NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21601, 2 January 1945, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Defence Personnel Investigations

“Very valuable work has been done by the Defence Personnel Committee and its staff,” said the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, when asked in Wellington what progress had been made by this investigating body, which is dealing with the staff position in the services. The Minister added that a number of the committee’s recommendations had been put into effect, and others were receiving consideration. “There is still further work to be done,” he concluded.

Wool Blindness of Sheep That the tendency for Southdown sheep to be bred towards wool blind* .ness was causing farmers concern was an opinion expressed by several members at a general meeting of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association. It was decided to write to the Southdown Sheep Society stating that the association was considering asking judges to pass over animals in the Southdown section showing a tendency towards wool blindness. The contention of members was that clear-faced sheep were more suitable for fattening and the more wool blind they became the less useful they were for that purpose.

Low Level Death-rato

The number of women who lost their lives through some cause connected with pregnancy or child-birth fell from 118 in 1941 to 85 in 1942 (the latest year recorded in the New Zealand Official Year Book). The relatively low level to which the deathrate from puerperal causes has fallen in the Dominion in recent years is considered all the more remarkable in view of the abnormal proportion of first births in the total of births on which the death-rate for those years was based. It is a well-established fact that puerperal mortality is higher in first confinements than in second births.