WEST PAKISTAN AIDED BY N.Z.

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28397, 2 October 1957, Page 10

WEST PAKISTAN AIDED BY N.Z.

National Council Of Churches Work

_ ‘.‘New Zealand has again participated in a world-wide Christian effort to assist the people of West Pakistan in their frequent flood emergencies,” says a statement issued by the Rev. Alan A. Brash, general secretary of the National Council of Churches. “We have just received cabled information that this month 500 square miles of land has been inundated, affecting 600,000 persons, and including a large number of Christians. “The National Council of Churches has sent a gift of £l3OO to the West Pakistan Christian Council from the churches of New Zealand, including a special gift of £4OO for this particular emergency. The West Pakistan Christian Council has been doing some most constructive work reclaiming land, and helping to rehabilitate farmers, as being far more valuable to the people than the mere distribution of relief. “The work done under this project has been almost completely destroyed by the recent floods, and standing crops have been lost. Whole villages have been completely washed away, and thousands of farmers in the north have lost everything. “Compared with the need, our contribution is very small,” said Mr Brash, “but we are glad to do something for these people who live just a little over 24 hours’ travelling time away. We gladly acknowledge also the contribution of £4OO made by C.0.R.5.0. in this same flood emergency.”

Tortoise Speed—ls Miles a Year.— A claim that a tortoise walked from Durban to a farm in the Karoo, a distance of 600 miles and did the journey in 40 years, has caused speculation among Durban naturalists. A sheep farmer in Durban for the wool sales said he found the tortoise on his farm two years ago. He recognised it by the markings on its back as the same tortoise which his son had taken to Durban more than 40 years ago. The farmer said that two months after his son had settled in Durban he missed the tortoise. An official of the Veterinary Department in Durban says that tortoises have a homing instinct and will always return to their original homes. An official at the Durban Museum described the story as a “leg-pull.” —Reuter.