MENINGITIS CASES

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24292, 5 June 1942, Page 2

MENINGITIS CASES

FOUR MORE REPORTED ADVIGE TO THE PUBLIC Four positive cases of cerehro-spinal meningitis have been reported in the Auckland central health district this week, making since the beginning of the year. There were nine each in January and May, six each in February and April, and three in March. Most of the patients were below or above school age, said the medical officer of health, Dr. T. J. Hughes, yesterday, and most came from well separated localities in the wider metropolitan area. One reported early in May and one at the end of the month were from the Orakei Maori village, and there was some evidence of visiting between their families. He did not consider that conditions in the village had any bearing on the matter. Dr. Hughes remarked that cases of the disease had continued to occur through last summer, which was unusual. It was desirable that this winter the public should as far as possible avoid crowded and unventilated rooms as a precautionary measure, and that people with lowered resistance should take measures to raise it. The actjng-medical superintendent of the Auckland Hospital, Dr. C. B. Gilberd, stated yesterday that a steady flow of unconnected cases of cerebrospinal meningitis had been coming in from different places. Of eight positive cases in the hospital, four were recent and the others convalescent from last month.

AIRWAYS SERVICES CALLS ELIMINATED DUNEDIN AND NEW PLYMOUTH (0.C.) WELLINGTON. Thursday Dunedin and New Plymouth will be eliminated from the air service operated by Union Airways after this week because of a reorganisation necessitated by a shortage of pilots and equipment. A daily Auckland-Christchnrch service from Monday to Saturday, inclusive, will be maintained, but it will be impossible to iiy from Christchnrch to Auckland in one day. Planes will arrive at Wellington in time for passengers to connect with the afternoon express. An official of Union .Airways said that it was hoped the measure would be only temporary. A deputation had waited on the company in Dunedin, but it had been impossible to maintain the service there with the present equipment. Shortly after the loss of the Lockheed in a Cook Strait flight, the general manager, .Mr. F. M. Clark, stated that the shortage of planes and pilots rather than the petrol difficulty would result in a curtailment of the service. Discussions with the Transport Department and interested organisations have been in progress since then. The Cook Strait service at present operated by the Lockheeds of Union Airways will continue to Nelson daily and Blenheim twice daily. WINTRY WEATHER WET AND COLD CONDITIONS Steady rain and a cold southerly wind made conditions in the city and suburbs wintry yesterday. While the | falls were rarely heavy, they were given , added intensity by the wind, ajid the j Herald gauge recorded .22in. in the j period. The wind changed from a moderate southerly in the morning to a fresh ; south-easterly last night, when scattered rain was almost continuous. j Pedestrians on the North Shore water- j front felt the full force of the wind, i which made walking on the feitry j wharves a minor adventure. The baro- j meter reading dropped slowly to 29.44 in. at midnight, temperatures ranging from 49 degrees to 57 degrees. ; RAIN AT WHANG AREI HEAVY FALLS RECORDED (0.C.) "WHANGAREI, Thursday Rain was continuous at Whangarei from the early hours of this morning and by 9 a.m. .45in. had fallen, but the downpour eased slightly until midday, when the heaviest rain since last winter commenced. By five o'clock a further 2.6 in. had been recorded. Considering the saturated state of the ground following the slight flooding last week-end, it was surprising that inundations did not occur. All the main roads are open and services are running as usual. Bv evening the rain had again eased to a light drizzle. BACKYARD FOWLS BY-LAW RESTRICTIONS Suggestions that egg-supply problems could be overcome by residents keeping a few fowls in their gardens and feeding them on household scraps are not entertained seriously by authorities in the industry. The obstacles and diffi- j eulties which would have to bo met j and solved are held to be out of pro- j portion to the egg-production which would be achieved. Local body by-laws are rigid in regard to backyard poultry-rearing and j the expense to which the average resident would be put in constructing approved 'fowlhouses with concrete floors would be considerable. Building materials are almost unprocurable and wire-netting especially so. From a health aspect the enforcement of by-laws are more than justifiable as backyard fowlhouses are potential breeding places for flies and similar pests. In the closely settled city areas residents would have difficulty in erecting pens at the requisite distance from boundaries and adjoining residences. "It would be tinkering with the problem," was the comment of an experienced poultry-keeper. He said there were sufficient commercial producers with facilities for the production of eggs who could supply all requirements if reasonable inducement in prices and feed costs were given to expand their flocks. BURNED BY BOILING FAT (0.C.) HAMILTON, Thursday As a result of upsetting a pot of boiling fat at, her home this evening, Mrs. M. Gulliver, aged 29, of Massey Street. ('Yankton, guttered severe burns to the hands. She was admitted to the Waikato Hospital. OPOSSUM CUTS POWER (0.C.) WELLINGTON. Thursday There was a breakdown in the electric power supply in Wellington at 5.52 o'clock last evening, when an opossum climbed a pylon and touched an 11,000volt electric wire at Khandallah, causing a surge in power which temporarily threw the generators out ot order. Trams in the city were held up for about five minutes, and those in the suburbs lor nine minutes. PEDESTRIAN INJURED Severe concussion was sutiered by Mr. Primrose McConneU, married, aged 80, of 4 Racecourse Parade, Avondale, when he was knocked down by a truck on the corner of Karangahape Road and France Street yesterday alternoon. lie was taken to the Auckland Hospital, and his condition last night was ■ fairly serious. Mr. McConnell was manager or tho Ruakura State farm for ten or 12 years, retiring in 1915,