LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13859, 23 March 1907, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

TUB CHILDREN'S WARD, DUXP.DIV HOSPITAL. SIR,-As the Hospital by-laws arc bcin» revised, and as questions with regard to tlio children's ward have been under discussion in the public press during lliis week, I consider the present, a suitable opportunity of drawing attention to tho anomalous condition! of affairs which obtains 111 oui- local hospital in this regard. One u-i i prohibits (ho admission of children under two years of age to the Hospital. lam well aware that urgent surgical cases are admitted by tho house surgeon, and surgical eases requiring operation Jnay be admitted on the rccomjuonda'i.°" * r1,5 ' CTS - Why matters medical should lie referred to the trustees is one of those thingswhich no "fellah" ran understand. Children suffering from diseases not requiring operation aro refused admission ; that is to say, children suffering from inflammation of the lungs, wasting diseases, etc., complaints which require trained nursing and scientific feeding, are debarred from receiving the benefits, of a public hospital. _ A grave injustice is thereby directly inflicted on the poor side children of tlio city, and indirectly the children suffer owing to the fact I hat the students attending the Hospital-the future medicos of Now Zealand—have :iio opportunity of studying the diseases of children in the only profitable way—i.e., at tlio bedside. One-fourth of the total death-rate occurs during the first year of life, and during tho first two years one-third. .Ilenoo the importance of tho institution of an infants' ward ill tho Dunedin Hospital. I am, etc., Wit. Evans. MAIL NOTICES. Sin,—l sco by tho Post Office notices that Australian and Home mails close here oil Monday morning, and that the s.s. Kiverina leaves Port Chalmers for Melbourne, via Bluff, to-morrow (Saturday) at--4 p.m. If tho above mails aro going by the Kiverina she must bo delayed at tlio Bluff from Sunday morning until Monday evening.—l am, etc., March 22. Business. ■

SITE FOR TIIE PUBLIC BATHS. Sin,—l think it will bo a matter of regret if the committee appointed to decido upon tho bath site should, in its eagerness to hurry on with the business, overlook a phase of this question which was pointed out and strongly emphasised by an influential advocate of this nntelwieeded establishment. I refer to tho potential value the present rescrvo is capable of producing, inasmuch as tho revenue calculated to be derivable therefrom would, if judiciously apportioned, piovido for probably Ihreo bathing institutions, and that in parts of the city moro convenient for the regular patrons than tho Moray place site. Public baths to properly fulfil their object, should bo so situated, as to provide tho facilities for the morning bath, and it will fail in this object if the present site is _ selected and tbo greater number oE citizens quite debarred from indulging in this health-giving pursuit.—l am, etc., Deliberate. THE TEACHING OF HANDWRITING. Sir,—lll your issue of t-ho 19th there appears an article under tho above heading, and, with your permission, I should like to make a few comments 011 some of the matter contained therein, particularly that emanating from Mr Edward Johnston, instructor of writing and lettering at the London County Council Central School of Arts and Crafts and at tho Royal Collego of Art, South Kensington. One would imagine that it would bo impossible to disagree with such an authority, but in my humble opinion ho is all at sea. As you are aware, I have for a good many years been teaching writing in Dunodin, and during that period I havo had ample opportunity of studying the different styles and defects of the writing introduced into tho public schools, and I have 110 hesitation in saying that tho fault of to much bad writing turned out of the schools docs not lio with tho pupils or the copybooks they use, so much as with tho teachers and the methods they employ. I take it for granted that there is not much difference between the, copy-books used in Great- Britain ami those used in our schools, although here undoubtedly there is too much variety; but 110 one can complain, as Mr Johnston docs, of tho models being illegible. You quote Mi Johnston as saying: "Models based on fluency havo no lasting, controlling influence, and eventually tho writer's hand degenerates." With this I cntirelv disagree. and I am also adverse to tho opinion that- the best model is a " simple, round, upright, formal hand," developing into an oval, slantine, and less formal stvie." Herein lies the crux of the whole thing, and it is in attempting to follow instructions such as these that so few become good writers.

To write a. vertical style properly the right elbow generally leaves tlic side of the body and the penholder, points away from the shoulder; but ordinary nibs were never mado with the idea that' they would be held in that position, and I maintain that the practice of allowing children to sprawl over their desks with arms akimbo, their noses alirost touching the paper or slato f.hov are writing upon, and often with beads of perspiration starting from their brows with the amount of energy they are putting into their hard labour, is simply a waste of time and stationery, and conducive to dyspepsia or consumption. There is no reason whatever why children should not bo taught to write "with case and fluency from the very first; but vertical writing and ease and fluency arc antagonistic, and' in teaching this style in the primary schools children are asl.-ed to learn to do something which they will probably have to learn to undo as soon as' they leave school.

From mv own experience, there must be a. frightful waste of steel pens owing altogether to the position in which lliey lire held by the writer. After the first few strokes of a new nen the nib is strained, and the succeeding strokes are mere scratches; henee the disgraceful writing thai- is turned out of not only the primary, but also the higher school";.—I •if"; . E. T. Wood. , Duncdin, March 21. RABBIT EXPORTING. Sir.—The trapping season is now started, and a great army of rabbittrappers has undertaken to rcduoe flic number of bunnies, with profit both to themselves and tho export trade. A few weeks before tho exporters could accept the rabbits a small army of inspectors, having received their annual orders from the head of fhe Rabbit Department, commenced, as usual, to harass the farmers, compelling thorn, through fear of a- summons, to lay poison, with the result that, owing to tho prolonged drought causing a very great scarcity of feed, the rabbits were considerably thinned out in some parts of the country. Do you not think that this is a waste that should have been avoided? The large taiiics that many trappers are now obtaining daily, notwithstanding the poisoning, make it" plain that trapping is surest and most effective in keeping the down, and there is no doubt that th'c majority of the farmers, if they could get trappers to clear their lands, would bo quite content to leave it entirely to them, thus leaving them more timo for their own special work. Tho Government appears to make poultry-freezing pay: if might include rabbits, and so keep tho "pest" down without waste. Poisoning so soon before exportation of rabbits must bo prejudicial to tho trade, and should not bo carried out till the season is ended, when its muchvnunted efficacy might bo shown in a still further thinning.—l am, etc., A. F. E. NEW ZEALAND DRUG COMPANY'S ANNUAL MEETING. Sir,—l have been a shareholder of the abovenamed company for a number of years, and have always made it my business to attend the annual meetings. 111 going over the balance sheet, practically everything seemed to me to be of a very satisfactory nature. Not only was I very pleased with the chairman's explanatory remarks regarding the very satisfactory manner in which everything is carried on at- the various branches of this company, but also with Mr Kempthorne's—our laic manager and one of tho principal shareholders in tho company—recommendations as to what should bo done for tho future welfare of the company. As to the amount written off for the machinery of the linseed industry, I havo always" taken great interest with regard to the future welfare of this particularly profitable department.; but in the past the trouble has been in procuring the linseed. It would never pay the company to import it, and tho farmers refuse to grow it, though I am informed, it would pay them bet-tor than growing wheat. Considering the amount of oil that is used for painting wooden buildings and the oil-cake for cattle feed, _ this would be a very profitable industry if the company could havo purchased the linseed at a reasonable figure. Mr Ivempthorne in his practical remarks referred to the fine buildings tho

company had at. Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. I consider it a very wise step- to have written off £1000 for the Stafford street warehouse, as it. has been up, I am informed, over 40 years, and is only a leasehold. As tho company has a quarter _of an acre of freehold just opposite, it will be a very wise thing if the directors of this company erect- without delay a first-class building. I?v so doing they will have far more room for storing goods, and also for displaying to customers the various drugs ami other things they have for sale. With the improveiments going on at the works at Btinisido, £1000 being written off for said building's, etc.. and the now warehouse at Stafford street, the company woirid then have all that is practically required to carry on a first-class business for tho future welfare of this company. I, as well as my follow shareholders, sincerely trust that, after the amount of £2217 15s 9d lias been written off for tho linseed industry machinery, tho Burnside plant, and the Stafford street warehouse, for tho future the dividends will be for belter than ill the past. _ I myself can see no reason why such anticipations of Ihe shareholders should not. be the future decision of the tlmirman and directors of this very prosperous company. —I am, etc., n. W. Mitchell. New street, Musselburgh, March 22.

LAW-MAKING EXTRAORDINARY. Sin, —I do not ask you to give me space to discuss tho merits of tlio case recently brought against me for soiling after hours 011 a Saturday night, but I desiro to point out the unfairness of the law under which I was prosecuted, in the hope that some of our legislators will give the matter consideration. Our Liberal Government allows drapers, grocers, publicans, etc., to keep open after 9 p.m.. but chemists and herbalists must close at 9 sharp or they will be dragged to court and lined from Is to £10. The magistrate said, after a week's study, that there had been a broach of the law, and fined me about £5. The law as it applies to chemists could not bo matched in Russia or any barbarous country. It says a chemist may sell after horn's only urgent medicines and surgical appliances, but on Sundays he can keep open all day and night, and sell what lie likes. Now, if drapers and others aro allowed half an hour's^grace after closing hours, why not mcdicino vendors? The Shops and Offices Act, to be just- to all, must compel all to close at the same time. This is the opinion of all even-balanced minds.—l am, etc., J. Neil.

GOOD FRIDAY TRAMS. Sir, —Permit mo through your columns, as a suburban resident, to" thank the Mayor for slopping by his caveat the illegal action not only contemplated, but insisted on, by a majority of the City Councillors _m connection with the running of the citizens' trams on Good Friday. It is greatly to bo regretted that such an extrcmo course became ncccssary, but it has been token in the interests of law and order, and has saved the necessity of civil actions, joint and several, being taken against the councillors for a flagrant breach of .the law that- could not have been defended on any ground. From my personal knowledge I may say, that the law would have been sot in motion by jthoso who had tile reputation of tho city at heart, as a hnv-abiding community. Surely, Sir, it is lime that nonsensical taJk came to an 'end about tho hardship sulleved by the tram employees, who, without doubt, are the best paid and most lightly-worked of any body of unskilled labourers in the country. Many of them know something of tho discomforts they had to put up with when tho horse trams were running, especially in bad weather. To-day their life is that of a gentleman by comparison—they arc well clothed, clean-handed, drive on rails instead of in ruts, arc sheltered in a glass-covered compartment from all weathers, and have •nothing heavier to lift all day than tho key of their motors. Do they forget tho pit whence they were diggedf They know when they entered the tram service that they had to run the cars to suit public convenience, and not at their own pleasure. Railways, steamboats, coach proprietors, and cabmen are under similar obligations. So that these men get their fair lioliday every year, what more can they reasonably expect? It is very ridiculous to suppose that the. tram service will bo viewed with disfavour unless tho men go holidaymaking en masse once n year. As nsuburban resident I see that new faces are constantly coming into the service, and 110 doubt the manager would say there was not the slightest difficulty in filling vacancies.—l am, etc., Subuhbax, Caversham, March 20. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT CONTESTS. Sir,—As a. visitor to New Zealand I have been disgusted to read of the proposed "physical development contests" al'oufc to bo held at the Exhibition. It woidd bo hard to conceive of anything that will have such bad moral effect as this, and that such a show should be allowed to take place in New Zealand, and under the roof of the Exhibition, is a black stain upon tho fair name of this colony. Wishing success to all those who are seeking to havo it stopped,—l am, etc., Arthur E. Storrie. Pueraa, March 21.