GUARDING THE TRAINS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19760, 10 April 1926, Page 4

GUARDING THE TRAINS.

POLICE TAKING NO RISKS. AN AMUSING ERROR. (From Our 'ws rrespondsn o WANGANUI, April 9. The recent attempts at train wrecking in the Manawatu district have caused the police and railway authorities to be extremely vigilant. Every precaution is being taken over the various lines to see that the lines are clear before the arrival of expresses, and the panels of the cattle stops have been wired down. A report goes to show that the police are very wide awake, and an incident of AVednesday morning goes to show that no risks are being taken. It appears that a constable was on duty in the vicinity of Terrace End on the look-out for suspicious characters. It was not a particularly dark night, but it was dark enough to make the movements of a man at a distance indistinct. Seeing a 'person in close proximity; to the railway line, and no doubt thinking that it was a queer time to be admiring the engineering skill, expended on the New Zealand railways, the officer of the law promptly took steps to detain the man. Protests were unavailing. No doubt the officer remembered that guilty as well as innocent persons always say they are doing no wrong, and the prisoner had to wait until a superior officer in the police force was able to identify the suspect, and then it turned out that lie was a railwayman who had been detailed for the duty of watching the lines to see that no further attempts were made to wreck trains.