Reporter’s Diary

Press, 26 April 1979, Page 2

Reporter’s Diary

Electric vehicles HAVING never seen an electric meat waggon before, we thought that Tuesday’s photograph of Dixon’s meat waggon was the electric one. But, alas, it wasn’t. It was a picture of the meat waggon used before the electric one. Today, to set the record straight and to pacify- all the vintage car enthusiasts who kept the telephone hot all day, we publish a photograph of the real electric meat waggon, which is owned by Mrs

Beth Mitchell, granddaughter of Mr Robert Dixon, the butcher. This photograph was taken in Cashel Street, outside what is now the entrance to Shades Arcade. Close encounter A CHRISTCHURCH woman, who is a senior citizen, was visiting the new thermal pools at Hanmer Springs last week-end. It was a fine day and she was enjoying basking in the sunshine and relaxing in the heat of

the water. She found herself placed near an outlet pipe, where she fancied she could feel the hot water gushing out into the pool. It was such a pleasurable sensation, in fact, that she twined her leg around the pipe, without really looking at it. To her abject horror, the pipe moved. It turned out to be a man’s leg. The poor woman was acutely embarrassed to find herself face to face with its owner. After making some excuse, she dashed from the pool, wishing the Earth would open and swallow her up. As she was leaving, the man, who found the incident highly amusing, called after her, “Are you coming back tomorrow?” The fleeing woman winced. “I’m never coming back here again,” she called back — and disappeared into the dressing room. In pieces

THE OLD steam rubbish cart that used to be owned by the Riccarton Borough Council,

mentioned in Tuesday’s “Diary,” is still in existence —■ although it is in many pieces in a Christchurch back yard. The Lyttelton Borough Council also used to have a steam rubbish cart, a reader told us yesterday. The cart was steamed all the way to Invercargill about 18 years ago. It now stands, in full working order, in a vintage enthusiast’s garage and is occasionally taken out to rallies and fairs. Blue power TWO North Shore policemen let a carload of Black Power gang members know exactly where they stood when they stopped them in Auckland last week. The officers introduced themselves as “members of the exclusive Blue Power group, the biggest gang in the country with more than 4000 members.’’ Mainly for men

THIS WEEK-END, about 50 Christchurch men will meet for a series of social gatherings, workshops, and seminars on the subject of men. They will have consciousness-raising sessions, body workshops, discuss men’ and work, sexuality, and women, men and power. And on Saturday evening they will hold a “New Moon Party.” In fact, it will all be a little like the women’s convention, held every second year, but on a smaller scale, and this time it will be mainly for men. The organisers say they are not restricting it to men only — anyone who wants to attend is welcome. It will be held at the Corso headquarters in Barbadoes Street, on Friday, starting at 7 p.m. —Felicity Price