RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31094, 24 June 1966, Page 20

RANDOM REMINDER

SHADES OF GOEBBELS

The telephone rang the other day, and the man at the other end said he had a true story to tell which might interest us. There were he said these chaps who went fishing at Kaikoura and one of them had been on the plonk and felt a bit off colour and in fact he lost his artificial teeth overboard and only a few minutes later one of his cobbers caught a good big cod and you know how cod are great big mouths like politicians and his cobber thought he would have a joke so popped his own dentures into the fish’s mouth and said to his cobber look at that

this cod has got your teeth and the other chap seized the teeth looked at them for a minute and said they’re not mine and threw them away into the sea. It must be true, because the man said it was, and he was obviously a decent sort of a joker, and most sincere. It’s a remarkable story. But the most remarkable thing is that almost exactly the same thing happened in Wellington harbour in March. 1965. We had a note about it, and it was true, because the chap said it was and he wouldn’t just make it up. But it didn't happen only twice. Because we had a phone call in Novem-

ber, 1964 telling us about •xactly the same thing happening in Lyttelton harbour and the Picton one was we think earlier that year and it happened on the West Coast about the end of 1963 and the one we actually wrote about first and had In this column years ago took place in Akaroa Harbour. It really is nice of people to want to be helpful. There’s certainly no thought of deceit in their kindly minds. But they might as well know that even a Ripley man suffering from delirium tremens would regard the whole business with some suspicion.