NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16656, 28 September 1917, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

SUFFERINGS OF BELGIANS.

A terrible picture of tho lot of deported Belgian civilians in Germany, especially those who have been sent to the internment camp at Soltau, was recently published in Paris. When tho deported Belgians reached Soltau they were called upon to sign a labour contract. The majority having refused, they were despatched to smallor camps at Konigsmoor. Teufelsmoor, and Lichtenhorst, where the* food wan so bad that after a few days the hospital was crowded. It was finally decided to send those who had been most weakened to the central hospital at Soltau. Despite this measure, many of tnem died, and a good number perished on the road to Soltau. At Lichtenhorst there were 39 deaths. In one hut alono nine men were frozen to death, and ten were rendered unconscious by the intense cold in one night. At Soltau .hospital, during one month, there was an average of three deaths per day, and in the following month the average rose to four daily; this in spite of the fact that there was no epidemic. The medical label over nearly all tho beds showed that the occupants were suffering from general weakness or weakness of the heart.

UNITED STATES STEEL. Mr. Wilson's appeal tc producers and manufacturers to put patriotism before profit and to charge reasonable prices to everybody had its immediate effect when the ( steel and iron men in conference at Washington agreed to place their produce tinder Government control for the period of the war, and to do everything in their power to stimulate increased production. By a coincidence also, perhaps, many copper miners on strike in Arizona agreed to return to work. The capitulation of the steel men was influenced by Mr. Wilson's assurance that ail care would be taken to protect American industry and to permit its expansion. Submitting to Government control means that prices will bo subject to negotiation between tho owners and the Foderal Trade Commis- ] sion, which is now investigating the cost of production. Tho positive fixing of | prices of iron and steel is particularly difficult, on account of the great difference in cost of production at mills situated in different localities, and the fact that contracts are already booked covering largo quantities of material at very high prices for delivery many months ahead. The. need of iron and steel for war purposes is so great that it has been seriously suggested that the available supplies should bo reserved solely for such uses. CLEAN MILK SUPPLIES: A medical authority at one of the conferences of baby week stated that London j milk contains more germs per cubic inch I than almost any other substance in the' world. A correspondent nf a London ' newspaper states: If everyone realised, that milk as it leaves a healthy cow contains a negligible quantity of bacteria, | that its subsequent hygienic value depends ; on tho number and kind of bacteria that j may exist in it, that the milk our children get usually contains millions of bacteria in each teaspoonful, and that proper care from the cow to the consumer ! would ensuro its containing only thousands in the place of millions—a difference that may result in life instead of death—the actual existence of a proper supply would be assured. The problem j has been solved in tho United States. Thero milk is graded by the Health Department of the city or Stato on the basis of tho number of bacteria it contains when it reaches the consumer. Every milk vendor must obtain an annual license to sell milk, which clearly defines the quality in which he deals, whether; grade A suitable for infant feeding, grade' R for adujts, or grade C, that is not fit for infant feeding nor for adult use, but is safe for cooking purposes. Serious! infraction of the regulations is punished by the license being cancelled. The most important effect of grading milk in j America has been to raise the quality' of the lowest grade so that at the present' time cleaner milk is within the reach of the poor of many American cities than' is obtainable by any class in the United Kingdom.