Cave Under Roadway.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 July 1942, Page 2

Cave Under Roadway.

The existence of what appeared to be a cave under the roadway near Pope's Head, Longbush, was disclosed by the earthquake. There was only about 18 inches or two feet of ground between the road surface and the top of the cave and over this comparatively thin crust traffic had been proceeding for years. The cave, which was about 10 feet deep and 12 feet wide, has been filled in. Main Trunk Railway. “The railway connection past the Pukerua Bay slip will be restored by Thursday night,” said the General Manager of Railways, Mr Casey, in reply to an inquiry last night. “That,” he said, “applies both to the main slip and the fall which came down between Nos. 10 and 11 tunnels on the PukeruaPaekakariki line this morning.” The new slip to which Mr Casey referred was of some volume, but a bulldozer working steadily all day was moving it rapidly. _ This slip was also probably due to the weakening of the land by the earthquake. The loss of time due to transhipment past the slips is approximately 25 minutes for express passengers and a little more for others. Drunken Driver Fined.

In the Feilding Magistrates’ Court, before Mr A. Coleman, S.M., Thomas Leen, farmer, was convicted and fined £l5 for having been intoxicated in charge of a car on the night of June 5 on the Awahuri-Feilding road and was disqualified from driving for 12 months. He was also convicted for not having a driver’s licence. The case arose from a collision between Leen’s car and another driven by Squadron Leader Temple, resulting in the subsequent death from injuries of Temple’s passenger, Mrs Mortimer. The magistrate said he was satisfied that the evidence of a doctor and two constables regarding intoxication was sufficient tc justify a conviction. Red Cross Activities. The activities of the Red Cross Commissioner in the Middle East show further expansion, and Major Tweedy’s latest report reveals that he is very busy. The movement of troops to Palestine and Syria added a few more hundreds of miles to his area, but he has managed to cover all the new ground and see that all sick and wounded men have made available to them the comforts which are sent by the generosity of the people of New Zealand. The Commissioner advises that he was able to interview a number of repatriated prisoners of war on their release from Italy. In every instance the value of the Red Cross parcels was acclaimed, land every one stated that had these parcels not been available the prisoners of war would have often been in a very bad way. Apparently Italy is suffering from an acute shortage of food, and prisoners of war in that country will have to rely more and more on the parcels which are being sent regularly by the War Purposes Committee of the Joint Council.