber and polisher with carrot ejector, hedge-trimmer and, most gracious of all, a portable duck pond. Going for about a mere $3OOO. Driving-in-state IF AN Englishman’s home is his castle, then an American’s car is his. Americans have long been able to eat, go to church, watch movies and withdraw cash from the bank without leaving their cars. Now they can pay their respects to the dead in the same privacy and comfort at two “funeral homes” in Florida. Mourners park by a special window where the deceased is displayed on a tastefully lit platform. A pull-out tray enables the visitor to sign the condolences book. Directors of the establishments, in Pensacola and Jacksonville, report brisk business. Election promises? GRAFFITI worth considering before election hostilities begin: “Pigs can fly ..: nuclear power is safe ... voting changes things.”

—Jenny