Untitled

Northland Age, Volume 16, Issue 16, 9 January 1919, Page 3

The experience of the past few weeks has recalled the influenza epidemic of 1899-90, which, according to a standard authority, broke out in New Zealand in March, and was general in April and May. The official statistics of the period may not have been attributed complications to the disease, but the official reports state that no deaths from influenza occurred in March or May. The report for April states:—“ The prevailing influenza epidemic claimed one victim in April in each of the four boroughs— Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. Influenza has not previously appeared as a cause of death in either borough for many years.”

The way to find your measurement is to jump into the sieve. If you're big enough you won’t fall through the mesh; if you’re a shrivel you will be sifted out.

“I stand up in a pair of boots that cost me 38s 6d,” remarked Mr. J. T. M. Hornsby in the House. “The boots were made in New Zealand. Before the war I paid 25s for the same kind of boots.” “ Wartime 1” a member interjected. “It is robbery time,” replied Mr. Hornsby, “it is swindling time, any time you like that is unjust and improper, so far as those persons concerned who exploit the public.” He added that calico which was in store before the war, and was then selling at 8d a yard was now ts lld a yard.

Mr. A. Hyde, of Waikato, who visited Kaitaia during the Parliamentary Tour and who made a tour of the National Park last year, stated at the meeting of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, that he encountered the roadman, and in the course of his conversation with him, he inquired as to how he passed the time in those solitudes. The roadman replied that in the long winter evenings he did a considerable amount of reading, and inquiries as to the class of literature favoured elicited that it embraced everything from “ Deadwood Dick” to “ Pilgrim’s Progress.”

It is remarked, so far as Masterton sufferers is concerned, that many who were vaccinated in their childhood have been among the victims, while whole families which were not vaccinated have escaped.—Wairarapa Age.

“The rabbits in our part of the country are suffering from the “ flu ” and the epidemic is doing as much good as shiploads of poison,” said a King Country rabbit inspector recently.

“ Every measure in every programme, must be tested by this question, and this question only:—ls it just; is it for the benefit of the average man, without influence or privilege; does it embody in real fact the highest conception of social justice and of right dealing without respect of person or class or particular interest ?”—President Wilson, March 20, 1918.

A Sydney cable states that drastic provisions are contained in the Venereal Diseases Bill, which has been introduced into the Legislative Assembly. These include compulsory notification, the prohibition of advertisements of medicines and treatment, under penalties of a year’s imprisonment or a fine of £SOO, and in the case of infected persons marrying, authorising doctors to notify either party that the other is infected.

One element of self-reliance is courage. I do not mean the courage that will enable you to face the cannon; that’s noble, honourable. But, young men, there is a higher courage; a courage that will enable you to face the finger of scorn when you know that you’re right.- Colonel G. A. Gearhart.

There is a general impression that the influenza is not severe on the other side of the Tasman Sea, but this does not appear to be justified. A private letter received from a small costal town in Tasmania speaks of the prevalence of the disease, and says that quite 300 people were at one [time reported to be down. But so far as we can gather the epidemic is not so virulent in form as in New Zealand, as the death rate is not so high as it has been here.

A starling in the Mauku district selected an extraordinary spot for a nest the other day, with disastrous results. An old tin which had originally contained Stockholm tar and to the bottom and sides of which a little tar still adhered, appeared to her an advisable place to lay her eggs in. The warmth of the bird’s body melted the tar and she became firmly attached to her next, being only with difficulty extracated without injury. She had laid an egg, but an attempt to retrieve it only resulted in breaking it.

The epidemic has revealed many things not the least being a number of extraordinarily mental curiosities. For instance, a “ dear old lady ” paid a visit to the Central Depot at Christchurch, explaining that she had come to make arrangements to have her house painted, which she understood, could be done by making application to Nurse Maude 1

“ He is getting venomous,” remarked Cr. Walters at a meeting of the Piako County Council when the District Engineer wrote that the roads in the soldier settlements, when completed, would compare favourably with the other county roads in the district.

There is more in imagination than people may suppose. One of the male occupants of a temporary hospital in Masterton was suffering from insomnia, and implored the charge nurse to give him an injection of morphia. The nurse injected water into his arm, and he slept like a top.

The resignation of the Bishopric of Melanesia was recently forwarded to the Primate of New Zealand by Dr. Cecil J. Wood. In his letter to the Primate the Bishop said:—“ I regret to send you my resignation of the Bishopric of Melanesia. I have failed. The staff has unanimously voted a want of confidence in me, so for the work’s sake I withdraw.”

“If a man is selling a horse, he is not going to say it is worth only £3 if he can get £5 for it,” said witness to counsel in the Magistrate’s Court at Hamilton recently.

Permanency must rest upon staunch foundations; you can’t build high or heavily upon a rotten beginning—Support the Good Roads Movement.

The mileage of the blood circulation reveals some astonishing facts. It has just been circulated, for instance, that, assuming the heart to beat 69 times a minute at ordinary pressure, the blood goes at the rate of 207 yards a minute, or nine miles an hour, 220 miles a day and 8,000 miles a year. If a man 84 years old could have had one single bipod corpuscle floating in his blood all his life, it would have travelled 7,000,000 miles.

“ Reviewing the work in the State coal mines for the year it will be seen,” states a report presented to the House of Representatives, “that strikes were responsible for the loss of no less than 34 days’ work for the Point Elizabeth colliery and 32 at the Liverpool colliery. This, together with the loss of 23 days due to the destruction of the bins at Rewanui, will account for the decreased output from each colliery as compared witli the previous year.”

It is rather interesting to learn from an exchange that Lady Honeywood has recently acquired a fashionable 1A est End hotel, which she is personally conducting. Lady Honeywood is the wife of the holder of the oldest baronetcy in England.

Quitters and quailers are misfits all the way from the stone heap to the throne.

An inscription on a tombstone in the Masterton cemetary gives the age of a Maori warrior as nr. The inscription states that the Maori was christened in' 1816 by the late Samuel Marsden.