In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24773, 18 June 1942, Page 4

In the News

Children’s Diet The belief that what is commonly described as a “good hot dinner” is an essential part of the daily diet of children has been exploded by an experiment which was carried out in Dunedin last year, says The Otago Daily Times. For the purposes of the experiment, which was conducted by Dr Grace Stevenson, the school medical officer in Otago, 20 school children attending the open air school at Kew received each day during the year a supplementary “health dinner,” which was a modification of the “Oslo diet. Their progress was compared with that of a group of 20 children attending the Caversham School who were having the ordinary hot cooked meal at home. A report on the scheme states that in various Scandinavian cities it was found that better results in height and weight were obtained when the children were given the “Oslo breakfast” instead of the usual hot solid dinner consisting of meat and pudding. A group of London children similarly benefited. The report adds that the “health dinner” given to the children in Dunedin consisted of milk, wholemeal bread, butter, various types of salads and fruit. There was some difficulty in training the children to like the meal, because it was so different from their home meal. Summarizing the results of the experiment the report says it showed that the children who were being given the “health dinner” showed an aggregate gain in weight which was 33 1-3 per cent, higher than in the case of the children who were having their normal hot meal at home. Not What They Meant

Some of the letters that the Invercargill oil fuel controller receives contain amusing slips, due perhaps to the feeling of urgency under which the letters are written because most of them are pleas for extra petrol. For example, a farmer in a recent letter stated: “I must have petrol as I milk on my own 40 cows, 400 ewes and 200 dry sheep.’ Then there was the rabbiter who sought to press his claim with the following plea: “How can I catch farmers if I do not get petrol?” Hours For Selling Petrol As a result of representations by the Petrol Advisory Committee, regulations have been made providing for uniform hours for the retail sale of motor spirits throughout the Dominion during the present emergency. These hours are: Week days, 7.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.; Saturdays, 7.30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Sundays, closed all day. Special provisions have been made to enable petrol to be obtained during closing hours in cases of an emergency which a driver could not reasonably have been expected to foresee or provide for.—P.A. Condition Improved A report obtained from the Gore Hospital yesterday indicated that there was an improvement in the condition of the four persons injured in the plane crash at Gore last Thursday. They are Miss June McKenzie, Messrs J. L. Anderson and R. Hill, who were seriously injured, and Mr F. Shave. Their condition is now stated to be satisfactory. Pedestrians at Night

The recommendation by the Hon. R. Semple that pedestrians should wear or carry something white at night is wholeheartedly supported by Invercargill motorists. They state that with reduced street lighting and dipped headlamps it is extremely difficult to see pedestrians at cross-roads when they are in dark clothing. Many accidents have been narrowly avoided. Any white object shows up plainly, and for their own protection pedestrians would be wise to carry something of a light colour.

Pigeons In City A statement by the city engineer (Mr F. M. Corkill) that the wild pigeons at the Town Hall are becoming a nuisance and an offence made to a meeting of the City Council on Tuesday night does not have the support of every citizen. Each afternoon an elderly man can be seen in Don street offering bread to the pigeons. They gather from various parts of the city on the Invercargill Savings Bank at the appointed hour and fly down in dozens when the bread is distributed.