DUNEDIN DOINGS.

Cromwell Argus, 4 October 1926, Page 5

DUNEDIN DOINGS.

(Prom Our Special Correspondent.)

Friday evening

The Competitions

Once again the Competitions are in full swing, and there is a flocking of youngsters with their proud and admiring parents to His Majesty's theatre, where the judges are performing the difficult and delicate task of separating the sheep from the goats. Perhaps it is not very respectful to refer to any son of his father as a goat, but in this case the figurative and not the literal meaning of the term is intended. Doubtless there will always be a controversy as to the value of the Competitions, and probably there is something to be said on both sides, but in the case of the younger competitors they seem to be more harmful than benelicial. Not only are the youngsters kept out of bed till all hours of the night both before and during the festival, but they are given a false sense of their own importance that tends to the production of that objectionable quality known as " Swelled head." Moreover, jealousies and rivalries are created that should find no place in the juvenile mind, and too often these are fanned and encouraged by parental partisanship. The spirit of competitive sportmanship that has its proper place in the athletic field is somehow lacking from the musical, elocutionary and dancing tests, and is too often replaced by a spirit of pettiness that does not accept defeat in the traditional way.

On behalf of the Competitions it is argued that they promote culture in our midst and a study of the arts. Perhaps they do. 33ub even without the Competitions, singing and elocution would have their devotees, and good singing and reciting will always command an appreciative audience. Handwriting of Doctors.

The handwriting of the average medical practitioner, especially when it takes the form of a prescription, looks like nothing on earth, and the wonder is how the chemists manage to decipher it at all.

Possibly the explanation is that after all there is not a great diversity of prescriptions and that most of the drugs in everyday use do not possess qualities that would lead to fatal results even in the case of an overdose. But on the whole the credit probably lies with the dispenser, whose instinct and imagination usually seem to guide him aright despite the illegibility of the prescription. At any rate, there is no reason why one should fear the bottles that come from a chemist's shop any more than one fears those that are sold over the bar counter.

Some little time ago Mr John Fuller, of vaudeville fame, took up the cudgels against the doctors in the matter of their handwriting, and addressed a letter to the Otago Hospital Board on the subject. But Mr Fuller forgot to make his own signature legible, and as a consequence he has remained an entertainer where he sought to be a reformer. As for the letter, the Hospital Board, the Education Board, the High Schools Board, all disclaimed responsibility, and finally it was " received " by the University Council, no doubt with a view to its being one day enshrined in the Museum. Cash on Delivery. The retailers of Dunedin, in common with those in the other centres, are seriously exercised at present by the C.O.D. system that has been operated by the Post Office for some time past. Under this system articles may be purchased in England for transmission to the Dominion by post and .when they arrive here the cost is collected by the Post Office and sent Home to the seller. The buyer, of course, has to pay the customs duty; but even after allowing for this he finds that his purchase has cost him less than it would have done had he bought it in the shop. Naturally such a system is finding increased favor and apparently this parcels trade shows signs of assuming fair proportions. But the retailer objects strongly to it, considering that it is unfair competition and that the state has no right to interfere in his line of business.

It is not altogether easy to follow the reasoning of the retail trader when he argues like that. The Post Otfice is a public utility and if it can increase its usefulness to the public by the C.O.D. system, then so much the better for everybody, including the Post Office itself. Moreover, if the public can obtain articles that it wants more cheaply by this method, why should it not be afforded the opportunity of doing so? If anything, it is rather a reflection on the retailer that single articles can be sent to New Zealand and sold at a less cost than the same articles which arrive in bulk packages.