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Otago Witness, Issue 3802, 25 January 1927, Page 47

An old soldier demands to know of the . members of the medical profession who were in the army why they have allowed to go to seed the knowledge they must have gained in New Zealand camps (states the Auckland Star). Why, he asks, do they not, instead of urging through the press that the public should “swat that fly” ob- * tain from the Government the facts concerning “the knowledge by which Professor Kirk prevented one single fly from having habitat in either Trentham or. Featherston camps?” Does the British Medical Association encourage the existence of flies? It is incomprehensibleincredible —unthinkable! “We chaps who spent so many months in those flyless camps know that Professor Kirk has, in his own special knowledge, the method whereby well over 7000 men lived in less than a square mile of space without one fly ever bejng seen,” he adds. “Wouldn’t it be a fair thing for you medical chaps to obtain the secret, which will probably die with Professor Kirk, unless some is made in the matter?” He demands that the knowledge be given to the world. Another exsoldier—a member of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, he was—informed 'he Star that there were no flies in the camp at Moascar, Egypt, in which land flies are as numerous as the sands of the desert, but he contends that the “secret” is merely one of cleanliness, and that, where there is no, waste food, and no rubbish left lyi-- about, there will be no flies. The attention of our readers is drawn to the Taihape Athletic and Axemen’s Clubi advertisement in this issue. £B5O is being distributed in prize money. Particulars) from A. M. Ryan, Box 43, Taihape.

“Oh, I’ve got one of those things,- but = I don’t know how to use it,” said one of a small knot of motor car drivers, pulled up on the Great South road in the Lower Waikato, to watch a car blazing merrily (reports the Auckland Star). “One of those things was an extinguisher* which the latest arrival at the conflagration had rushed along with from his car. Out of the six motorists who had drawn up to express sympathy, even if they could not do anything in the fire brigade line, only two possessed extinguishers, and the one. who didn’t know how to use it was driving a car worth the best part of a thousand pounds. People who cannot afford these vehicular luxuries can never understand why the lucky owners don’t go to the trouble of learning at least something con-' cerning their protection. Some time ago an army of ants marched on Devonport and billeted on the residents (states the Auckland Star). Housewives' slew many, but reinforcements came |o swell the main body, and to-day the battalions of little brown insects are apparently at full strength. The old saying, “Kill one, and a thousand come to his funeral,” is only too true of the ant. Once he takiei up residence in the household it is next to impossible to expel him. Kerosene, patent powders, and other remedies, socalled, are all more or less ineffectual. Anything sweet will incite ants to a mass attack. Though the pantry has been cleaned and dusted with “death dealing” powder in the morning, it may be found that the insect army has penetrated the defences by early afternoon, with the result that a large quantity of the cupboard’s contents must be thrown out. However, the Devonport ant has not yet learned to swim, and many distracted wives in the marine suburb protect their- edibles by placing the legs of sideboards, cupboards, or meat safes in tins filled . with water, while it is no uncommon thing to put cakes or other dainties in some receptacle . which may be floated in a big basin filled with water. What will happen when the hordes learn to swim the “moat” does not bear thinking about. A machine for laying telephone cable in a fraction of the time occupied in doing the work by pick and V> ovel has been invented by a Wvndham resident, Mr J. G. Kirby, and its efficiency was proved when it was given a trial by the Post and Telegraph Department, which has purchased a.machine, between Mosgiel. and Riccarton on Wednesday. The invention consists of a chassis weighing approximately a ton, on which is mounted thedrum carrying the cable. At the. rear! is a “sock” which digs a trench 18 inches deep, lays the cable in U and fills it. up M the chassis is drawn along. The motive pow«. was supplied during the trial by a traction engine. The syndicate of nine which owns the invention has practically secured world’s rights, and already negotiations are taking place with Australia and Canada for the purchase of machines.