ITEMS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 200, 21 May 1931, Page 11

ITEMS IN BRIEF

About People and Events

DENTAL CLINICS

The Education Department has notified dental clinic committees that they will each be called upon to pay £3O per annum for each dental officer or nurse stationed in any district. That rate, the department states, will barely cover the cost of drugs and materials used. Power has been given to committees to impose a small charge for each child receiving treatment, but no child is to be excluded from treatment because parents are unable to pay.

The Title “Royal.” The New Zealand Institute resolved yesterday to take steps to secure the title "Royal” for th{ institute.

Motor-cyclist Killed. As the result of beeing thrown from a motor-cycle when crossing the bridge between Fernside and Ohoka, George Cyril Palmer, a farm labourer, aged 24, was killed, says a Press Association message from Christchurch. His machine struck the bridge and overturned. Natural Science in Schools.

The Hon. G. M. Thomson, M.L.C., Mr. W. R. B. Olliver, Professor Kirk, and Mr. G. V. Hudson have been appointed a committee of the New Zealand Institute to consider the .teaching of natural science in the schools of the Dominion. Professor Kirk was appointed convenor.

Falling Attendances at Mt. Cook School. The Education Department has informed the Wellington Education Board that owing to the falling attendances it is of the opinion that any further additions to the Mt. Cook School should be made in wood. It asks for a revised plan and estimate for a separate two-roomed building.

Playground Improvement. At the meeting of the Wellington Education Board yesterday the architect, Mr. G. Powell, reported that grading and levelling of playgrounds under the No. 5 unemployment scheme was being done at Brooklyn, Happy Valley, Trentham, Hataitai, and Miramar Central. Who Created the Scare?

When an intimation was received yesterday by the Wellington Education Board from the Department of Education that reports on brick buildings were to be taken in committee, the chairman, Mr. T. Forsyth, remarked that in his opinion it was the Department who had created the scare.

Chairs from Old College Timbers. Unique college mementoes are available to members of the Wellington College Old Boys’ Association in the shape of chairs manufactured from timbers of the old building. The association secured suitable timber while the building was being demolished recently, and orders for souvenirs are now being booked. Science Congress.

The Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute decided yesterday that the matter of holding the next Science. Congress at the Chateau Tongariro be kept in view. It was stated by Mr. M. A. Eliott that there was everything in the district to interest scientists. A tentative proposal was made that the congress might be held a year hence.

Biology in Schools. A resolution advocating a better instruction in biology in New Zealand schools was carried at the annual meeting of the board of governors of the New Zealand Institute in Wellington yesterday. It was stated that botany had been replaced by history in girls’ high schools, while nature study had been abolished from the syllabus for hoys a year ago. N.Z. Institute’s Transactions.

Seven tenders for printing the transactions of the New Zealand Institute for 1930-31 were received by the governors of the Institute yesterday. The successful tenderer was the “Otago Daily Times,” whose price was well below most of the others. The Government Printer was one of the tenderers. Dominion Museum. It was announced at yesterday’s annual meeting of the New Zealand Institute that the plans for the new Dominion Museum were complete, and ample accommodation was assured. The architects wished to call for tenders for its erection almost immediately, but whether that -would be done depended on the Government.

Hospital Patient Missing. An inmate of Palmerston North Public Hospital, Peter Jacobsen, has been missing since 7 a.m. on Tuesday, and up to yesterday evening hospital authorities have been unable to locate him.

Mr. Jacobsen, who is aged 73 (says a “Dominion” Special Service message from Palmerston North), was recently admitted to hospital suffering from foots and ankle injuries. He has a slight beard and when he was first missed he was wearing a brown suit.

Taking a Door Home. “He was carrying a door on a baby ear, and the door was considerably bigger than the car.” said counsel in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court when a man was charged with driving in a manner dangerous to the public. “The door obscured the driver’s view,” continued counsel. “He hit a tram going east in Worcester Street right in the middle. Unfortunately, one of the passengers on the tram was the chief traffic inspector and he saw* the whole incident. Defendant said be could see round parts of the door. A fine of £2 was imposed.