NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 71, 24 March 1926, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

——t — A Trouble We Miss. Cable messages state that dengue or break-bone fever is epidemic in certain districts in Australia. There are some diseases which we do not get in New Zealand, and this is one of them. The Health authorities do not expect that it will' come to the Dominion1. Dengue fever is common in many parts of the world, and has occurred before in Australia. The carrier of the disease is a mosquito called Stegomyia fasciata. The malady is an acute infectious disease, the fever generally lasting about nine days, accompanied by bad joint and muscle pains and a rash. It tends to break out very suddenly, and spreads through a community like wildfire, dying out in a, few weeks. Periodical Medical Overhauls. Speaking at the Rotary Club luncheon yesterday, Dr. M. T. MacEachern said that one of the best ways in which people could co-operate with the Health Department in promoting the health of the community would be for every person to go to his family doctor once or twice a year and say, "I want to be examined from head to foot." "Your family doctor," continued the speaker, "should be a man who desires to keep you well; and that is what you will find is the true spirit that actuates every doctor.: Every doctor in practice is after all a public health officer. Make sure that he. makes a careful examination, and if necessary have a consultation. If yon go to your doctor and. are examined once or twice a year, you will do sn enormous amount of good in promoting the health of the community. That might mean perhaps the early detection of cancer. ; Cancer is curable if it is found early. The death rate from cancer would be nil if it were always detected in its early stages. You could prevent tuberculosis and many unhealthy conditions if you had your whole family examined once a year." Wrecked rftsamer Sold. The remains of the steamer Karu, which was wrecked at Cape Maria Van Diemen last month, were sold by public auction yesterday at Auckland, states a Press Association message. The wreck and contents were knocked down to Mr. W. Wright, of Onehunga, for £20. The buyer, it seems, will have a difficult task in salvaging anything, as the Karu lies in an exposed position. Should luck attend his venture, however, he might easily show a substantial turnover on his small outlay. ; / ■.. ' 'Hung Above Certain Death." Particulars are to hand of the unenviable experience whieh befell a visiting commercial traveller on a dangerous h. t road inland from Tokomaru Bay (writes : Gisborne correspondent). While negotiating one of the steepest portions of the road on the coast the engine of his car "stalled." His brakes were not in good condition; the hand brake, in fact, was not holding at all. The car began to "back down the steep road, and the driver's efforts to stop it proved unavailing. His tracks showed that he had zigzagged a considerable distance when a wheel of the car left the road and hung over the side of a cliff. Hero he managed to hold the car by keeping his foot on the foot brake and hoping that in time assistance would arrive. The road was an infrequently used one, and his foot became numbed. He was just giving up hope when at about 4.30 p.m. a motor driven by a settler came along. The car wheels were blocked up with stones and the traveller was extricated from his predicament after having hung above what was certain death, if the car had fallen, for an hour and three-quarters. In spite of the strain he had the.pluek just prior to his rescue to write on an envelope an account of how the accident happened. This, he said, was in case he did go over the edge. He was handicapped by having only one arm, the other having been lost in an accident not long ago. Southern Naval Cruise. The New Zealand cruisers, Dunedin and Diomede, will leave Auckland this week for a cruise to Southern ports. Thev will return to Auckland in about a month and after a short stay here they will depart for a cruise to the South Sea Islands. The..following itineraries of the two warships have been announced'by tho Naval Department:—Both cruisers will leave Auckland on Thursday and reach Russell next day; they sail on 31st March and arrive at Lyttelton on 2nd April; depart on 9th.April, and arrive at Dunedin 10th April; depart on 19th.April and arrive at Wellington on 20th April; from Wellington the two warahips will depart on 25th April and they will then take different routes. Tho brnedin .will-proceed lo Napier, where she will arrive on 26th April, khc 'will ssui! on 3uth April and return to Auckland the following day, states tho "New Zealand Herald." From Wellington the Diomede will proceed to Nelson, where she will irrive on 26th April. She will sail again four days later for Auckland, whore she will arrive on 2nd May. After a week '3 stay at Auckland the Diomedo will sail on 9th May on a toir of the Islands. She will visit Niuc, Apia) l Jago x Jagi, Suva, Bora Bora, Papeete, Rarotonga, Vavau, and Nukualofn. She is due to return to Auckland on 20th August. Tho Dunedin will leave Auckland for the Islands'.'on. 25th May. She will reach Suva on 29th May and will remain in Fijian waters .until 7th July. She will then go to Nukualofa and after spending ten days there will return to Auckland, being due here on 23rd July.

The Fire Board Poli. The result of the JHre Board poll on Friday last was officially announced by the Returning Ojflcsr (Mr. James Ames) yesterday Afternoon. The recount showed thjt 1391 parson* voted for the proposalj and 119 against it. A Doctor's Handwriting. Doctors are notorious for the illegibility of their handwriting, and an example came up in the Magistrate's Court this week, Mr. C. B. Orr Walker, B.M. (picking up a doctor's certificate): "I am afraid I fill have to send for the doctor to give' hit evidence. I can't read his writing." Counsel laid that his client was unable to come to Court on account of illness, which was explained in the certificate. "Oh, I see," said his Worship, reading the slip of paper once again. "Yes, I think I can make that out." Th« End of a Sprint. While a police car, driven by Constable Anderson and containing the Commissioner of Police (Mr. W. B. M'llveney) was proceeding along Wellington terrace on a recent afternoon, it was passed by another ear driven* it was alleged, at a furious rate, by Herbert Llewellyn Evans. The police car immediately gave chase and overtook the other car after a speed of 45 miles an hour had been attained. Yesterday afternoon Evans was charged at the Magistrate's Court with driving in a dangerous manner. He was fined £5. Historic Anchor StbM. There is no doubt the Maoris of Mokau are determined that the historic Tainui anchor stone shall not be placed in the Auckland Museum, where, as one Native expressed it, they would- never be able to see it. "Far better would it be in the museum at New Plymouth, where we could go and see it sometimes," he said. This sentiment, however, cannot be takm as indicative of the feelings of all the Natives in the district, writes a New Plymouth correspondent. They seem ■determined to keep the relic with them. It is certain the stone, was removed irr.m the Jloicu River last Saturday wt»k by a party of Natives and taken in a dray io the Native cemetery in Maniaroa, near tho Awakino Heads. The cemetery' is an historic and sacred spot among the Maoris. It overlooks the" Pacific Ocean and is but a mile or two from th( Mokau.River, and its site must have been in full view of the original voyagers of the Tainui when they approached the coast before anchoring. It is probably as appropriate a spot for depositing the relic as could be found. The Maoris have been busy for Borne time erecting a concrete wall around the cemetry, which is the last resting place of their hoad men, and to which only recently, it is stated) the bones of some illu's-' trious Maoris were removed from Mokau. It is understood that the intention is to prepare a concrete base on which the historic stone will bo placed. A Royal Investor. It has always been a matter of local interest that H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, when in Auckland in 1860, became a shareholder in the famous Long Drive mine at the Thames, states the "New Zealand Herald." Authority for the fact is to be found in the "Daily Southern Cross" of 2nd June, 1869, which states that though the Duke bad been unable to visit the goldfield personally, he had shown his interest in its development by purchasing 25 shares in the Long Drive Company, "which certainly," it was added, "bids fair to rival in richness even Hunt's or the Golden Crown." It was also mentioned that Lord Charles Beresford, who, as an officer of H.M.S. Galatea, was a member of the Royal Party, bad purchased a similar parcel of shares. Long Drives were seling at the time at prices in the neighbourhood of £50 for shares on which £3 6s 8d was paid up. Little Brown Owls. After a long period of absence, the little brown owls have again come into residence,near the folf links, says the Rotorua "Chronicle." These birds go abroad just after dusk has set in, and are exceedingly fearless. In flight, they are almost soundless, and the excited chattering of sparrows at a time when all good sparrows should bo asleep denotes .that the owls are preparing for an early supper at the expense of the smaller birds. Eager to Pay Taxes. To show how ready the Samoan natives are to tax themselves for the common good, Mr. H. 8. Griffin, Secretary for Native Affairs, Samoa, who is on a visit to New Zealand, states that after the hurricane in January, when many coconut trees were blown down, the natives were hard put to find money for the voluntary health tax. This was for the provision of a free medical service. There had been so much wet weather that copra could scarcely be 'dried, but they strained every resource to earn money to pay the tax. The medieal work of the administration had been an immense boon to the Samoans, added Mr. Griffin. Hookworm and yaws had. almost disappeared, and only occasional fresh cases had to be treated. In sanitation and other things there was a healthy rivalry between villages. nsblng at Tanpo. Fishing this season has not been so successful as last year, according to the experience of Captain Robert White, of Milford, Takapuna, who has been at Taupo and the Rotorua district 3ince January, and who returned at the week-end (states the "Auckland Star"). Tho averagely poorer sport, he says, is attributed by the local peopl to the unseasonable weather this summer. A great many of the rivers in the King Country were depleted of trout by the floods in May last, and will need considerable restocking in the head waters. Poaching was not as prevalent as formerly. The floods were mainly responsible in many of the rivers for the.poorer sport. At Taupo the western shores are better than tho eastern, the prevailing westerlies driving the fish out. Good hauls have been got on the lee shore here. Most of the Ashing seemed to be done off the Waitcte and Owahao streams. The best fishing around Rotorua at present was at Rotoiti. In the Waimakariri, at Tirau, fish were plentiful, but undersized. Caught a Tuna. The capture outside Whangarei Heads on Sunday by Mr. P. Gardner, of Kamo, of a six-footer mnko bearing wounds from a recent battle with a • swordfish was eclipsed in general interest by a less bulky prize secured by the same angler. This was a small tuna, the game fish much sought off the American coast, writes a Whangarei correspondent. Returning from the m.oHt northerly of the Chickens Islands to Guano Rock, under Bream Head in Mason Bros.'Jean Gordon, Mr. Gardner hooked eighteen fish in schools passed through on the run of eight miles. The experienced angler, who has caught many fish, inako and reremai, or grey nurse, in those waters, recognised that the quarry was something new in school fishing. Using the ordinary tackle adopted by the local deep-sea anglors for game fish, he finally caught the tuna. Few of these fish have been caught around New Zealand. The specimen is small And stumpy, of silvery grey colour, with latitudinal dark lines. It measures a little over two feet long and lias a long narrow head with a protruding under jaw. Mr. Gardner has seen fish of the same species caught further. North than Whangarei, but never before has he known of so many being seen in one day.

A False Beport. A rumour was current last night that the ferry steamer Maori had gone aground at Pencarrow Head. The vessel left Wellington for Lyttelton at 7.50 p.m., and cleared the Heads . as usual. The weather was very heavy and a good sea was running in Cook Strait, but the Maori reached Lyttelton safely at 8 o'clock this morning. How the story originated is a mystery. General Clean-up Advisable. Councillor H. D. Bennett, chairman of the Health Committee of the City Council, and also chairman at meetings of the Health Week Committee some months ago, has indicated that there is a probability that Health Week will be held in Wellington fairly shortly, and that a general clean-up of citizens should be got under way at an early date. "The estimates for Health Week are already in hand, and will be considered when the city's estimates come before the council next month," he remarked. "If these are passed, as I fully anticipate they will, the money will be available after 31st March next week. It was intended that the ' clean-up-week' would be held in October, but in view of the rather alarming reports from America, it might be advisable to fix the date much earlier in the financial year, so as to leave nothing to chance. We do not know that such epidemics as are being experienced in America have their rise in accumulations of rubbish or filth in the homes- or the backyards, but we do know that where there are people you will find such accumulations, and the sooner they are disposed of in a sanitary way the better. We cannot contemplate giving diseases that arise from dirt any resting place, and we look to the citizens generally to heartily and cheerfully cooperate with us in our endeavour to clean up when the time arrives. Individually, they are invited to clean up right away—and to stay clean, in the interests of the community generally." Immigration Department Thanked. From time to time complaints are made that immigrants coming; to New Zealand, especially public school boys do not always receive the best of treatment in this country. The following letter to the High Commissioner from the father of an English public schoolboy who recently came out to New Zealand puts a somewhat different light on the matter:—"You will understand the terribje anxiety that we have felt for o'ur dfear son, and to know that he has been in the hands of a Government who seem to treat these boys as their own, showing them every loving care, is a matter upon which we, my wife and I, cannot find words to thank those in authority. All has been done that could be done and much more than one would look for."