POSTURE AND HEALTH

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 200, 24 July 1936, Page 8

POSTURE AND HEALTH

It is balanced carriage, correct and energetic posture, that proclaims abundant health, and yet with all the developments that have taken place in tne education of children, no attention has been given to this side of the problem. Proper posture, according to a medical authority, enables us not merely to look well and move gracefully, but it also conserves the reservoirs of energy that seep away unconsciously through common postural defects. Good posture is more than merelystanding straight. In balance, all parts of the body, including the internal organs, are held in working position. Faulty posture is to the human body what poor engineering is to a bridge. H the girders are out of plumb, grave stresses develop, and the structure sags or collapses. When similar unalignments in the human framework are brought about by postural carelessness, commuscular and nervous energy must be expended. For example, the head in its normal upright position rests squarely atop the bony structure of the spine, and requires no muscular effort to hold there. But when the head is improperly held its weight must be suported by- the back muscles, with the attendant fatigue accompanying all prolonged muscular strain. The authority we quote declares that few mortal spines are really straight as they rest upon the sacrum; about* 9o per cent, have what is known as the lumbar curve. Accumulations of this curve give rise to a long list of diseases. “(Jbseiwe the stance of the average man as he approaches the hazards of middle lile. What a pitiful figure he cuts as he stands there, head sunk forward, chin dragging, shoulders humped, chest collapsed, stomach protruding, and his weight on his heels. To the medical profession he is known as the gorilla or fatigue type. No wonder he tires easily, and always feels below par.” He suggests that one should sit well, back in a chair so that the weight is on the bottom of the thighs, and not on the base of the spine. When sitting properly on a well designed chair, a large part of the body j s at rest and utterly without strain on nerves, muscle, or spine. For desk or table work draw one foot back by the side <3f the chair and lean slightly forward bending at the hip, not at the neck or waistline. Never allow the shoulders to get back of the hips. This position takes a terrific strain off the eyes, because the face c-au be brought down to the work at the proper angle without bending the neck. Tests show that school children do better work and are less fidgety and mischievous when seated in this position.

The lOoth anniversary of the proclamation of the independence of Belgium and the establishment of the Monarchy fell on Tuesday. The number of men employed by the Public Works Department •on the railway route between Gisborne and Waikokopu has reached a total of 300. A new regulation in the Gazette provides that the travelling allowances of stipendiary- magistrates which wero fixed in July, 1934, at 18s a day, arc to bo increased to 20s. The Dannevirke County Council this week terminated the employment of 37 men who had been employed as relief workers, mainly on the OngaliaMakuri highway, the Weber highway, the Mangahei Hoad and the - Tiratu Block roads. ' There are 42 relief workers still employed by the council and the others are to receive sustenance, although it is hoped that manywili he absorbed in private employment. The cabled advice from London of the sudden death of Rt. Rev, Arthur Llewellyn Preston, Bishop Suffragan of Woolwich, is of particular interest to people in the Wellington diocese in view of the fact that overtures were made to him 'last year in the hope that ho would come to New Zealand to succeed Bishop T. H. Sprott. At the Diocesan Synod last October the Bishop of Woolwich was elected to he Bishop of Wellington, but he declined. A supplement to the New Zealand Gazette issued yesterday contains comprehensive provisions relating to passenger services under the Transport Licensing Act, 1931. Thirteen former Orders-in-Council are revoked, and transport districts have been constituted with a definition of boundaries in the North and South Islands. The new provisions cover the issue of passenger service licenses, faros, and tickets, transfer of licenses, and the condition of vehicles. Provision is also made for appeals to the Minister of Transport, and a list of tees lor licenses and certificates of fitness is cited. Khyber Pass, Auckland, was originally a nickname, which workmen bestowed on the street, according to a statement by Rev. W. E. Lush in recalling some of the earliest history of the city at a meeting of the Historical Society-. ' From memory, he thought the street was formed in 1808. Before that time there was only- one way out of Auckland, that being via Shortland Crescent, Waterloo Quadrant, Alten Road, and Parnell. The men who made Khyber Pass were mostly old soldiers from India, which country was always in their mind. Among themselves they called the highway which they were forming Khyber Pass, and the name remained.

iSevoral men have left the Y\ est Coast of the South Island during the past week to undertake prospecting tor gold in Fiji.

The Magisterial inquiry into the mishap to the Wahine will be opened at Wellington next Wednesday. Mr Jill. Mosley, S.M., will preside. The yield of taxation in New South Wales for the year ended June 30 was higher by 16.34 per cent, than that for 1934-35. Nearly all forms of taxation showed larger returns.

A proposal submitted to the ratepayers of the Waikato County for their sanction to raise a loan of £70,000 lor the improvement of roads and bridges in the district was carried by a large majority.

Through falling into a steam vent in the Whakarewarewa native reserve at Rotorua, a Maori, Rawe Maniatoto, aged about 40, suffered severe scalds on the lower part of his body, and is in a dangerous-condition. An old sod cottage at Shag Point, Otago, in which Mrs Louisa Reason, aged 99 years, has lived for more than half a century, is to be pulled down to make way for a new highway which is being constructed through the site. The Public Works Department will provide a new house for Mrs Reason.

Before the Labour Government assumed office the Tourist Advisory Board set up last year by the National Government met monthly, but it is now nine months since the last meeting, and members assume that the services of the board arc no longer required. “We are expecting our running shoes at any time.” said Mr R. L. Wiglev, a member of the board when he was in Christchurch for the conference of tourist interests on Wednesday.

Forgotten in recent years because of the changes that have occurred in the staff of the Dominion Museum Wellington, a portfolio in which King George 111 kept some of his etchings and engravings of masters of the 16th., 17th and IStli centuries, has been brought to light during the changeover to the new museum building. Twelve of Rembrandt’s most famous works, including his wellknown “Mill” and an impression of Amsterdam, are included in the portfolio.

“You are the common jury, but the word ‘common’ there does not mean what many people think,” remarked His Honour Mr Justice Blair in the course of an address to, the jury at the Supreme Court to-day. “The word means ‘common to all classes in the community.’ Whether a man is a millionaire or a pauper he is bound to serve on a common jury. Those twelve men constitute, from British ideas, the ideal tribunal *io sift truth from untruth and draw the ordinary, reasonable conclusions.”