NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 228, 27 June 1928, Page 10

NOTES OF THE DAY

Some exception has been taken to the action of the City Council in declining to make its initial contribution of £l5OO to the Tree Ambulance Service an annual donation. The explanation of the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. Troup), however, appears, to fully justify the course adopted. The Free Ambulance admittedly provides a valuable service, but it is not a service which should fall so heavily on the ratepayers of the city. The contention that contributions should carry a Government subsidy, such as is given to hospital contributions, is a sound one, and steps . should be taken to secure the necessary authority to enable this course to be followed.

Those in New Zealand who are interested in the game of Lawn Tennis will be delighted to learn to-day of the success of the young Palmerston player, E. D. Andrews, at the historic contest at Wimbledon. In defeating the American, I’. 1. Hunter, in the first round of the Singles Championship, he won against a player who is probably the second best representative the United States has in active service tu-day. N T o New since the da} sof Anthony Wilding has scored so signal a success in world tennis. Andrews, who won the Junior Championship of New Zealand on a number of occasions in succession, was also Senior Champion at Ihe time he left to carry on his studies in England. He has just turned into the twenties, so there is every prospect of a big tennis future ahead of him. * ♦ * * “Over 30 per cent, of our population between the ages of 35 and 50 years is suffering, or has suffered, from pyorrhoea.” is the statement made by Mr. G. L. laylor, in his presidential address to the Dentists’ Conference. It is claimed that dental disease lias increased tremendously during the last thirty years among highlycivilised peoples, and that in no country in the world was dental disease more prevalent than in New Zealand. These conditions fully justify the action which the Government took in the year 1920, when it established the Dental Division of the Health Department for the purpose of providing free dental treatment for school children. The work of the Dental Division has been, gradually extending year by year until now the work of the Division has brought dental care to practically every school child in the Dominion. For the year ended March 31 the dental officers and nurses performed 201,002 operations. The benefit to the general health of the school children cannot be calculated, but it must be tremendous. The Dental Division, however, does not stop at curative work, but seeks to educate both parents and children in preventive methods. Short terse rules respecting the care of the teeth are set forth in the pamphlets circulated by the Division, and if these are read and followed by the parents it will result in a lowering in the future of the high percentage of our adult population suffering from pyorrhoea arid other dental diseases-