THE Northern Advocate Daily WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE Northern Mail Daily. WEDNESDAY MAY 6, 1914. GONE BY DEFAULT.

Northern Advocate, 6 May 1914, Page 6

THE Northern Advocate Daily WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE Northern Mail Daily.

WEDNESDAY MAY 6, 1914. GONE BY DEFAULT.

REGISTERED FOR TRANSMISSION THROOGH THE POST AS A NEWSPAPER

"Something in the climate" is the generally accepted explanation of the Northern characteristic of dolce far niente. The virile visitor from'lower temperature rer gicms is wont to wonder at our easy-going, but let him take up his abode in this end of New Zealand and his active ardour sopn loses its edge and dulls down to the stratum standard of Northern industry. Possibly it is all the better.that our ways are.more of the conservative than the meteoric order, for we have the advantage

of the progress we do make being sure, substantial, > and enduring. But. judging by the number of 'movements that have suddenly sprung up and withered in imitation 1 of Jonah's gourd, we should say that enthusiasm'is not one of our. lasting qualities, with the; supreme exception of charitable causes. Instances are not far to seek in such projects as the Amateur Parliament, Ratepayers' Associations, and the Stjjohn Ambulance Society, which/walked with us awhile and were not.. That highly commendable order, the Plunket Nurse Society, has also had little to say for itself ; for a long time in this district, and save, for a faithful few seems to be tending towards decadence. In all ' 'thes,Q things beneficial qualities inhere, and they are all capable of development into most useful organisations. Certainly we can get ~ along withemt them somehow, just as we can exist on bread and water, but it is none the less a mistake to refuse better things that are offering. The St. John Ambulance Society, branch—Once . a ,' briefly live entity with us and now as dead as the dodo—is a case in point where we are missing innumerable advantages of : mutual " help in times of critical need. Facilities for obtaining qualified medical attention are' certainly much greater now than ,in the past, but there will always be a liability to crises where the firstaid. instruction would b'ei invaluable. Knowledge of the best mi- ' tial methods< of--treating accident cases, resuscitating the apparently drowned, and otherwise exercising prompt remedial measures cannot be too widely dissem!inated. Failing that knowledge the lay spectator may helplessly stand by unrelieved agony, and even imp.otently watch the flickering out of lives that could be saved '* if only someone knew> how. The increasing use. of the association throughout the Dominion is plainly shown in the'statistics given in the latest > annual report. •'!' The number of cases dealt -with public duty in 1906 were. 37\ and in 1913 had grown to 2729. VRemovals or transports in 1906-mjmr bered 41, and in 1913 totalled 1055. Gases, privately nursed r by ; * members of the nursing division in 1906 were 21,' and last- year , aggregated 381. These, figures: , are eloquent testimony to. the,way in which the motto-of the.ancient , St. John Order.—"For the/fAith, and the good of humanity being.'sustained; but the 'North's . part and lot in the- statistics was . regrettably infinitesimal, and we ( could like to branches of the society established at every con- : " yenient northern centre. Neither! can the merits of the Society 1 for , the, Health of Women and Chil-. d^en —as inaugurated in New Zealand by Lady Plunket—be held as . other than beneficent, in the highest degree. This is substantiated , by three of the society's chief aims,' which are.—(l) The,scien- • tific feeding of infants and .the preservation of v infant life;. (2) the tuition of mothers in alKmatters pertaining to themselves-and to their infants; "(3) the.iristruc- . ' tion of unmarried women and-par-ticularly adolescent girls on,all matters pertaining' to their physical and also, to a limited extent, to their moral hygiene. The society has been largely instrumental in decreasing the death' rate o£/ infants to seven per 100, and pn r that ground alone is worthy of. working .membership in every corner of'the country: .We desire to express the hope that, these two _. admirable causes will be taken up ; in earnest by all northern sections,, ' ( and that, climate notwithstanding, I a new and'continuOus enthusiasm..; will be discovered. ' •