CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIX, Issue 11536, 24 March 1898, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS.

UNQUALIFIED PBACTITIONEES.

The position we have always taken up with regard to unqualified medical practitioners found

% a strong endorsement m a Wellington case the otherday. A man named Kyan out his face severely by falling upon some coal, and some of the dust entered the wounds. A local chemist and druggist was called upon to dress the injuries, and this he did, cleaning and stitching the cuts. When the wounds healed in the ordinary course of things, some slight discolouration remained, by reason of particles of coal dust which had not been removed. The chemist made the modest charge of half-a-guinea for his services, while it came out in evidence that a qualified practitioner would have demanded three guineas for the same operation; but whether with that charge the stain upon the' patient’s face would have been removed is left in doubt. What a qualified practitioner would now remove it for is as variable a quantity as was the expert evidence. One medico would remove it for three guineas, another would charge .£ls. In summing np, the presiding Judge is reported to have said that it did not matter whether the defendant was a chemist or a veterinary surgeon, or a blacksmith, or anything else. His responsibility was the same as any ordinary practitioner, no greater and no less. Having undertaken to treat the wound, he was hound to exhibit the same skill and the same care that an ordinary practitioner was expected to exhibit. It was for the jury to say whether the plaintiff had satisfied them that the chemist did not exhibit that skill and that care. The jury took a common-sense view of the matter, and returned a verdict for the defendant. There is, perhaps, not much room for surprise at the large “ unqualified” practice that is done in New Zealand, for it seems natural enough that a sufferer should he disinclined to consult a doctor and he charged a guinea for a simple ailment that a “ consulting chemist" could remove for half-a-crown.

THE BALANCE OF THE SEXES.

The set of statistics issued 3 from the Registrar - General’s Office the other day regarding the “Bachelors and Spinsters of New Zea-

land ” is quite the most entertaining reading that v. T e have had from that source for a long time. In 1886 the bachelors had the field to themselves, for their majority v;as 12,329. By 1891 the spinsters, by apparently superhuman efforts, reduced the majority to 3494, and now they seem to he frightening the “ mere unprotected male ” from the colony, though the Eegistrar more courteously calls the incident a “process of equalisation.” The spinster majority is now 1786. The report mates invidious distinctions, too, between the various provinces, remarting that “an csxeess of bachelors was preserved in Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, "Wellington, HI arl bo rough. Nelson and Westland from 18S6 to 1896, but in all these cases, except Taranaki, it diminished very much. In Canterbury, however, an excess of spinsters was found in 1886 of 910, which increased to 2516 in 1891 and to 3997 in 1896, while in Otago an excess of 2359 bachelors in 1886 changed to an excess of 773 spinsters in 1891, which increased to 2066 in 1896, these two important districts of the South Island losing large numbers of bachelors by departures to the North Island.” It seems, therefore, as the Wellington Post observes, that the bachelor principally flourishes in the North Island, and that if the native species declines in those latitudes there is an influx from the south to keep the numbers up, as though southerners hastened from the sphere of great fascination that promised to inthral them in what has generally—mistakenly, it would seem—been regarded as the cold south. Our contemporary does not pretend, in a matter of such delicacy as this, to venture an explanation of this unmarried male exodus from the south, because, as it suggests, it would be uncharitable and perhaps incorrect, to infer that the conditions are too had here forcin' young people to marry. For ourselves, we are disposed to think, after careful observation, that the “ equalisation ” process is assisted, in some mysterious way, by the spread of the tenets of prohibition. The families of nearly all the prohibition enthusiasts of our acquaintance show a majority of girls, and it is possible that the fact is capable of some scientific explanation. At any rate wo commend it to the serious consideration of Dr Schenk and his disciples in their search for the secret of sex.

A HEAVE BAIL WAY GUARD.

The large number of minor accidents occurring - on North Island lines during the past few mouths lias drawn a considerable amount of uncom-

SluclaUiO diliiUUUu ui ,u.iiuuiu* jlimeutary criticism on ' the managing

staff, particularly of the WellingtonNapier section. It is, therefore, very gratifying to find that at least in one instance the officials have displayed exemplary coolness and courage. A heavilyladen goods train was running down an incline to the Mangamahoe Station in a drizzling rain, and in the distance a fast passenger train was approaching from the opposite direction. The driver of the goods train tried his best to avert the threatening catastrophe, but the application of the brake had little effect, as the impetus already gained carried his train over the slippery rails. Noticing the danger, the men on the passenger train at once brought their charge to a standstill, but the goods train continued to thunder along the decline, and it appeared as if a disastrous collision was imminent. The officers stuck to their posts like men, with the exception of the goods guard, who seems to have borne himself like a hero. Having screwed down the van brake till the wheels had ceased to revolve, he swung himself on to the nearest sheep van, and hanging on to the bars, and climbing along the scanty foothold which the ledges afforded, while the train was going at a terrific speed, and causing the vehicle to oscillate dreadfully, he jammed down the brake with might and main. This feat he repeated with the next truck, and a diminution of the pace was at once noticeable. Many of the passengers jumped for their lives, but drivers and guards alike hung on to brakes and levers, and the goods train was brought up a few feet from the passenger train. The action of all concerned is worthy of the highest commendation, and Mr Quin, the guard, should certainly receive some public recognition of his great presence of mind and splendid courage.