RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29724, 18 January 1962, Page 18

RANDOM REMINDER

CLEAN LIVING

Not many years ago, buying food in some New Zealand shops was a hazardous and dispiriting business. It was not uncommon for edible goods to be handled familiarly by someone whose ideas of personal hygiene fell far short of what might be described as a minimum standard; but the Department of Health has changed all that. In nearly every hour of the day in nearly every life, the department’s influence may be noted and appreciated—from the provision of good quality water to the tracking down of the arch-crim-inal who caused an outbreak of infectious hepatitis by leaving the corned beef in the liquid overnight. But the department is not doing enough. January is the month for

fierce concentration on summer sports, and it is then that the department’s inspectors should be particularly active. Look at cricketers for instance. According to the strange rites of the game, a brand-new ball is produced at regular intervals, presumably so the batsmen can see it better. It comes out of a nice, clean, hygienic pack. And minutes later the bowlers who use it are licking their fingers before applying them to a ball which is hit a moment later to a fieldsman who horrid thought has to pick it up. Even an addition to the rules prohibiting the practice of fingerlicking would not effect much improvement, for the ball is forever being hit on to dusty ground—hydatids country, perhaps. The fieldsmen

could be required to wear gloves, possibly; and another thing—it should no longer be legal for umpires to be encumbered with so unhealthy a mass of equipment.

Ball handling can be highly dangerous, like food handling, and there should be a close look at tennis. There it is the practice to pick up a ball, and throw it in the air before serving. The use of tongs would be a prudent measure. And then in the winter, there is football. There is much to be done there. But first and foremost, some measures must be rushed through to protect those engaged in rucks and scrums. The least the department can do is introduce compulsory anti-tetanus injections.