Reporter’s diarv

Press, 12 April 1989, Page 2

Reporter’s diarv

Pays to advertise A colleague was so carried away photographing the autumnal glory of the trees in Seddon Square in Waimate that he left his valuable camera lens hood and filter on the grass. Back in Christchurch he telephoned the editor of the “Waimate Advertiser,” Mr Don McCabe, who offered to search the area for him. It was only a faint hope that it might still be there, but worth a try. Mr McCabe called at the police station, but no luck there either. So an advertisement went into the "Advertiser” for . the equipment, which our chap reckoned to be at least worth $l5O. Exactly 15 minutes after the newspaper rolled off the press, the filter and lens hood were brought in by the father of Greg Proudfoot, the schoolboy who had found them earlier. A relieved colleague commented that it was a fine example of a newspaper living up to its name. Presidential joker EVEN President George Bush has taken to zapping people with one of those little machines that simu-

lates gunfire or bombs falling, or rayguns. His biggest hit was during an Oval Office briefing when he switched on the zapper. As the noise began — and his audience wondered what was going on — President Bush said: “I’m terminating this conference.” His fondness for practical jokes in general is enlivening the White House. As a dedicated magician (aren’t all Presidents?), Bush is fond of shaking hands while wearing a hidden buzzer, and handing out exploding wallets and vanishing dollar notes. Typical politician’s tricks, really. Churchill’s view AS the anti-Anzac frigates lobby gathers strength, and the Government imposes a cap on defence spending, the armed forces have called up the spirit of Sir Winston Churchill to plead their side in the argument. A fascimile message from the Ministry of Defence contained this quote: “The (armed forces) is not like a limited liability company, to be reconstructed from week to week as the money fluctuates. It is not an inaminate thing like a

house, to be pulled down or enlarged or structurally altered at the caprice of the tenant or owner; it is a living thing. If it is bullied, it sulks; if it is unhappy, it pines; if it is harried, it gets feverish; if it is sufficiently disturbed, it will wither and dwindle and almost die; and when it comes to this last serious condition, it is only revived by lots of time and lots of money.” The Ministry noted that Sir Winston uttered these remarks — in 1904.' Invisible writing YESTERDAY’S sad tale of Campbell McCausland who tried to contact relatives in New Zealand, but whose best efforts at handwriting blind left much information to guesswork, stirred memories of a similar predicament for one reader. Her grandmother, also totally blind, wrote regularly. Her letters were usually fathomable eventually, and always welcomed. One day a letter arrived with a completely blank sheet of paper inside, with a few faint impressions left where the empty biro had been used. Not a mark to be seen, says the

reader; but a letter that said a lot.

Be there,

whenever INVITATIONS to a “Dine with Dave” evening in the Yaldhurst electorate had the correct time, venue, and speaker, Mr David Caygill, but forgot to mention the date (Friday, April 21, since you ask). A spokesman for the Christchurch branch of the Labour Party was only too glad to supply the date, and relieved because the time had been omitted from the regional newsletter notification of the dinner, and even he was not too sure of the time — 7 p.m., for those still in doubt. Initial response NO doubt inspired by several acronyms from the sometimes-wonderful world of yachting, a reader has supplied two more, from the less-often wonderful world of politics. First, from the leader of the next-in-lines, came Blitz On Labour Government’s Economic Recovery; and of the big chief himself, Let All Nationals

Get Extirpated. —Jenny Setchell