@t6,05

@^@f09@t1@cHeroic Failures




@f00@t1    The least successful operation
@t4    ------------------------------

@t5  After   the  birth  of  their  second
child, Mr and Mrs LenTrott decided that
their  family  was large enough.  So in
march 1978 she went to the hospital for
a  hysterectomy.  Eighteen months later
she  gave  birth to a 6lb 5.5 ounze son
called Martin.


@t1  The least successful weather report
@t4  -----------------------------------

@t5  After  severe floodng in Jeddah 1979,
the   Arab   news  gave  the  following
bulletin:
@^




   We  regret we are unable to give you
the   weather.    We  rely  on  weather
reports  from  the  airport,  which  is
closed  because  of  the  bad  weather.
Whether  we  are  able  to give you the
weather   tomorrow   depends   on   the
weather.


@t1   The most misprints in a newspaper
@t4   ---------------------------------

@t5  This  record is claimed for a page in
Times  of  London  on 15 March 1978; it
contains  78  misprints.  (Ed.  I think
some  of  Judge  Drokk's articles could
easily beat this one)
@#

@t6,05

@^@t5  One  story starts `Sir Harold Wilsons
action  in  making public a oss...' and
goes  on  to  deal  with  `a  braodcast
invloving  the  governm  and comparahle
pay claims'.

  These   errors   were  caused  by  an
industrial  dispute  and do not, in any
case,  have  the  sheer  style  of  the
Guardian  which  can  do  this  sort of
thing  unaided.  Amoung its most famous
misprints  was  a  review  of the opera
Doris Gudenov.


@t1          The worst computer
@t4          ------------------

@t5  It is widely suggested that computers
improve  efficiency.  Lovers of vintage
chaos   might  remember  the  coimputer
installed   in   1975  by  Avon  County
Council   to   pay  staff  wages.   The
@^computers  spree started off in a small
way,   paying  a  school  caretaker  75
pounds  an  hour  instead  of 75 pence.
Then it got ambitious and did not pay a
canteen  worker  at  all  for 17 weeks.
Before long it got positively confident
and  paid  a janitor 2,600 pounds for a
weeks  work.   He  sent the cheque back
and   recieved  another  for  the  same
amount by return post.
  There  was now no way of stopping it.
A   deputy  headmistress  received  her
years annual salary once a month; heads
of  department  earned  less than their
assistants,  and  some  people had more
tax deducted in a week than they earned
all  year.  In Febuary 1975 two hundred
and  eighty  employees  on  the council
payroll attended a protest meeting.  Of
these,  only eight were paid the proper
salary.  They all went out on strike.

@t4         Typed by @t1BOB @t5/ @t1SD Editing Team
@@