THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1926. THE HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19836, 8 July 1926, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1926. THE HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN

Most people are slill proue to regard the school merely as a place where children go to learn lessons and do sums. The tradition that education is merely learning is far from dead. Governments of civilised lands will more readily votelarge sums of money to pay for a certain farrago of 51 some cf them of questionable value, to bo Injected into the young mind than they will for conditions and supervision that ensure a sound physique. The figures quoted in

our columns last week with reference to the physical results of open-air schools deserve close attention. The experiment carried out at Christchurch has proceeded along the lines usual in such projects. Certain classes have been set apart for the testing of the new conditioas, and certain others, known as control groups, have been surveyed to give a criterion for comparison. The experiment with open-air rooms in Christchurch has yielded the conclusion, on an attendance basis, that the ordinary closed-in school room is the more favourable ground for breeding influenza, and hence militates against the health, and consequently against the education, of the children. This is a form of experiment which should be carried further. It is foolish to spend public money on the mind if the body is not first cared for. The old Roman view, “Mens sana in corpore sauo” is as valid to-day as ever. Mental culture in a natio of “weeds” would be simply contemptible. Unfortunately the health ot children nowhere receives the care it merits. It is left to luck or to oversight (often, indeed, oversight in its unfavourable significance) on the part of the parents. A recent report of a medical inspector in Otago was not pleasant reading: “Out of 153 children examined, 28 had pediculosis, 10 had scabies, two had impetigo, and 18 uncleanness.” In another school the lighting arrangements were “defective.” One does not need to be a medical expert to detect that the main deficiency in schools, in almost every country in the world, is the lack of pure air. The passer-by at playtime may, without entering the open school door, experience only too pungently the state of the atmosphere inside, for, like the perfume from Cleopatra’s barge, to parody Shakespeare, “it hits the sense of the adjacent nose.” An inadequate supply of oxygen is an enemy to mental and physical energy. Any man who works in a stuffy office knows that his efficiency is lessened bybad ventilation. Further than that, disease is disseminated, as the Christchurch experiment shows, in closely packed rooms, especially in winter when there is a temptation to risk the unnoticed onset of disease rather than undergo the immediate discomfort of cold. Those who suffer from pulmonary and kindred diseases, not only suffer harm in themselves, but become an immediate menace to those penned with them in the same miasmatic atmosphere. Neiv Zealanders have a reputation for fine physique and bodily energy; they must see to it that their natural endowment is not interfered with in the children by ill-ventilated and ill-lighted rooms. There may be a question as to the wisdom of the expenditure on some of the so-called higher subjects, but there can bp no debate about health. Germany was the first modern country to 'ntroduco the open-air school, about twenty years ago. Epgland soon followed. Since then, the movement has spread throughout the world. In 1922, numbers of weakly children gained health and vigour in the London County Council open-air school in a congested area in Bow road. According to Sir William Hamer’s report in 1924, some twenty of these children, who had previously been physically unable to attend school for several years, were in the open-air conditions able to score an average attendance of 83.5. The climate of England might have been expected to hinder the use of such schools. Yet such does not appear to be the case. New Zealand, of course, offers splendid opportunities of sun and genial air, not unlike that of Mediterranean lands. In Pompeii may still be seen the openfronted rooms where children were taught. Sometimes instruction was given in a loggia on the roof, or in a garden walk sheltered by trellis-work. This country made a good beginning with open-air .schools several years ago, and will undoubtedly continue the movement. ‘There is plenty of knowledge in the world; the application of it is wanting. Minerva, goddess of wisdom, has been too long the monopolist of adoration in the temples of learning. There is need to set up shrines to Hygeia, goddess of health, not only in the cities of the world, but also in country districts. 111-lighted, crowded, and ill-ventilated school rooms still exist in great numbers oven in. all the most civilised countries, but there is a better day coming. The attendance statistics at the Christchurch open-air school rooms are an added assurance that the demand for pure air for the children is both economically and hygienically sound.

THE NAVY LEAGUE

In New Zealand the Navy League fulfils a useful function in keeping before the public and its representatives in Parliament the question of the security of this part of the Empire. The Otago branch of the League has always been well to the fore in activities of this kind, and it is satisfactory to note the indications of {he maintenance of virility manifested at the annual meeting held yesterday. The main points emphasised by the speakers had relation to the comparative strength of the Imperial Navy at the present time, and the duty which devolves upon New Zealand to contribute adequately to the heavy cost of its upkeep. The Navy League is not a martial organisation. Defence, not defiance, is its theme, and it can claim to have logic on its side if there is any suggestion that its propaganda is inconsistent with international movements towards peace and disarmament. As Sir James Allen emphasised in a speech delivered recently in the Old Country, the League of Nations is not yet in a position to provide a peaceful world. That consideration was enlarged upon very forcibly at yesterday’s meeting by Mr H. E. Barrowclough in an address of a particularly stimulating kind. conspicuous for the attention directed to the hard logic of facts. The navy is the Empire’s fir.st line of defence; indeed, its only line of defence. And the Navy League is entitled to credit in seeking to keep this thought alive in the mind of the community, and to educate all, the young people especi ally, respecting our peculiar dependence on the navy, and our duty towards it, in order that it may continue to he the sure shield of Empire. The Navy League stands simply for the maintenance of a force that will guarantee security. How security can he guaranteed to the Empire otherwise than by a navy capable of protecting the vast

range of its trade routes nobody has attempted to demonstrate. The peculiar dependence of New Zealand upon such protection must be as apparent to all thinking persons as it must be clear that the time is more than overdue when this Dominion should assume a greater share of the burden which the provision of it entails. Again, when the Navy League expresses concern respecting the relative strength at which the navy is being maintained at the present time, it is' merely facing facts. It is merely asking whether the navy is adequate for the purpose which it has to serve. The British Empire is dependent upon naval protection in a far greater degree than any other nation in the world. Yet its navy does not reflect that circumstance to-day, though it may have in the past. The circumstance that the re is no specified enemy in view does not provide any assurance where assurance has always been deemed necessary. “Let it be remembered,” writes Mr Archibald! Hurd, the well-known authority, in the Daily Telegraph, “that a man-of-war cannot be built in less than two or three years, and that it takes throe times as long to train efficient oilicers and men for whatever ships we may be able to send to sea in an emergency.” And in commenting on figures illustrating the decline of British naval strength he observes:

If account be taken of every warship of every description, including auxiliaries of all kinds, the contrast between the state of the Fleet on the eve of the war and to-day is even more notable, in view of the revelation which was made during that struggle of the importance of small craft. We had 306 men-of-war in full commission, with 302 with reduced crews and 18 paid off; now the 306 have been reduced to 210, the 302 to 201, and in place of 18 vessels paid off there are 24. The Fleet is a mere skeleton of what it was in the early summer of 1914. These comparisons, let it be noted, are not concerned with the Fleet during the war, when it attained enormous proportions, with 1211 pennants flying in regular men-of-war and 3831 auxiliary craft in commission. The battle fleet which we_ could now send to sea on mobilisation is less than one-third the size that it was when the war opened; the cruisers have been cut down by more than one-half, and of destroyers and submarines we possess 65 per cent, only of the numbers which existed in July. 1914.

That indicates how far' Great Britain has gone in the reduction of her naval armament. No other nation can show anything approaching it. “Is the navy small enough,” asks Mr Hurd, “to satisfy that section of the nation which has forgotten the extent to which we are dependent on the sea for food and raw materials?” In their comparative isolation in that new sphere of international interest, the Pacific, and with their trade and security in the balance, New Zealand and Australia can only return one answer to a question of that kind. And it behoves them, as the Navy League urges, to back their opinion in a practical manner.

At the special meeting of the Otago Harbour Board yesterday, Mr J. Hogg (president qf the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association), in urging the cause of local manufacturers, suggested that the board should stipulate in future that uniforms for;its employees should bo locally manufactured. City corporations throughout the Dominion had either adopted this principle in respect of employees’ uniforms or were considering its adoption.

The stock sale at Burnside yesterday was an improved one from a vendors’ point of view, all fat stock showing an advance in prices. Fat cattle totalled 207, compared with 297 last week. Hie entry was not equal to the demand. Included in the yarding .were some extra prime bullocks and heifers. The sale opened somewhat slowly, but as the sale advanced there was a decided improvement. Prime bullocks improved to the extent of 25s per head, and others from 5s to 10s per head. Prime handy-weight, ox beef sold at up to 40s per 1001 b, heavyweight prime ox and medium quality ox beef to 37s 6d, prime heifer to 32s 6d, and light heifer and cow beef from 25s to 27s fid per 1001 b. There was an entry of 2055 fat sheep, compared with 1950 last Wednesday. The quality was from fair to prime, average ewes being in rather targe a proportion. The market opened quietly, and the sale was (very irregular, but there was, generally speaking, rather a good tone. Butchers’ sheep sold particularly well, and prices advanced from Is to Is fid per head. Prime handyweight wethers sold at from to fid per lb ; prime heavy-weight wethers to 5d : prime ewes to sd; and light and aired ewes 4d to 4£d per lb. Only 50 fat lambs were forward, the finality being from medium to very fair. Prices showed a distinct advance on those ruling last week, and the per pound basis was approximately 9id. There was a mixed entry of 293 head of store cattle, the demand for steers being particularly good. There was an average entry of pigs, baconers being in specially keen demand. Our London correspondent mentions that at a sale realising £1675 at Puttick’s auction rooms, Baxter colour prints, entitled “The Rev. J. Waterhouse and the Landing of the New Zealand Missionaries, * sold for £7B, and “The Large Queen” made £75.

It is announced (says our London correspondent on June 2) in the South -i Cross log that the Knglish committee of the Melanesian Mission has undertaken to raise the sum of £SOO by July to provide a house for Bishop Molyneux, who, “far from living in an Episcopal pala.e, is at present houseless.” The sum of £2OO is already in hand, and further donations are asked for. it is felt that many English friends of the bishop will be glad to have an opportunity of helping him in this way. The Rev. F. Lyle Uppleby has entered upon his work as traveling secretary for the Melanesian Mission in the Mother Country with great zest and energy. From February to mid-May he had covered a distance of more than 6000 miles in his motor car, and has addressed meetings in nearly every part of England, every where exciting keen interest concerning the mission.

The time appears to be fast approaching when one will need to be something of a millionaire to buy property in the City of Sydney (says our correspondent). For a paltry 16ft 9in of Pitt street a few days ago £33,500 was paid at auction, and, what is more, the purchaser considered himself lucky, especially as he was desirous ol securing a position not without an im portant bearing on his own business. The price of £2OOO a foot, while it is claimed to be a record for Pitt street, is not a record for Sydney, for in 1924 £2300 a foot was paid for property in George street. Mr George Judah Cohen, one of Sydney's biggest men in finance and commerce, remembers the day when land changed hands in George street, within coo-ee of the Post Office, at £lO a foot. The precious 16ft in Pitt street which brought £33,500 are occupied by a pharmacy of two storeys. Whether out of a desire to be sociable or to keep a watchful eye on any aggrieved (atopayers who might he inclined to interrupt the city fathers’ deliberations, a bulldog strolled leisurely into the Wanganui Council Chambers on Friday eveninsr just as the meeting commenced (says the Wanganui Chronicle). He surveyed the surroundings with a critical eye and evidently came to the conclusion that the councillors were a peace-loving lot, for he settled down comfortably in from, of a radiator in the centre of the horseshoe table. He slept peacefully for a time, but on one occasion while the Mayor was addressing the council he evidently scented a member of the feline family tripping up the staircase, for be made for the door and barked loudly, and then, having satisfied himself that the coast was clear he onco more settled down alongside the radiator.

A very agreeable communication ha# •been rsceived by Mr R. H. Neilson, secretary of the Dunedin Art Gallery Society. It is from Mr Alexander F. Roberts, of Galashiels (brother of Sir John Roberts), and to the effect that he has secured and is sending out to the Dunedin gallery a well-known picture by Sir J. Lawton Wingate, “This is a somewhat early work,” writes Mr Roberts, “but it is a very good one, and gave his a great lift in the artistic world when exhibited at th» Royal Scottish Academy. I was glad to have the opportunity of getting it as ,ood pictures by this artist very seldom come on sale.” It should be added that this picture is being generously sent out by Mr Roberts to replace one previously presented by him to the local gallery, but which unfortunately did not reach it' destination. being In't in the wreck of the Wiltshire on the Great Barrier just over four years ago. Sir J- Lawton Wingate was born in 1846, and became president of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1919.

Wo are in receipt of an exceedingly interesting edition of the Brisbane Courier, in the form of the jubilee number of that journal, which was published on June 22 of this year to commemorate the completion of 80 years’ service to the Queensland public. The Courier is the leading paper in Queensland, and has a large and appreciative circle of readers in both town and country. This particular edition does credit to the company which is responsible for its publication. It contains 44 pages of well selected material, dealing not only with the news of the day, hut with the progress made in the State during the past 80 years. The history contained in its pages comprises industrial, political, sporting, religious, and journalistic tonics. Considerable space is devoted to illustrations and letterpress outlining the SO years of progress that have brought the Courier to it i present high standard of efficiency. Photographs of the company’s 320 «m----polyees, its machinery in all departments, and its various buildings tell in a striking manner of the work that has been accomplished and is at present being achieved by the company.

The New Zealand Railways Magazine does all in its power to farther the “safety first” campaign, and its last number contains a list of injunctions to railway workers in order to minimise risk to life and limb. It concludes this portion of the issue with the following: “The law of cause and effect takes no account of modern canditions. It was the san e when Noah built the Ark as when Dunedin built the Exhibition. But whereas Ham and Shem had little to take th 5- minds off boatbuilding, th" modern worker has a thousand outside interests to divert his mental processes from the mechanical work in hand—and with every diversion the hazards are multiplied. Hence the need for constant vigilance and observance of the laws of Safety First.”

The Union Company’s freighter Waikouaiti, which arrived at Dunedin yesterday morning from Wellington and Lyttelton, loaded a large quantitv of produce, including potatoes, tor Melbourne and Sydney. The vessel is also carrying 230 sheep and 15 horses from this port. At Bluff the Waikouaiti will lift additional produce and over 80 sheep. The New Zealand beech, as is well known, is a tree found usually on the poorest ground or at a considerable height in the mountain ranges. The layman seldom stops to wonder why this is so. Dr Cockayne in a new “Monograph on the New Zealand Beech Forests,” however, says the beech has no particular affinity for poor ground and exposed positions (says an exchange). He takes the interesting view that our beech, which occurs also in South America, Tasmania, South-East Australia, is the old original forest covering of this country, and has been crowded off the good land by its better-equipped antagonists, the broadleaved trees, which Dr Cockayne regards as later arrivals, coming when New Zealand had land connection with the Tropics. The beech is thus the original inhabitant who has gone down in the world and has been obliged to move into cheaper quarters out-back, while the up=tart vegetation takes up the sunny sections and airs itself in the front row.

An interesting scheme for training Boy Scouts to become successful farmers is being carried out at Te Poi, in the Matamata district, as the result of a proposal which originated from Mr FI G. Southon, who has a large property there (says the Manawatu Standard). Mr Southen was for many years a scoutmaster in England, and through his efforts nine lads wer<3_ sent out to New Zealand under the auspices of the Boy Scouts’ Association of England.' Four of them are now employed by Mr Southon, and the ’•est have been placed on other farms in the district. The boys were formerly all members of the First Crowborough (Sussex) Scout Troop. The intention is to give them a thorough experience of practical farming, and judging by the way that the young immigrants have been shaping, they are expected to make good.

“Drowning fatalities are all too common in New Zealand, as will be seen from the following list, taken partly from the New Zealand Official Year Book and partly from figures supplied by the Government Statistician,” stated the annual report of the New Zealand Council of the Royal Life-saving ociety, presented at the annual meeting at Christchurch last Thursdays (sayr the Christchurch Pro's). "Auckland, total for five years (1921-25), 263, equal to 63 per 100,000 population); Hawke’s Bay, 42; 42; Wellington, 156; Marlborough, 11; Nelson, 27; Westland, 22; Canterbury, 70; Otago, 58; Southland, 31. Total number of deaths 719. With a spread of the knowledge of swimming and life-saving, this heavy death rate from drowning ought to be substantially reduced, and not until a large reduction has been effected can the society’s work be regarded as anything like thoroughly done. In this connection, we must express our deep appreciation of the educational work of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association, which in 1924, the Last year for which returns are available, issued no less than 12,539 certificates to school children learning to swim. As the number of proficiency certificates issued during the past season is only 448. or less than one and a-half per cent, of the possible total, it is evident that we have a very long way to go before we attain the ideal of having every man, woman, and child a swimmer, and every swimmer a life-saver.”

The United Starr-Bowkett Building Society will dispose of £2OOO by ballot and sale in the society’s board room to-night. The Otago Motor Club will hold a social evening at the club’s rooms to-morrow evening, when the prizes won by competitors in the events run during the season null be presented to the winners. During the evening opportunity will be taken to give a send-off to the starters in the ownerdriven motor car reliability test to Christchurch. The anniversary reunion o£ past and present members and adherents of Trinity Methodist Church will be held this evening. A first-class musical and elocutionary programme will be rendered. A short address will be given by the Rev. E. O. Blamires. The annual meeting of the Plunket Society will be held in the Council Chambers on Monday at 3.30 p.m. Dr A. G. Fisher, Professor of Economics at the Otago University, will be the principal speaker. We advise all marriageable girls to sing plenty, especially while “No-Rubbing Laundry Help’’ is doing the weekly washing.— Advt. Electric Radiators: Winter is here. An electric radiator means comfort. Best assortment in town at Barth Electric Supplies (Ltd.). 61 Princes street. Specialists in wireless accessories. Advt. Why suffer pain, when Sphinx Corn Silk will give immediate relief at la a packet.—Sprosens (Ltd.), leading cash chemists, Octagon, Dunedin.—Advt. Harmony in the washhouse, harmony in the home, harmony everywhere, is the splendid ambition of “ No-Rubbing Laundry Kelp.’’—Advt. Lyes are precious. At first sign of weakness go to the qualified and experienced (20 years) optometrist, W V. Sturmer, D. 5.0.1., G.A.0.C., Octagon, Dunedin. Most up-to-date equipment, including test electrically-lit testing charts installed.—Advt.

A. E J Blakeley and W. E. Begley, dentists, Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office) Telephone ISOO. — Advt. Make no mistake. For honest value in jewellery, watches, and optical goods, “ Peter Dick.” the most reliable watchmakers, jewellers, and optometrists, 490 Moray place (opp. City Hotel). —Adyta