Reporter’s diary

Press, 10 July 1987, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Decimal anniversary TWENTY years ago today anxious New Zealanders forsook the familiar — if somewhat quaint — currency of pounds, shillings and pence, for decimal coinage. The demise of the old system is still lamented by some de- | voted followers. One fan I telephoned this week to register his objection to the new-fangled decimal system. Since he liked pounds and things so much, he was asked by the person to whom he was talking to add 13 shillings and fourpence halfpenny and one pound seven and threepence. He declined. Clanning up THERE’S no denying that the Scots are a clannish lot. Even in the absence of any highlands to fling or cabers to toss, a Scot seems to fancy getting together with clansmen and clanswomen. The Clan Douglas in Australia is looking for any of the thnncondc nf DnilPlaSPS

and their septs who are believed to be scattered throughout Australia and New Zealand. If you are one of those thousands, with one of the following names, you are invited to join the newly formed Douglas society of Australia: Bell, Blacklock, Blackstock, Blackwood, Brown, Brownlee, Cavers, Drysdale, Forest, Forrester, Forster, Gilpatrick, Glendinning, Inglis, Kilgore, Kilpatrick, Kirkland, Kirkpatrick, Lockerby, MacGuffey, MacGuffock, McKittrick, Morton, Sandilands, Sandlin, Soule, Symington, Young. If interested, please send stamped, addressed envelopes to Mrs E. Myers, 7 Paramount Street, Morningside Street, Morningside Qld, Australia 4170. Lift off AN insurgent lift in an inner-city office this week insisted on taking all passengers to the third and top floor whether they wanted to or not. Variety added spice to its little joke and it misbehaved onlv intermittently. On

one occasion, three employees were together whisked to the third floor. “Must be us that made it do that,” one commented. "Cream always rises to the top.” “Oh yeah?” snorted another, “So does scum.” Lost again POLLSTERS must suffer the ignominy of being wrong from time to time, as George Gallup knew well. The Gallup Poll conducted before the United States Presidential election of 1948 wrongly predicted a win for Thomas E. Dewey. Soon after the announcement of Harry Truman’s victory, Gallup was stopped by a policeman for driving down a one-way street in the wrong direction. On reading the name on Gallup’s driving licence, the policeman grinned. “Wrong again!” M.P. missives BEFORE there are too many cries of “unfair” or “they can’t do that,” in response to M.P.s sending election blurb in franked

O.H.M.S. envelopes to their electorates, the regulations should be explained. It is perfectly within the rules for members of Parliament to communicate with their constituents using parliamentary stationery and franked envelopes. It is still a diverting thought that, if the average number of constituents in an electorate are each sent a letter, the cost of postage alone is $BOOO. For the seedy IMPOVERISHED readers might care to glance at page 802 of the New Zealand Official Yearbook. The news about coinage in the second paragraph is welcome, if slightly surprising: “Since August 1, 1934, the Reserve Bank has had the sole right to issue bank notes in New Zealand. Coin is the responsibility of the Treasury but is distributed by the Reserve Bank.” (Now for the good bit.) “Notes and coin are issued solely in response to the demands of the public.” Right, then ... —Jenny Feltham