NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20037, 8 September 1939, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Wrestlers for Hawke’s Bay Three Gisborne wrestlers who are to take part in the Hawke’s Bay amateur wrestling championships in Hastings to-morrow night will leave to-morrow morning for Hastings. The Gisborne competitors are A. Campbell, PI. Duckworth, and G. Geddes. The championship meeting is a one-night fixture and the Gisborne men will return home on Sunday. Motor Cars and Young Law-breakers The suggestion that the advent of the motor car had caused an increase in the number of young law-breakers was made iby Mr. Alan Cameron, former superintendent of police in Christchurch, in an address to the Christchurch Businessmen’s Club. “There are more young fellows getting into trouble than there used to be,’’ he said, “and the young fellow is ’helped by the motor car; tout he hasn’t got it all his own way, because he is up against the modern detective.” The modern detective, Mr. Cameron said, was, in a strong position, having among his resources micro-photography, telephone, X-ray. and the help of pathologists and analysts.

Wanganui River Road After having been blocked since August 18 by extensive slips, the Wanganui River road is again open for light traffic for about half its length. The clearing of slips on the Wanghnui-Raetihi highway, which are reported to toe the worst in 20 years, is -proceeding with the assistance of a number of angledozers. Without the aid of mechanical equipment, ,it is stated, the road would have been closed for many months. The worst portion of the road is between the 31 and 32-mile pegs, where it has been necessary to build a ramp over one of the slips. The Waitotara Valley road has been reopened for traffic.

Kiwi Train for Exhibition

An' original kiwi train will provide transport about the grounds of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition. The train gets its name from a giant model kiwi above the driver’s cab. Behind the cab are two trailers, each carrying 20 passengers. The seats are placed lengthwise down the right and left of the train, the conductor has an aisle between the seats, and the passengers sit back to back. The trailers are easy to board, being built within Bin. of the ground. This service is being made available in anticipation of a demand from older visitors, to the Exhibition, who will find strolling about 55 acres of grounds and buildings too strpnuous. The kiwi train will carry 58 passengers. Condition of Property Market

The year just completed could best foe described as steady, with the bulk of the buying public still reluctant to face the increased costs, said the report presented to the annual meeting of the Canterbury and Westland branch of the Real Estate Institute. “As far as prices go there has been very little change from the previous, year, with the exception of new property. which -has certainly shown a slight increase of about £SO to £75 a house. This increase can only be accounted for by an accumulation of very slight increases in the prices of materials and the fact that most builders have to pay their men more than the award rates of pay to retain them.” Rare Weeping Tolara A specimen of the rare weeping :otara has recently been acquired for the Ashburton Domain and, as there are only three other known specimens in New Zealand of this botanical “freak,” the young tree will make a valuable addition to the collection of native trees in the Domain. The specimen is 10 years old, and about Ift. in height. The first weeping totara ever known was found in some privately-owned bush near Geraldine and (three young trees have been successfully propagated from the parent, which has reached a height of about 25ft. or 30ft. So called because its foliage hangs down in the same way as that of the weeping elm, the weeping totara has attracted widespread attention among botanists throughout :he Dominion. Aucklander in Germany The intense military activity visible hroughout Germany, and especially rear the frontiers, was commented jpon by Mr. J. Pascoe, of Auckland, who has returned from a holiday and business tour in the course of which he visited Germany. Mr. Pascoe said that while approaching the French frontier from Germany he passed large numbers of pill-boxes, many camouflaged, and row after row of 12ft. high barbed wire, in some cases surrounding gun emplacements. There were many signs of further construction work in progress. A common sight near the frontiers of Germany, France and Switzerland was a series of manholes in the streets into which rails kept near by could rapidly be cemented in an upright oosition as anti-tank defences.