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Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 59, 5 March 1909, Page 6

With reference to" the recent visit of -the Canadian "Kilties" to Palmerston North, an indignant Scot writes: —"The* Kilties have come, and we will bless, the time that they go. What a parody on a military band! Their appearance would reduce, the ■average adjutant of a Highland battalion to volubility in the language he kens best, and when that failed he would fall back on thei Gaelic. i am tempted to criticise in the unlicensed method, but in deference to the repute of your paper will simply suggest that the band get a barber, and get their hair cut; next, that they get a nurse to dross them; why should one man wear his brooch on the stomach, some on the chest, 'and a few on the point of the shoulder— where the brooch ought to be? and why should one half hang the plaid to the heels and the other half hang it to the toes? Why cannot these unkempt individuals dress in the. same way and avoid making a ridicule of the unifoi-m which is world famous? Look at their spats! Some properly buttoned, others lacking here and there, and one at least with only the top and bottom buttoned .and all the slack between sagging. Of their music I say nothing. I have not heard it; but the point which I wish to emphasise is this: that no company has a right to disgrace an honored uniform for the sake of gathering a few shillings from the pockets of those who honor Scotland and her traditions."

According to statistics, London is a healthier place to live in than any large centre of population in Europe or America. "It is, in fact, only surpassed," says the Globe, "by some.of those new cities in Australia and New Zealand in which a peculiarly vigorous stock of young settlers, living under excellent conditions, contrive ; to_ cheat Nature of the supreme penalty till well after the three-score' and ten years, which the Psalmist has declared to be the limit of life. It is not dijinciilt to discover the causes for the excellent health enjoyed by London. The population is constantly increasing as is that of the Colonies, by vigorous young blood from the country. The statistics gain a small advantage at the other end of life, since old folks often leave the Metropolis to spend their last years in the home of their youth. These two causes, however, are of relatively small importance when compared with the perfect drainage system, the strict regulations which make London one of the safest seaports in the world, and the general care by sanitary officers—to whom the better educated now lend willing assistance—of the laws of hygiene..Nor must the efforts of a previous generation be forgotten. The law passed in 1851 relative to burials in the metropolitan area is admitted by those who have studied the subject to have been an important ameliorating measure."