The Star. SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1928. NOTES OF THE DAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18544, 18 August 1928, Page 4

The Star. SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1928. NOTES OF THE DAY.

A WELLINGTON CORRESPONDENT suggests to-day that a Parliamentary return should be asked for showing tjie number of nurses admitted to public hospitals during the past five years who have (1) contracted tuberculosis; (2) broken down in health and abandoned their profession. We hope that some Canterbury Member of Parliament will take notice of the letter, because a great deal of what the correspondent says is unchallengeable, and ought to be the subject of inquiry. The North Canterbury Hospital Board, we are bound to say, has never taken a proper view of its responsibilities towards the nurses under its care. If the matter copld be raised in Parliament, we think that a very great improvement could be effected in a matter of grave concern not only to the nurses themselves, but also in regard to the nursing efficiency of public hospitals.

Tl IS FITTING that representatives from all parts of the British Empire Should be present in Hawaii this week attending the 150th anniversary of the landing of Captain Cook- The great navigator is a national figure, and his place in history will assuredly not be dimmed with the passing of the years. In his make-up were the characteristics that ope inevitably looks for in famous men—high courage, deep faith, unswerving loyalty to those round about him, impatience with treachery or crime. It was, in fact, this last quality that led to the tragedy of his death in liarakakoa Bay on February 14, 1779. Suspecting some of the natives of theft, Captain Cook marched his men to the village square and demanded satisfaction for the loss of a boat, and asked that a leading chief should accompany him aboard the ship. Then a dispute arose. A native threw stones, and in the melee the navigator was fatally stabbed in the back. To-day the spot where he met his death is marked by a simple yet impressive monument, and it is on that monument that an enormous wreath was placed yesterday by naval officers on behalf of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. The achievements of Captain Cook were so vast that the sadness of his end counts now for little. Virtually, every' island in the Pacific proclaims the bold enterprise of his spirit, and the story' of British „ colonisation tells of his unconquerable courage.

TT IS HARDLY CREDITABLE to the Administration that such a mountain has been made out of the mole-hill of euchre tournaments. It is desirable that persons promoting euchre tournaments for private profit as a regular business should be prosecuted, and in so far as the police have taken action in this direction they are to be commended, but the occasional tournaments, conducted for the raising of funds for public or semi-public purposes, arc not objectionable, and the police might very well w'ink at them. If the Minister of Justice were to drop a hint to the Commissioner of Police that this was a reasonable view to take of the matter, we do pot think that he would be criticised for interfering improperly in the police administration. On the contrary, it is about time somebody raised a question as to the consistency of the police in their prosecutions. For instance, it is not long since a great to-do was made about “ roll-dow n parlours,” but we notice that they arc in full blast at the Winter Show in Christchurch, and nobody seems to have taken any notice of the fact. But apart from questions of this kind, we think that the euchre tournament problem could be solved very simply, as the Leader of the Opposition has suggested, if the Mjnister of Justice gave his approval in unobjectionable eases. This would get over the Minister’s present difficulty, which js to amend the law in a manner that will not leave a loophole for the private promoter.