NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 40, 17 February 1939, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

The Right Atmosphere.

From the moment they had arrived in New Zealand they had met with nothing but kindness and hospitality, said the Commonwealth DirectorGeneral of Health, Dr. W. H. L. Cumpston, when replying yesterday afternoon to the Prime Minister's official Government welcome to the delegates attending the Cancer Conference. "In fact," he went on, "we have been surrounded by an atmosphere that might well be described as complete social security." This little sally by the visitor was received with much laughter.

Christchurch Memorial Project,

Of the 42 local bodies in Canterbury which have been invited to subscribe to the cost- of extending the Canterbury Museum as a Centennial memorial, four have agreed to contribute. The total of these contributions is £597, and the amount the Canterbury Centennial Memorial Committee has in view as necessary for the museum project is £20,000 (states the "Press"). Nine local bodies have approved the proposal that the museum be extended, but five of them have not yet decided how much they will contribute. Twenty local bodies have refused to contribute, five have deferred consideration of the proposal, and eight have not yet replied to the- appeal. March 15 is the last day for the submission to the National Centennial Council of full plans for Centennial memorials. Next Monday, however, the Christchurch City Council will hold a special meeting to decide what support it will give to the Centennial memorial, and at that meeting will the fate of the museum project be decided. Campaign Against Diphtheria.

The Health Department's campaign against diphtheria, which involves the immunisation of children from infection by means of painless injections of anatoxin, is meeting with approval, according to the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. B. Wyn Irwin. He said today that replies were coming in satisfactorily to the Department's circular asking for the consent of parents to the treatment. Seventeen hundred notices had been sent- to four schools. There seemed to be a fear among some parents that the injections would leave a scar, but that was not so; there would be no scar such as occurred in vaccination against smallpox. The Department was hopeful of obtaining consent from all parents, as the injections could not be made without the written consent of a parent or guardian.

Building: of Canoe.

No work has been carried out for some time on the large Maori Centennial canoe that now lies at Kerikeri (states the "New Zealand Herald"). It is stated that 'the carvers, who are to complete the building of the canoe, are still engaged on other canoes in the Waikato. The construction of the canoe, which is being carried out by the Maori people, is proving a more expensive undertaking" than was anticipated, and it is said that the funds in hand are depleted and that the Maoris are finding the supply of more money a heavy burden. The canoe that" is being built at Kerikeri now lies in three sections, the' centre section being 74ft long. The canoe, when completed, will be 120 ft long. The sections have lain in the waters of the Kerikeri inlet for some months to season the kauri wood, but these have now been hauled out and are lying on the bank,, protected from the sun by shelters.