SAVING THE BABIES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 240, 3 July 1908, Page 5

SAVING THE BABIES.

4..PLUNKET NURSE FOR PALMERSTON. Their .Excellencies Lord and Lady Plunket..vera present• at the-: .Municipal liall yesterday afternoon (telegraphs our correspondent), when Her Excellency addressed r■ a packed \. gathering of ladies "on' infant feeding> and' tho 'good; work done by the, societies formed in other, : parts of; the Dominion. Her Excellency, was warmly applauded, and it is pleasing to: note that' manv : names- were handed in ..at the end .of the meeting, and that Palmerston is to possess a qualified nurse. The . Mayor presided. . : Her Excellency said.it was her ambition to sec a Plunket nurso in Palmerston. She pointed , out that both • Islands required a travelling nurse. Until lately it had been no one's business to educate mothers, in the care ibf-f childrfen, and many lives had been lost through ignorance. ' The society purposed to give wejl-meaning mothers the benefit of trairied''nu'rses. Mothers, who were, unable .to nurso itheir own children liad to re-, • sort to substitutes, and thousands of mothers , .had to struggle on as best they could in total ignorance.. Mothers should aim for a food as near as possible to humanised milk. Her Excellency made it .quite clear that tho society did not aim to force nurses upon mothers. The'necessary expenses of a nurse would amount tp,'.-£2OO per' annum, and it was'hoped to meet tho cost through subscriptions; and donations. " In . Napier the nurso attended to eleven babies in ten .days.

Dr. Martin, on behalf of the medical profession, said that Lady Plunkct's aims were; quite' in accordance with those of: the .profession.' The ; nurse would act under the doctors. Infant feeding was one of the most important subjects. Proper .feeding, meant good rest. Tho speaker recommended humanised milk as a food for. infants, and' said there were still many'prejudices to break down, a3 many mothers adiiero to antiquated customs. ■.

'His Excellency tho iGovernor said ho had various 'duties-to perform, and one .of tho most extraordinary was to address a mothers' meeting. - He pointed out that when Lady Plunket. took up this . work she began at Auckland, and great enthusiasm' was shown; and his room's were filled with dying babies. He could not even smoko in the garden without seeing babies, but.he was happy to' say only one died.' Ho wished to impress upon them 'that this was not an untried idea. The movement, was not a local one, but an Imporial movement to vaiso up a better and stronger/ race of petfplo (Applause.) Dr. Stowo stated that, the life of a child more often depended upon a proper adjustment of . diet rather than upon -the, applications of; medicine. A great deal of 'harm, was done by. the circulation 'of;unscientific information.

Tho Rev. Mr.' Harper said that often tha doctors' instructions were not carried out, and that sometimes mothers would listen moro intently-to a nurse. . Very often infant deaths resulted through the doctor not being called in in time. One of tho saddost duties of tho clergy was tho constant 'burying .of. infants. . There was nothing, so beautiful ~as, maternity. ,Dr. Martin, moved that a branch of the society bo formed in Palmerston North, and that a committee of ladies be set up to enrol hon. members'at a five-shillmg subscription. The motion was carried with great enthusiasm.

A short time ago it was announced that ironing the body was the best aid to beauty as the only effective means of reducing weight. Now the virtue'of freezing is being loudly proclaimed. ■ It appears that ico treatment'is tho one tiling needful to restore to worn-out'beauties their faded charms. It is most of all valuable for the face. It removes wrinkles. This new treatment is an adtiptaion of- what the Japanese call their " wonder bath." Tlio belles .of Tckio, having taken their'tepid orhot bath," slip 011 one of thoir most heavily padded : kimonos, creep out into tho back yard:-and plunge into the largest bank of snow, rolling over and over, dog fashion, until their skin tingles with a glow. Then they hurry back into their boudoir: to examine with delight the natural enow and roao tints of their complexions.