Early in the New Year , when a large Port of Townsville banner still wished everybody a Merry Christmas, our shipping reporter caused a flap in the Little Darwin newsroom .
Ringing from a noisy waterfront pub, he said to hold the press , as he had a fabulous scoop about the only ship in port , LONE EAGLE , the name given to the American pioneering air ace , Charles Lindbergh , after he made the 1927 solo flight from New York to Paris in the rickety old crate , Spirit of Saint Louis . Wow ! We told him to file the story, with a photo of the vessel , and we would run it on the front page .
On receipt of the out of focus picture , the story crashed , ran aground , sank as the vessel was found to be named NINE EAGLE , a livestock carrier , often seen in Darwin . Our shipping reporter, with raptor egg on his face , has been advised to eat more carrots to improve his eyesight and spend less time in the nightclub precinct .
