LAND OF CONTRASTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 10

LAND OF CONTRASTS

"I found South' America a land of striking contrasts," said Mr. Robert A. Campbell, when interviewed by a Christchurch "Press" reporter on Friday, on his return from Chile.#' In many parts enormous wealth and magnificence were, he added, shadowed by squalor arid abject poverty. This was particularly in evidence in Buenos j Aires, a city of 2,500,000 people, with one street the house numbers in which ran from one to 18,000. Human life was rated very cheaply in the Latin republics. Murder in the cities and in the back country—in the latter case by bandits —was quite common, but, strangely enough, there was no capital punishment in the Argentine republic or in Chile. Friends in Buenos Aires had informed Mr. Campbell that one man, with four murders to his tally, had served only a fortnight in gaol. Yet everywhere he went he found good-natured, light-hearted, and very courteous people, wonderfully hospitable. Another point which impressed him was that in all the schools in Chilb and the Argentine, teachers were not allowed to inflict corporal punishment in any circumstances.' A curious lav/ prevailed in Santiago, under which any householder on whose premises a serious outbreak o£ fire occurred was summarily lodged in gaoi, pending proof that the fire was purely accidental. The annual general meeting of the Miramar auxiliary committee of the Returned Soldiers' Association will be held in the Airport Tearooms tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock. Mr. David Grant, of Hautana Square, Lower Hutt. when cycling south along Bellevue Road about 6.5U p.m. yesterday, collided with a car driven by Wirekingi Hirini at the intersection with Woburn Road. He suffered cuts on his head and right hand, and slight concussion. After receiving medical attention he was removed to his home. Owing to excavation work the Hunter Street tram line will be closed to traffic from Wednesday next until further noticc. No. 10 trams will* be j diverted and will run via Willis Street I and Courtcnay Place.