NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 133, 7 June 1937, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

State Medical Work. I lie caring for cripples is definitely not a work to be undertaken by the State, just as I cannot ever see the practice of medicine being done satisfactorily by the State," said Dr. J. Leslie Will, in his presidential address to the Canterbury and Westland branch of the New Zealand Crippled Children's Society. He Slipped Past. The niotorman could not be blamed, for he was blissfully unaware of what had happened, but two dogs travelled on a one-man tram in Christehureh. A tall man, wearing r heavy overcoat, appeared to be just a trifle uneasy as he took his seat, and passengers in nearby seats were intrigued by convulsive movements in the overcoat pockets. The mystery was solved when first one puppy then another poked its head out of a pocket. From "Heaven." A gift from "hea.ven" of 4/9 fell to the lot of a travelling greengrocer of Greymouth recently, reports the "Grey River Argus." He was driving peacefully along Tainui Street in his car when there was a sudden clang of dropping silver in the vehicle. The coins had apparently come from the pocket of the pilot in an aeroplane directly above him. The aeroplane was stunting at the time, and this would explain the unusual gift of small change. Eight Falls—No Injuries. The Great Northern meeting, which opened at Kllerslie on Saturday, is essentially a fixture for jumpers. On Saturday in the four jumping events 4tf horses took part, and there were eight falls. In the Great Northern Hurdles, the chief event of the afternoon, five horses came down, three of them at the initial fence, hut fortunately in no case was either horse or rider injured. Tropical Fruit in Christckiurch. Fruit is now reaching maturity on the pawpaw tree in the Cunningham house in the Botanic Gardens. Ten feet up, the fruit is well out of the reach of stretching arms. The pawpaws will be allowed to die on the tree— providing fruit for Christehureh is no part of the work of the Christehureh Botanic Gardens. Mr. J. A. McPherson, curator of the gardens, said that the pawpaws were not fertilised in the ordinary sense of the word, and although they were quite edible—very tasty, in fact— the eeeds in them could not be used to grow new trees.

Sceptical of Success. A visitor who is sceptical of the success of the Labour Government's plan in New Zealand is Captain J. R. Patrick, of Sydney, governing director of the shipping firm of James Patrick Proprietary, Ltd. Captain Patrick, in the course of a visit to Christchurch, said that naturally it would be a wonderful thing if the Labour Government's policy could give everybody more money and a better time. "If they can do that we will all look up to them," he declared, "but froiff my own experience I doubt very much if they can keep it up. We have had our experiments in New South Wales under Mr'. Lang, and if all he promised had been carried out we would all have been perfectly happy, but unfortunately he was not able to do so. But to-day in Sydney the workers are happier than they have ever been." 4 New Railway Telephones. Considerable extension work has been found necessary in the telephone system mamtamed throughout both islands by the Railways Department. An efficient automatic exchange has been installed in the new Wellington station, which will be opened on June 19. The system of 500 lines, linking the head office aiid Wellington district with the whole of the North Island railways system, is already in operation. The Department has installed a two-channel carrier telephone system between Auckland and Wellington to cope with the exceptionally heavy demand for communication between these two points. The new service was brought into operation in the week-end. The provision of these two direct avenues of communication will relieve pressure in the South Auckland district and speed up the system in general. An automatic exchange' is to be installed at Wanganui, and the single telephone channel formerly used between Auckland and Wellington will be used Between Wanganui and Wellington. Like People. "They're just like people, those •fish." It was a .bit of philosophy that came with a faint suggestion of resignation from the old man who sat in the sun on one of the many launch steps leading to the waterways west of the city. You could see "those fish" down there in the clear water, small, glistening things, that darted about■and tugged a little timidly at the ragged ends of the catsmeat bait fastened to the old man's line. "Just like people," he said. "Grabbin' at everything, droppin' what they don't like. And look at them try to beat one another to it!" As if to illustrate his point, he knocked the ashes from his dead pipe into the sea, and the fish swarmed to investigate. "See what they're at ? Race for somethin' new, drop that because they don't like it. and scurry back like'% pack o' wimmen pushin' round to get the best seats in a bus. And, funny thing, here I sit trying to grab them! Why? I dunno. Thy're no use when you do catch them—but they're like people, those fish. You learn things when you watch them."

Horses to tHe Rescue. Three draught horses were called upon to haul a St. John ambulance out of a stretch of clay on a back road near Otorohanga, yesterday. The patient, a sick woman, could not be moved easily, and the driver. Mr. ,T. Scobie, to drive for some distance off tlie main W aitomo alley road to the farm house where she lay. Residents were waiting with horses when he came to the patch of clay, and when the ambuhuice stuck fast on each trip it was pulled out with little difficulty. New Zealand's Population. The view that unless the Dominion increased its population. Xew Zealanders would not lie aide to hold their own country, was voiced by General Sir Andrew Russell at a function of the Christehureh Returned Soldiers' Association. Xew Zealand would, he said, reach its maximum population in four or five years, and from then on the position would grow worse, not better, and it would be doubtful whether Xew Zealanders would be able to keep from their shores uninvited people whom they had no desire to welcome in their midst. Xor would they be able to "keep down the weeds',' in their own country, concluded the speaker. Spotting " at Dances. Many of the young people with whom lie had come in contact had had their most serious adolescent maladjustment outside a dance hall. said Mr. J. H. Ledgerwood in an address to the Xew Plymouth Rotary Club. He was not condemning dancing, which under good control could lie a delightful thing, nor was he condemning private and temperate drinking. Re was simply observing that in an increasing degree young people- at dances were led to believe by those who should know better that no dance could be successful unless there was "spotting" before, during and after the event. " Home, James!" Wintry conditions affected the road traffic' around Auckland yesterday. On the outskirts of the city certain roads leading to scenic points of vantage, and connecting with populous suburbs, are noted for regular queues of moving motor cars on Sunday afternoons, but yesterday a keen south wind and an Arctic temperature, combined with occasional heavy showers of rain, made sightseeing and Sunday calls on suburban friends a much less alluring prospect than the pleasure of radio, book and newspaper by a cosy fireside at home. Consequently, in households boasting motor cars of the open type, when the afternoon programme was raised, the decision in the vast majority of cases was "Home, James, and don't spare the firewood."

Dangerous Poison. The recent death of a man as the result of absorption of carbolic ackl through the unbroken skin on one arm has caused Dr. Walter Gilmour, pathologist at the Auckland Hospital, to issue a warning against the careless use of this and other corrosive poisons. Dr. Gilmour stated that carbolic acid was the only household poison which could be readily absorbed through the skin. Extreme care should be taken in handling the acid, because it had a remarkable capacity for immediate absorption into the body. Dr. Gilmour said cases were on record where carbolic acid had either been spilled on to the clothing or skin, rapidly producing unconsciousness and sometimes death. Even a diluted carbolic acid could produce a fatal result, but the amount ■would have to be fairly ■ large-. Although the acid was used quite safely as a dressing, it could be dangerous when applied to wounds on the fingers, as it might cause gangrene. Acclimatisation " Mistakes." The title of "acclimatisation" society is often misleading, because it tends to indicate that the work of the society is in the nature of importation, rather than conservation, of game, and Results in the society being blamed for mistakes which it has not committed, stated the chairman. Dr. G. F.-V. Anson, at a meeting of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society. Very little actual acclimatisation, said Dr. Anson, had been done by this society, and they were apt to be blamed for what little had been done. Most of the unfortunate mistakes in acclimatisation had not been made by the societies. Those mistakes—stoats, weasels, deer, rabbits, rats—were introduced by individuals. The society's own importations had mostly proved a success, but they were blamed for the mistakes. It had l>een suggested in some quarters that revenue from 'the successful ventures should be handed over to other bodies to remedy mistakes in importations. It was most important that it should be made plain to the public what the position actually was. Motor Hazards in Deer Country. An unusual hazard for motorists has appeared in the Rotorua district, where in the past week two collisions have occurred between motorists and wandering deer. Recently a ear descending Te Wairoa Hill was struck by a large stag, which suddenly bounded from the roadside and collided heavily with the side of the car, its head and antlers striking the framework of the windscreen. The animal was partially stunned by the impact, but as the motorist stopped his ear the stag got up and disappeared into the scrub on the side of the road. Two days later another light car collided with a large hind, which sprang in front of it near the 18-mile peg on the Taupo Road. The animal was knocked down and had one of its front legs broken, but despite its injury made off into the darkness. Some time ago on the "Jo Wairoa Road a. motorist struck a hind and a fawn and killed them both, the impact damaging the front of the car. The animals are apparently attracted by the headlights and leap in front of them, giving motorists no opportunity of avoiding a collision.