NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22421, 18 May 1936, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

BALANCED MEALS "Have you realised that bread, milk or cheese and a tomato, or instead of tho tomato some watercress or celery, form a practical perfect meal?" asked Mr. V. H. Mothram in a recent 8.8.C. broadcast "Tho samo can be said of bread, a grilled herring and a big squeeze of lemon. A kipper and a potato boiled in its skin run these close. In each of these suggestions thero is included protective foods, bodybuilding foods and body-warming foods. In fact the meals arc balanced. Elaborate meals and elaborate cooking make for unbalanced meals and, indirectly, unbalanced tempers." ITALY IN ABYSSINIA Major Neil Hunter, a member of tho International Committee for the Defence of Abyssinia, who visited that country in September, speaking at tho first meeting of the Abyssinian Association in London, said that oven if Italy wero to conquer Abyssinia it would in no way solvo the economic problems which presumably drove ' her to war. In years to come Abyssinia would probably bo a rich country, and it was obvious that it had great potentialities from an agricultural point of view. "But before Abyssinia could prove of value to a foreign conqueror," he said, "a period of time running into 10 or 20 years would have to elapse and millions of pounds would havo to be spent." TIMELESS AND TEMPORAL Tho Church is timeless: it is a living Church, growing into ever fuller knowledge of tho truth, writes Dr. Albert Peel in tho Congregational Quarterly. Some of its members hark back to itsearliest days and demand that its primitive government should bo the rule today. So it shotdd, but only if that government happens best to fit the Church for its task to-day. Some hark back to the fourth century, and desire that its creeds should express the belief of the Church to-day. If the Church is a living Church it will—naturally and not as if doing something foreign to itself—adapt to every suceeding age the eternal message committed unto it. Indeed, perhaps the crucial test for tho Church in a rapidly changing world may be its power to adapt itself to a new environment. And one of the features of the life of the churches to-day is that so little of this power of adaptation is evident. Since the 20th century began tho habits of the people of this country have suffered a sea-change. Tho discovery of the internal combustion engine, with all that it has brought about in the way of rapid transit by car and plane, the radio, tho gramophone, and the cinema have turned the life of the world upside down. Stand near a main road on Sunday morning and try to think what it was like on a Sunday morning in 1906 and the con trast will startle you. And how far have the churches moved to meet thii rapidly developing situation?

PLAY TOO COMPETITIVE "Are we not becoming too systematic in our recreations, too deadly serious in our entertainments, too businesslike in our hobbies?" asked Sir Alexander Keith in a recent 8.8.C. broadcast. "It seems to me that the pursuits with which wo choose to fill our leisure hours are being raised to such an exacting standard that leisure is in danger of becoming a penance. For those who like to take part in competitions, and to be constantly measuring their abilities against the abilities of others, there is nothing wrong in festivals. Yet it is a curious parados that in this age, when it is supposed to bo tho right thing for parents and educationists to condemn examinations in schools, the moment tho children shoot out of school and adolescence it is thought right and proper that they should compete against others in everything they take up. There is no difference between examinations and competitions; we are merely discarding the one convention, which has an intimate bearing upon our fitness to make headway in the world, for the samo convention under a different name on subjects which are side-issues. Quite a lot of sensible people eschew bridge, because they daren't laugh, daren't crack a joke, must not utter a friendly word at tho bridge table. Somewhat tho same is happening in golf. It is tho same with school games—system all the time, till individualism and leaderships are crushed out for want of their natural opportunities. Concentration and absorption are all right in work—one would bo pleased to see moro of these qualities in the routine of earning a livelihood; but recreations, amusements, and hobbies aro meant to bo a relief and a contrast to work, else they arc not what they preteud to be."

I ULSTER'S MILK SUPPLY "Fifteen months ago m.v Ministry brought tinder control and commenced the task of reorganising the liquid milk supply of the whole province," said the Minister of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, Sir Basil Brooke, in a recent statement. "Every cow in the country, whether producing milk for human consumption or for manufacturing purposes, is being examined by whole-time veterinary officers of my Ministry at least twice a year. Ulster is thus the only part of the British Isles which gives tho public such a guarantee as to the health of tho cow population. No one can now sell milk for human consumption unless ho holds a licence, and in order to retain tho licence the cows and byres must be clean, suitably equipped, and above all, the milk maintained at a high standard of cleanliness. No one, I think, will challenge the fact that within the incredibly short space of fifteen months the liquid milk supply, thanks to tho co-operation of producers, distributors and consumers, has been revolutionised. Ulster has now got the safest, cleanest, and cheapest liquid milk supply in tho British Isles, and progress continues. But I am not satisfied. Milk is tho cheapest food that can lie bought. Our consumption is lamentably low when compared with the United States and the Dominions. I appeal to all concerned, the general public and especially medical men luid health workers, to help to increase our consumption. Of course, it is in the interests of the farmers, but it is far more in tho interests of our race. Unless wo consume moro clean fresh milk we can never produce a healthy, virile race."