NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 3, 3 July 1941, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Loss of Hearing.

"Always with the realisation of the onset of loss of hearing comes a decided mental shock, whether the loss be gradual or sudden, and the problem of adjustment definitely is a psychological one. Personal contact is ail important to one's happiness, and inability to converse freely with one's friends must be overcome," states the report of Miss M. EggJeton, organising teacher of the Wellington branch of Vie New Zealand League for the Hard of Hearing. It is hoped to conduct an educational campaign on . subjects of special :' Merest to the hard of hearing- . Ambulance and War Conditions. "The Free Ambulance, in common with other organisations, has felt the difficult it* >H>ji^,.'t.|u ii iXi,.m the war," states the annual report of the service. "It follows that the physique, health, and qualifications ol'our excellent staff fit them for important and necessary war service, and, while the importance oi their service. at home is" so great, the board is doing its best to maintain the stafl: as far as it is reasonably possible, It is to be expected, however, that unless the war comes to a speedy end, it will be difficult to assure our contributors that it can maintain the stafi at the high efficiency of past years/ Milk in Greece. Some of the strange sights witnessed by New Zealand soldier- in Greece made them pause and ponder on customs in foreign parts, states the "Southland Times." A Bluff transport driver has written to his parents about some of the oddities which* captuied his interest,. He remarked particularly oi the fact that women and girls were employed on road-making during the campaign, and could be seen lustily wielding picks and shovels with all the energy which New Zealand men might devote to the task. They showed considerable enthusiasm <or.the work, and stopped only for the barest interval to permit military convoys- to pass: On another occasion he saw a shepherd milking his goats. The troops gasped when-he finished with the goats and started on the sheep. They thought he had mistaken a ewe for a goat, but the shepherd said the sheep produced good milk, His invitation to the troops to sample the product was politely declined. "Too Many Circular Letters." A complaint that too many circular letters were received by local bodies from persons with "pet ideas" was made by Councillor D. Harris at a meeting of the South Invercargill Borough Council, His comment followed the reading of a letter from the Mayor if Te Aroha suggesting, that a special ap-' peal should be made for fundt for the rehabilitation of soldiers and that the funds be handed over to the Returned Soldiers' Association for administration. Another letter over the signature of the chairman of the National Patriotic Council (Mr. T. Jordan. Masterton) contended that there was no necessity at present for any special appeal as suggested, as a conference of patriotic bodies next November would consider the requirements for the next year. Councillor Harris protested that the council was being bom barded with such letters. Last month it had been a circular letter from the Lake County Council asking for the abandonment of the 40-hour week,' and now it was a controversy about, patriotic funds. He moved that the letters be received, and this suggestion was adopted.

Democracy and Education,

/"I think it is not altogether . accidental that in a country and nation fighting for its life at present you get people giving their time to this particular service," said the Director of Education (Dr. C. E. Beeby) in speaking to the Crippled Children Society meeting in Christchurch on the work for the children by the department and by private interests, reports the "Press." "My mind goes back to Press comments about tht number of people in mental hospitals in Germany who had just been quietly put out of the way . . . that anybody who is not any good to the State is just put out of the way. On the other hand the democratic idea is the importance )i the individual as such. It is probably true to say that education of the individual is one of the things we are fighting for at present. The kind of treatmen we give to the crippled, deaf, blind, or even to normal children must be affected by the fact that the individual as such must be respected. That L at the basis of the whole of the modern system of education. On. the other hand, 30 or 40 years ago large numbers of children were pushed or pulled through a fixed kind of syllabus and treated as a group, and attention was not on individual failings and peculiarities. The same kind of problems are met with cripples as with any children. They differ only in degree."