RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 138, 10 June 1905, Page 12

RANDOM SHOTS

2 U ZAMfIO?

Somo write a neighbour's name to lash- , ensV t0 ~ v " in tho " gbt ~ for need£ul 'l Some write to please the country clash. And raise a din. For mc. an nhn I never rashI write for fun. I always thought that there was'something remarkable about the views on public health held by our Charitable Aid Board; and now r know it. Xot so very long ago a line new nurses' home was nut, lip on the hospital grounds, and it naa ever since been pointed out by the linspittil officials with a due sense of j -elf esteem, as one of the glories of the landscape. In course of time, the resi- ! dents of the, home began to complain . that the atmosphere they were called '.lpun to breathe was not always of the j 'reshest and purest ; in fact, then' was I i very pronounced bad smell. Somebody i In authority was told to go and inspect. I md he reported that there was nothing the matter; so things went on as before, i But though oHicially there was no bad ! smell, the rebellious and self-opinionated | nurses insisted on developing symptoms I nf typhoid, till the lady superintendent ficterinijied to find out for herself what, was at the bottom of it. .lust about I lien a plumber came along to do something else, and he discovered under the home a (Sin drain, from which arose what I In , medical books politely call a menhitie niiaema. The lady superintendent was somewhat alarmed, and insisted that the thing must be covered up at once, which was duly clone, with cement. But the energetic lady in charge had not linished her task; and as officials si'enied unwilling or unable to move further in the matter, she determined to £i> on ii tour of inspection herself. By this time the odour—which to the official nose was entirely non-existent— had developed into a. most eloquent appeal for attention, and following its call this intrepid matron dived underneath I is floor of the building. Among otiier tilings she found an open sewer-trap lid by two pipes, one of them leaking so Kidly that the ground for yards about uas soaked with the effluent. It ap-(•i-ure that the chairman of the honorary medical staff had also experienced the ) illume aforesaid, and he decided to fee i ml smell for himself. He found-every-thing that the lady superintendent had tji»Hcovered, and, in addition, another i noil drain, 4in wide, from which there was no perceptible odour at the time of Ilia visit. However, he had seen enough to justify- a very stron<r report t.o the Hospital Board, and that august body Heerns to have been stirred to unwonted traol ion therein-. Dr. Koberton talked about "a disregard for (he most elementary sanitary precautions." and genTally used language of a kind not c;ilculated to soothe the feelings of the •lowers-thuf-be. But 1 wish he had put 't. even more strongly. The Hospital Jioard has more authority than any other local body over public health affairs, and yet it won't even take tlit* trouble to find out, if tliere are open sewws under the nurses' home. Really. I don't wonder that nervous people are i litiA apprehensive about going to the hospiml. Why should anybody unfortunate enough to need treatment there be exposed to the ravages of malignant typhoid? We beard a Jot ot talk not long ago about the necessity for sterilising apparatus and for procuring nil the latest facilities for a septic surgery, and then they build the nurses' home over two open" drains and a newer trap, and refuse to iiud out. that there is a bad smell. The only wonder iri that any of the nurses escaped: and as for the hospital patients, nothing- but the direct intervention of Providence (■sui have saved them. Would any of 1 he people whose business if is to look after the health of the hospital have tolerated these aboinina-tions under their own houses! When is somebody going to do something al>out this? I urn beginning to believe that it must be a dreadful fate to become a member of a Charitable Aid Board, because as a body it says and does thinps that no intelligent man would dream of saying or doing if left severely to himself. I see that away down in Christchurch a school teacher has been lined 40/ and costs for (logging a girl who couldn't spell. 1 am so glad he was lined. In the first place her parents had certified flint she wa.s physically weak, ur 'Something <>t the sort, and. therefore, toot a tit subject for corporal punishment. In the second place. I disapprove )of the practice of beating girls—on principle. \n the third place, i think that .when ;i child gets only seven word" spelled correctly out of 14. it is partly iho child's misfortune and partly the teacher's fault. Ju the fourth place, I don't believe in Ihe stick or the strap as a means of teaching anything. It is sometimes useful and even necessary for discipline.—especially with boys—but that is entirely a different matter. A teacher who imagines that he can help children to do sums or to spell correctly by thrashing them confesses himself totally ignorant of the principles on which his work ought to be based. And in the liffh place—l don't mind saying this in strict confidence—l think the value of spelling a.- a school exercise is immensely overrated. | will even iro further, and say that I think it hi easily possible to exaggerate the importance of correct spelling anywhere. To begin -with, the English race cannot spell. Look at the ridiculous Inconsistencies in pronunciation and ortliogruphy that, glare at one from every page of Hie so-culled spelling-book! 1 think any nation that can afford to write '-plough" and 'dough" and '"rough." for example, and prouounce the vowels «v three distinct ways, ought to he- too much ashamed of its linguistic, deficiencies to worry much as t n bow its -words •are spelled. Not that I believe in phonetic spelling. Far from it. Because if we straightened the language out, on •"phonetic ,, lines this year it would all "have gone wrong again next year. Let up put up with what we now'endure if ||k you please, instead of flying to ills we H mow, aa,t of. β-i*; afflj, Magitabipttt

things, we make far too much fuss about ! the learning of spcllinjr. There are no • I very definite rules about it, and heaps lof exceptions 1o them all; and no child I over did or could compl-eherid them. | Moreover, and in the last place, people learn to spoil, not by committing huge lists of rcmarkable-looktng and worse- . sounding words to memory, but by reading carefully and intelligently, and thus observing the form of words and the meaning.* associated with them as they go along. Really. I didn't think I had so much to say about this subject when 1 started; but you will understand that T :im quite sorry 1 was not counsel ! for the plaintiff at that trial, and T think ' the school-master got off very cheaply at 4i\ and costs. While on (he subject of corporal punishment. 1 ret-all an amusing tale told by an Auckland Imy at the breakfast table the other day. His sums not having been done up to the mark, this young hopeful gave expression 1o certain ■lively apprehensions that the boss ' (otherwise the head-master) would compel him to '"pick a shilling off the floor." This, it transpired, is :in ingenious device of the teacher to compel refractory i boys to assume the requisite stooping position. He ilrops a shilling on I the Moor, and guying to the culprit. 1 "Now. my boy. pick that up." the cul- : prit stoops—and there you are! What would the Southern magistrate say to I this species of scholastic humour. My newspaper reading propensity does not often lead mc so far as to I .study the reports of temperance socieI ties. But a few days ago 1 did, in a lit , 'of mental aberration. ' peruse one of j them, and some of what I saw was in- | I trresting. that is to say, to candidates I for Parliamentary honours. In this report it was staled that, in view of the approaching elections, the eominp; year 1 promised to be one of great activity. lor .something to that effect. Xow. I don't happen to be entered for the Par- I ! lianientary Stakes myself this time, so 1 was able to read the startling an•nminciinent without perspiring any to ' ' speak of. Fkit were I a candidate for a seat in tne big wooden building. 1 ! should certainly consider it my busij ness to make further inquiries, (iooil ' business! There's matter in it. not to I mention a possible £'240 a year and a I free railway pass. There is one point. I however, upon which 1 am a little hazy. I What is to he the nature of ibis proI mised activity? Is it to take the shape of bribery und corruption, by secretly I promising all those elector.- who vote for the favoured candidate a brutalising j orgy in lemonade? Xo, 1 cannot think j it. Besides, there is no Parliamentary 1 candidate. 1 feel confident, who would ' countenance anything so illegal on his j behalf. Then what can if mean, this I promised activity, and a whole year of i it. too? Can it be that one of those things called a temperance crusade is going to happen, and that this was a ! sort of preparatory announcement to , the faithful? I know not. but if it be so. I shudder to think what will be the fate of those who love the flowing bowi should the knights of the ginger beer brigade prevail. But whatever be the meaning of it. there is evidently mischief in the air for some one or several, so 'ware all ye whose spirits rise with i putting spirits down. . What's in a name? Well, as the cau- . tious one would remark—it depends. Yes. it very much depends. Occasional- , ly. there are several things besides the leLters. This, at all events, is evidently the view in which the residents of r-rst-j while Chapel -street regard the question. . And. moreover, it N n view that one can , quite easily- appreciate without suffer- . ing from mental exhaustion in the process. The street itself, although not <o , wide, perhaps, us would meet with Ihe unqualified approval of a scenery conservation society, nor commanding so extensive an outlook as so%ie of the f other fashionable quarters of the town. ■ may yet, in all respects save only for . its name, be at. the present time a most ■ desirable place of residence. JJui the . name. And a name's a name for a' the • fair .Juliet's protestations to the c.m- ---! trarv. And nothing is so absolutely ; glutinous a- a name either, or so sut;- . gestive of characteristic or association. t Anyone who ever went to school can ■ tell you that. And if the savour of the i name be not a sweet one. the stickier it f will stick. There is seldom any real ; hope of rehabilitation for the dog of the . ill-sounding title unless he can slough ■lit. I am quite able, therefore, to sym- • pathi.se with those who live in ihis [ street of the evil name in their desire to > j rig it out with a brand new specimen of f ■ nomenclature, the while they consign i the old one to oblivion. For no matter > how virtuous the street itself may have, r grown. Hie name would always bn mi hajid. with cheerful prompt itude. to damn the reputation of a very bishop. Which is reason enough, sure, and some to spare, for another christening ..'erej niony in connection with it. Long life, and a virtuous one. to Federatl-strcet! Things that do love the night had best, bestir themselves for the future if they | happen along to Northcote at light ing-up , time, and move a little further on—not necessarily more than a mile or so. For L when the shade* of night have fallen fast t in that land (lowing with strawberries . and cream, the all-pervading gloom will t : in the future be dispelled by the brilliant I effulgence shed from six- gas lamps, or, ( rather, to be strictly correct, I believe it ,is eight. Oh. happy Xorthcote! Blest ] abode ou the oilier side of the world—l L really beg its pardon. 1 mean the Waitek mala (1 took a trip across to it 1 lie 1 other day in one of ye ancient ferry boats, and the remembrance thereof has ' made mc somewhat absent-minded). Xo 1 longer will its fortunate citizens be 1 obliged to wander home in the wee sma' J hours without the luxury of being able I to lean against an occasional lamp-post. 1 don't exactly know how occasional, 1 ; j haven't figured it all out, but eight lamp- ' 1 posts, judiciously located, could no doubt ' Ibe made to cover a surprising quantity jof ground. If 1 remember rightly, in I fact, it only takes some thirty odd lighthouses to go all round New Zealand. Xo longer will it be necessary for its. hos- ; pitable, residents to throw their shutter? - I wide, and let the golden lijjht stream out across the dark beyond, to lighten the • way unto the grateful passer-by. And t no more will this one have the oppori tunity of displaying that rare flower of ' I gratitude by hurriedly scraping, en pns- : I sant. as much of the kindly clinging soil ii of Xorthcote from his own burdened • i pedal extremities on to the front railings ;J as the circumstances will permit, before • I making another plunge for home and f J duty into the abysm of outer darkness i ! beyond. For the beams of those eight 1 j gas lamps will surely dissipate a.H the ; , nocturnal vapours of this fruitful sub- [ urb, and make the pale face of my lady > of the night herself look paler than its