Reporter’s diary

Press, 9 December 1989, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Christchurch of the time ...

CHRISTCHURCH in 1876 was a boom town, judging from a letter written by settlers to their family in England. The letter, a little hard to read because of its complete lack of punctuation, tells of Christchurch “extending on every side” with “a better class of building going up now.” Rows of houses and roads were appearing on land that a few weeks before carried only cattle. A new theatre, costing £4OOO, and new public buildings costing £15,000, were being planned. “It is high time the Post Office is more like a stable than anything,” the letter reads. The Cathedral had already been under construction several years but so slowly that the writers predicted that it would be rotten before it was finished.

... of the first Le Gros

THE letter, dated May 29, 1876, was signed by Philip and Emma Le Gros, and sent to Phillippe Le Gros, Philip’s father, in England. A photocopy has come to us from P. V. Beck, a great-great-grand-child of the elder Le Gros. P. V. Beck invites anyone with the surname Le Gros, or other descendants, to write. The address is, Clyst Haven, Ringwood Road, Three Legged Cross, nr. Wirnborne, Dorset, BH2I 6QY, England.

Te Tiriti NEW ZEALAND Post has used one of the best depictions of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi as the basis for two commemorative stamps to be released on January 17. The painting by Leonard Cornwall Mitchell will be released as a mini-sheet with two 40c stamps cut into the painting. The stamps focus on important details. The mini-sheet, and its associated firstday cover, have been de-

signed by Leonard Mitchell’s son, Allan, a well-known stamp designer, of Wellington. Although the elder Mitchell completed his painting more than 100 years after the signing of the Treaty, he had researched the subject carefully. His painting is regarded as one of the most accurate reconstructions of the Treaty being signed. Floral tribute HEARTFELT thanks from the Royal New Zealand

Foundation for the Blind to all the garden clubs, flower societies, and flower arrangers who came to the party when the foundation appealed for flowers for the guests at its recent Christmas Party. Every one of the 300 guests was able to go home with a fragrant posy, the foundation’s assistant regional manager, Miss Maureen Donaldson said. She cannot thank everyone individually, as some of the flowers arrived anonymously. The party was for Canterbury’s sight-im-paired adults; the children will gather at the Groynes tomorrow for a good oldfashioned picnic. More Batmania IT IS all-pervasive. One of the characters in the Paparoa Street School’s production this week of “Hansel and Gretel” was the bird who ate the trail of breadcrumbs that Hansel and Gretel had hoped would lead them out of the forest. As the bird flitted across the stage, resplendent in blue cloak and beaked headgear, a small excited voice in the audience cried, “Batman!” Mechanical response A YOUNG woman, called as a police witness in a defended hearing- in the District Court, was asked if her occupation was a grass-cutter. She replied that she was a lawnmower.

—Nigel Malthus