The advertising
department at the News boasted another
exceptional character. A swarthy,
good looking fellow , with an eyebrow scar, he just lobbed in town from nowhere and began selling advertising space on smokers’ stands in hotels , frequently seen holding court
in the Hotel Darwin
Green Room . Dapper in
dress, even sporting a cravat at times , like Percy Burton , he spoke a lot about the psychology of advertising .
He even discussed the
possibility of having large advertisements painted on the
high water towers
in town . A relative of his , he said, was a professor in the
School of Tropical Medicine,
Bombay . A smooth talker , he often bet
he could pick up the phone in Darwin and
ring the top man of any
leading corporation in America and
get him to come to the phone .
The reason why that captain
of commerce would take a call
from Darwin , he explained, was because it was human
nature for any person , no matter how high
their rank, to be intrigued by a mystery call from the
other side of the world. Nobody bothered to test out his
theory. A man who knew
how the heads of giant
US corporations thought would surely
be invaluable in the
NT News advertising department .
And so he became
another member of the staff ,
carrying out his duties with flair . During a Melbourne Cup
some women at the News
asked compositor Bobby Wills,
a keen punter , for a tip .
He selected an outsider
and when the flamboyant
advertising man heard of the choice he said the horse was a donkey
and offered the women
odds of 100 to one, which some promptly
accepted. The horse romped home, the advertising man paid out a considerable sum
and told Wills he wished he
(Wills) had kept his mouth shut.
After having been at
the News for a
considerable time , the advertising man
decided to travel down the track to Alice Springs to pick up new
advertising contracts . As he had
become friendly with the head of the police Special Branch in Darwin , who was
deeply involved in the RSL and the Caledonian Pipe Band , the
advertising wizard said he would sound out businessmen
and RSL clubs on his trip and get them to advertise in an RSL magazine he wanted to start .
He obtained a letter of
introduction from the high ranking spook and then set off down the track .
The only trouble was that he did
not stop at Alice and return to Darwin . He
just kept on going with money he
had raised with the help of the letter of introduction .
Some time later , Bowditch was surprised to receive a call from New Zealand. The operator said it was "
Colonel" ( the missing advertising man )
calling . With more hide than a herd of elephants , the "Colonel " was
seeking a reference from Bowditch
for a position he was seeking with a New Zealand
airline . Bowditch gave him a
firm no and was bemused by the sheer audacity of the
fellow.
There was another character
early in the Murdoch period who used
to puff nervously on
cigarettes . Some members of
staff were unkind enough to say he looked
furtive and that his partner
had a face like a horse. Trucks would pull up outside the News and drivers would come in asking for the man . Strange . When
the couple suddenly departed ,
dogs began baying.
The acccountant , Brian Phipps , went through the books with a fine
toothcomb and unearthed some fancy bookkeeping. Brandishing a bundle
of accounts , shaking his head
and chortling
, the accountant went into the editor’s office.
Bowditch rolled about in his chair laughing as "Itchy Phipps" explained what had been going on , providing a humorous commentary in the process . It was
said that
News Limited tracked the man down
through a bogus job advertisement
to which he applied , and demanded he pay back some money or else they would sue
him and ruin his career. Apparently , he forked
out some money, but
it was felt that he had filched
considerably more. NEXT
: Bowditch to quit Darwin ?
