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Otago Witness, Issue 3382, 8 January 1919, Page 4

bought a bottle of poison from him at the All-night Pharmacy, saying that he wanted it as a lotion for a out on his face. The accused informed the bench that he had been IHrinking heavily at tho time, and was a

bit daaed. Mr dimming said he had nade arrangements for the young man to proceed to .the home of his parents in the country. They were respectable people. He asked that, aa the accused had served at the front

for throe and a-half years, the court should recommend to the press that his name be not published, and thus give him a chance. The Magistrate said he thought that the most charitablo construction should be put upon this man's aotion. It was quite possible that he had made a mistake. The charge would be dismissed. In view of this decision he recommended, that the press should not publish the accused's name. Prior to his departure for the front the Bishop of Nelson initiated a movement for the establishment in Marlborough of a Church of England College for girls, as a memorial to the late Archdeacon Graoe, who for over 30 years laboured in that province. To assist the scheme he appointed an Advisory Committee, which for some months has been engaged in the onerous _task of selecting a suitable site. The committee, after careful consideration of over 20 properties, recommended the purchase of a portion of the Ferringham Estate, consisting of a rectangular' block of 20 acres, containing a sound, well-built nine-roomed house (the residence .of the late Dr Oleghorn) and other valuable improvements, and this property, with the sanction of the bishop, has just recently been acquired (says the Blenheim Express). It is understood that the school is to be primarily a boarding establishment, but with provision for day pupils. American conditions as to penology show & considerabJa advance on those prevailing in. Victoria prisons. In .recent years experiments in the treatment of men sent to gaol for indefinite periods have been carried out in Victoria, but the Indeterminate Sentences Board is not prepared to go as far as the warden of Oklahoma State penitentiary. The warden not only employs' prisoners outside the prison without guards, but allows the best of them to go " down town" on Saturday nights. At Indiana reformatory some inmates are often sent out to capture others who have escaped ! It is pointed out in the annual report of the Victorian Prisons Board (says the Age) that at French Island and Castlemaine farm opportunities are provided for applying a test to the honour and .trustworthiness of prisoners. At no time are French Island prisoners under lock and key, and frequently men are sent to work away from camp without supervision. Generally the prisoners appreciate the trust reposed in then?, and the system is calculated to develop their self-respeot, and is of value in proving their reformation. Geeiong is shortly to have a new industry (says the Melbourne Age). - Some inferior Crown land in the Wensleydale forest district has been purohased by a firm of Syrians, who propose to establish the silk industry there. The land is to be cleared and planted in mulberry trees. The area will be cut up into blocks, and by arrangement with the promoters of the scheme families will be settled On them. Representations were recently made to the Minister of Agriculture for Government assistance. The proposal was that at a cost of about £l5O the Government should import sufficient mulberry trees to plant 300 aores of the land at once. All doubt as to the suitability of Victorian conditions for the production of high-class silk was dispelled by the display of lengths of silk that might have been mistaken for Bradford tops. Most of the silk had been taken from cocoons purchased from school children.

Notification that a refund of extra war risk premiums will be made to every soldier returning from active service has been made by the Auckland branch of a well-known insurance company (says the New Zealand Herald). This company imposed an extra premium of £lO per cent, annually on the policies of soldiers on active service taken out during the war. The refund will not be retrospective as regards claims already paid, nor will any refund be made where the Government has paid the premiums.' No notification of any similar refund has been made by other companies, although all warloading ceased on November 11, with the signing of the armistice. The extra premium imposed by other companies was from £5 to £7 10s. In, the majority of cases no additional premiums have been charged on policies taken out before the war. The manager of the Auckland branch of another company mentioned that his company had paid out £2.500,000 on the lives of soldiers, having received only £400,000 in premiums.

" No doubt," says the Journal of Public Health, " many persons feel concerned as to the prevalence of goitre, or enlargement of the thyroid gland, amongst New Zealand inhabitants. The frequency with which goitre, manifested by an enlargement of the neck, is observable —more particularly in girls and women —at the present day cannot be altogether oscribable to the. present fashion of open neckwear. Many medical men believe that there is, at least in some districts in New Zealand, an unusual prevalence ' of this trouble—a disfigurement which may lead to the need for surgical attention. The causation of goitre is still a

matter of doubt. So far as New Zealand is concerned, the Minister is satisfied that the disease is sufficiently prevalent to demand thorough investigation as to its causation and prevention, but war activities at present do not allow of the Health Department entering upon such a detailed investigation as the problem demands. For the present, steps are being taken by the Acting Chief Health Officer and the District Health Office, Auckland, working in conjunction with Dr Drennan, Professor of Pathology at the Otago Medical School, which will, it is hoped, help to elucidate some of the mysteries of this disease."

When the question of erecting permanent memorials to the soldiers of the Manawatu district was brought up at a patriotic meeting, Mr F. Cooke mentioned that, so far as he could ascertain, only six members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces had been fortunate enough to secure the Victoria Cross, which, he believed, was one of the most difficult decorations in the world to gain, and, therefore, he thought that their deeds should be perpetuated in a fitting manner. He accordingly moved: " Ihat the Government be requested to have tablets prepared of uniform design, with the names of all members of the N.Z.E.F. who have won the V.C. inscribed thereon; and that each Patriotic Society have the right, on paying a portion of the expense, to place and maintain one in a suitable spot." The motion was carried,' Mr J. A. Nash, M.P., suggesting that the best place to put it would- be on a permanent monument in Anzac Park, which would probably be erected there in memory of those who had given their lives for their country.

Another Crimean war veteran, Mr James Quediey, who was born 91 years ago, died in Auckland recently. At the age of 17£ he enlisted in the 55th Foot at Devonport, England, on January 2, 1846. -He served throughout the Crimean war, and received the medal with four bars —for Inkerman, the Alma, Sebastopol, and Balaclava —also the Turkish medal. After a few years' service in Ireland he joined the 14th Foot at Dublin on March 14, 1859, and with that regiment

he served through much of the Maori war. »After returning to England with the regiment he was admitted an out-patient of Chelsea Hospital on April 28, 1868. After a few years he came out again to Auckland with his family and settled down, receiving a New Zealand military pension. In addition to the Crimean and Maori war medals he possessed the long service and good conduct medal, and five good conduct badges. The death of Mr Thomas Mills, who served during the Indian Mutiny and the Maori war, has also occurred in Auckland. He was 85 years of age, and came to New Zea- , land in 1861.

Carrying a cargo, consisting of maize, general merchandise, and about 1500 tons of explosives, including a quantity of dynamite, the steamer South Africa, which berthed on December 9 in Victoria Dock, Melbourne, was on fire while approaching the Australian coast. The fire (says the Age) was discovered in the steamer's bunkers, and for three days members of the crew were kept busily engaged in fighting the outbreak. Fortunately the fire was ultimately subdued before it assximed very serious proportions, but valuable coal was consumed, and when over 60 miles west of Cape Borda the steamer was practically without coal. A wireless message was sent out giving information of the vessel's need for fuel, and it is understood that immediate arrangements were made for a tug to proceed from Adelaide with a fresh supply of coal in search of the

South Africa. In the meantime, however, the steamer proceeded under very easy steam to Adelaide, but was obliged to burn . a quantity of maize as fuel. Indications point to a tide of immigration setting in toward Victoria and Australia generally as soon as the post-war conditions permit. \

An heroic deed performed by Lieutenantcolonel T. 0. Guthrie, of the New Zealand Medical Corps, who died at the Royal Oak Hotel, Wellington, a few days ago, is mentioned through the columns of the Christchurch Press by Mr T. W. Pairman, of Governor's Bay. Mr Pairman wrote : " The heroio age is not yet past. We are hearing consta-ntly of great deeds on the battlefield and on the stormy wave. With your kind permission I would like to record an act of another kind of bravery performed by one of my medical confreres, an act wholly unappreciated by those most interested, because it was not understood, and accomplished in a lowly cottage of the humble poor. The hero was Dr Thomas Orr Guthrie, who has quite recently gone to his eternal rest. Tracheotomy had been performed in the morning on a child suffering from diphtheria. It gave instant relief, but at midnight the doctor was hurriedly summoned, to find the patient suffocating from the silver tube becoming blocked by a tough

piece of diphtheric membrane. ; Forceps failed to move it. A few seconds, more meant death. Dr Guthrie did not hesitate, but, applying his lips to the tube, sucked it clear of the obstruction. The child was saved. There waa no anti-toxin in those days, tho doctor was quite cognisant of the tremendous danger to himself, but he ignored all that for the sake of bis little helpless patient. Truly the world never knows ita greatest men." On his return from Inveroargill the Hon. J. A. Hanan will receive a deputation from the Otago University Council "with reference to further financial assistance, which will enable the council to increase the accommodation in connection with the domestio science branch of the University. The Minister of Education (the Hon. J. A. Hanan), when asked on Tuesday to say how long it would be before the Public School Teachers' Court of Appeal would be established, replied that he could not make a definite statement on the point. He hoped to have as president of the court a gentleman who was an educationalist as well as a legal practitioner. The others to constitute the court would be a member of the Education Department and a representative of the teaching profession. Following on a quiet day the cars travelling citywards were packed on New Year's Eve, and by 8 p.m. the streets were thronged with an enthusiastic, but orderly crowd. descriptions of fireworks, principally of the "Russian bomb" variety, which were exploded in all parts of the streets almost uninterruptedly, were reminiscent of a miniature bombardment and gave the atmosphere a powdery smell, but un-fortunately^-heavy rain set in about 8.30, which caused the crowds to leave the open roadway for the more sheltered footpaths, traffic thus becoming considerably congested. With the prospect of a wet night before them many people caught early cars on the return home, and at a comparatively early hour the city had almost resumed ite normal aspect. The majority of the business people experienced a slack day on Tuesday, both in th£) afternoon and evening, and it was really surprising to note the absence of buyers in the shops when the crowd was at its densest. in the evening. There was. almost a complete absence of rowdyism in the streets, and very little evidence of drunkenness. The leavening effect caused by the. remembrance of the many saddened homes due to the ravages of the recent, epidemic- had probably a restraining effect upon the people and prevented any undue exuberance being exhibited. The rain ceased shortly after 11 p.m., and at 12 o'clock the bursting of rockets and a splendid display of fireworks in various parts of the city betokened the passing of the old and the ushing in of the new year. When asked on Tuesday when the additional sum that he caused to bo placed on the Estimates fo'f" assistance to school committees, would be distributed, the Hon. J. A. Hanan stated that the regulations governing this vote would be gazetted this month.

What is stated to be the largest fortune that has ever- been bequeathed to a New Zealander has come to a Christchurch lady lately (says the Press). The fortune is invested in American mines, and the interest; ia said to reach the astonishing sum of £IOOO weekly. Quite a romance is involved in the bequest. Over 10 years ago awealthy woman visitor to New Zealand became interested in the work of a Christr church lady whose painting is well known to residents of 'this city. The visitor enr deavoured to persuade the artist to go Home for the purpose of continuing her studies, and offered' to provide the money necessary for her courses in art. The offer was deoiined for private reasons, and the artist remained iri Christchurch. That the visitor's interest in her protegee was genuine lias been proved in no uncertain manner. Although the matter of the bequest is still in the hands of the lawyers, it is understood that when affairs connected with the fortune are definitely settled, the artist will be the richest woman in the. dominion. ?A Press Association telegram states that inquiries suggest that the report is greatly, exaggerated. The lady stated that she '.ex-' pected a legacy from a friend in America, though she has not been informed that it had been actually given her, and she was certain that it would not amount .to- the sum stated.

At Invercargill during the past few weeks many mysterious outbreaks of fixe have occurred, and the presence of "fire fiends" in Invercargill is now generally and any doubt that existed has been largely decreased by a recent incident (says the Southland Times). When walking in the streets one night recently a youth, who is a member of the local Fire Brigade, heard a man remark to two others that they might expect a fire in Forth street. He did not place much' importance on the occurrence at the time, but next day he mentioned it to a senior member of the brigade. The pair decided to visit Forth street in search of empty residences, and found only one. On entering the grounds, they discovered that in one corner of the residence there was an aperture caused by the wood having rotted. They measured the distance from the. fire plug to the house, and, as they explained it, "had everything ready." Next morning a call came from the house. The fire had started from the corner where the hole "was.

The Hon. J. A. Hanan (Minister of Education) informed a Daily Times representative on Tuesday that on his return to Wellington he hoped that his departmental officers would have drafted regulations to provide for the compulsory attendance at evening classes of young people between the ages of 15 and 17 yeara for the study of a course in hygieno and home nursing. The chairman of the Wellington Education Board had expressed his approval of the institution of such classes, as he had been astounded at the utter want of knowleiga' on such matters revealed during the recent epidemic. The Minister said thes» were matters of national' importance, and we should prepare ourselves for a recurrence of epidemics. Any student of history would agree that it was quite possible that we would have a recrudescence of the epidemic (possibly in a mild form), and this beinf