NEWS BY MAIL.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11324, 30 September 1930, Page 2

NEWS BY MAIL.

1 ■ : •) l PUZZLING BOY’S ILLNESS'

BLEEDS INTERNALLY '

'•"SYDNEY) Sept. 10

For three weeks' a .-hoy aged -14 has been in ; the Royal North . Shore Hospital with a niysteriops disease whichdoctors liave been finable to treat. All they can do is to relieve, the pain which' follows strange attacks, of internal bleeding: It is. a rare kind of illness, and doctors ■ wlio were approached to-day could not name it. Three weeks ago the hoy collapsed with severe abdominal, pains, and was hurried to,the hospital. His complaint was diagnosed as acute appendicitis, .but a closer examination' showed,that there was no sign of appendicitis, and an operation might have proved fatal. Bruises were found . on different parts of the body, and the nearest joint to the affected part became sore. Doctors discovered that; the lad was bleeding internally, and that the blood had no getaway, although it had full clotting power. They-were l'rank:lV puzzled, but all they could do was to case the pain at the joints by applying hot fomentations. ' Frequent blood tests have been made but these have not disclosed the nature of the complaint, though symptoms have suggested several ailments It is' thought that, by rest and careful treatment, the complaint may bo overcome as the boy grows older. His case differs greatly from that of Hairy Thorogood, aged Hi, who a fortnight ag-o had his spleen removed at. the Children’s Hospital. Thorogood, too, bled infernally frequently and ’his blood had. no getaway. It had ho clotting power, and since the operation, H days ago. he has had eight transfusions.

His father and three companions have been sleeping in a car outside the hospital for two nights, awaiting the doctors’ call for more blood. ' The boy's condition to-day,. for the first time showed a slight improvement.

"PRAYERS FOR RAIN FUTILE”

CHICAGO, Sept. C. Prayers for rain are futile, in the opinion of the majority of prominent American clergymen. “No imaginable connection exists between man’s inward _ spiritual attitude and a rainstorm,” said Doctor Harry Emerson Fosdick, ‘ while Doctor Lemon, of Minneapolis, called praying for rain an attempt to involve God in a co-operative scheme to maintain the present American living standards.

SCHOOLBOYS’ OPINIONS OF LIFEBOATMEN

The current issue of the “Lifeboat contains" an article on the lifeboat essay - competition in elementary schools, in which 1.737 schools took part, the prize-for the best, essay in Great Britain and Ireland' being won by a Portsmouth boy': The subject was “Why L .Admire the Lifeboatpian,’’ and runny clever and amusing extracts arc given from the essays. ”T.he lifeboat man is a storybook hero come to life.” ■ ••Many English lads plaeA on the pedestal of hero-worship some great sportsman like Hobbs or Grimsdell, bpL surely the lifeboatman is worth 10'- such sportsmen.” “He has (lie spirit of the man who lias seen the valley of lhe shadow of death and how black it is. and ret he. sets his teeth to walk right, through.” ' ' .‘•Would the average citizen get out of bed. in the,middle of the night, and in spite of terrible seas,, start on. a rjgky journey to save tire lives of those on a wreck. Not likely! ’ ,-. “The lifeboatman never swanks.,,or sticks his nose in the air, as if he .was somebody great.’’ “I am not afraid to say .that. 1 would rather have the courage of a lifeboatman than the fortune of a millionaire.’-’ • “The lifeboatnren’s wives must be willing to let them go out late at, night.” OUT-EATING FATHER Do boys of U oat 'more than grownup people? ... , Of course they do, say the. British railway companies, although our (>l . two of them charge half-price ill their restaurant-cars to children under H Holding half-price tickets. Of course they do. echo the caterers. An official of Messrs. J. Lyonn and Co. Ltd., told a “Daily Mail reporter. • , , “OuT experience in recent school vacation times is that the avenige healthv schoolboy can put his parents to shamo when it comes, to polishing off a .table d’hote meal. In most public schools there is, of course a food schedule, ami it is natural that . when a boy gets free of this he let* himself go. ■ ~ . “When it. comes to such, things as dainties and ice-creams we marvel where some of the boys put them. Parents with their boys home from school will tell you how the household bills go up. and its is no exaggeia- . lion to say. that the average boy of. 13 and 14 can out-eat his parents at - any. time.” TTTE LATEST CRAZE The rage in the United States for miniature golf courses is; actually affecting the theatres and cinemas. Id town after town (says a Dnilj Mail” writer) you can see these tnckj putting-courses, where for the sum u : 75 cents (about 3s), you can tij skill either-by day or by mgWv" nci ** • powerful arcs. The courses can be found at every street -corner * hoi e. a . house lias just been demojmhed You [ do not have to have any ie.nl know.- ! Wgc of soil, to ft, M a game (on a larger scale) of tor ’’it”allf“not ku-pHse „,<■ if it »„n become popular in England U »* ,- S at least. • Southend., and anywhere else uheie ' there is a permanent or seim-porman-ent fun fair. Also, yon can .bet on it-.. !■ ■ - ’ ■' ' ; -