His Majesty Fighting Stern Battle Against Sickness.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18629, 5 December 1928, Page 10

His Majesty Fighting Stern Battle Against Sickness.

COMMISSION APPOINTED TO ACT ON BEHALF OF KING DURING HIS ILLNESS. (Received December 5, 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, December 4. IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS Mr Baldwin announced the appointment of a Commission to act on behalf of the King, consisting of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor and the Prime Minister. The Order-in-Council was signed by his Majesty himself. (Loud cheers). The Central News says that the meeting of the Privy Council in connection with the Commission was held in the King’s bedroom.—Australian Press Association.

DUKE OF GLOUCESTER WILL LEAVE CAPE TOWN FOR ENGLAND ON FRIDAY BY BALMORAL CASTLE. (Received December 5, 11.30 a.m.) CAPE TOWN, December 4. THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER reaches Bulawayo at seven o’clock to-night. He picks up the Rhodesian express and sails by the Balmoral Castle on Friday. General Hertzog has summoned Cabinet to-day to deal with the position arising from the King’s illness.—Australian Press Association.

KING HOLDING HIS OWN, AFTER FIFTEEN DAYS.

OUTLOOK CONSIDERED TO BE MORE HOPEFUL. (Received December 5, 12.20 p.m.) LONDON, December 4. To-day is the fifteenth day of the King’s illness, and his Majesty, it may be said, is holding his own in the stern battle. To-day's three bulletins, while not exactly what the people were awaiting, are certainly more heartening than those of the week-end.

Reassuring circumstances were the Queen’s appearance with Princess Mary for her daily drive, which occupied an hour. Throughout the past three critical days the Queen has maintained a constant vigil at the Palace. The fact that five doctors signed the bulletin at first occasioned some anxiety, but the official Palace explanation restored confidence.—Australian Press Association.

H.M.S. ENTERPRISE DOING 29 KNOTS. (Received December 5, noon.) LONDON, December 4. The Admiralty expects H.M.S. Enterprise to reach Suez on Friday night. It must be travelling at a great speed. The Admiralty estimates its speed at somewhere in the region of twenty-nine knots.—Australian Press Association— United Service.

LORD DAWSON LEAVES PALACE. (Received December 5, 12.10 p.m.) LONDON, December 4. Lord Dawson left the Palace a quarter of an hour after the signing of the night bulletin.—Australian Press Association.

COMMISSION WAS LAST SET UP IN 1925. (Received December 5, 11.30'a.m.) RUGBY, December 4. The last occasion on which a Commission was appointed to act for the King was when in March, 1925, his Majesty went for a yachting cruise in the Mediterranean during convalescence from an illness, less severe but similar to that from which he is now suffering. Before the statement was made in the House of Commons this afternoon regarding the State Commission to act for the King, Mr J. R. Clynes, on behalf of the Labour Party, had asked whether any arrangements had been made for the transacting of business during the regrettable illness of his Majesty. In putting the question Mr Clynes said: “Would you allow me to say how delighted all of us will be to receive the best possible news of his Majesty’s recovery to health.” (Cheers from all parts of the House.)—British Official Wireless. In the course of the year the number of documents signed by his Majesty runs into thousands. He has been accustomed to devote a portion of his time practically daily for the purpose. It is stated that his signature applied to to-day’s order was an excellent one. —Australian Press Association. DUKE OF GLOUCESTER MAY REACH LONDON ON BOXING DAY. (Received December 5. 12.30 p.m ) LONDON, December 4. It is learned that the Duke of Gloucester will reach Cape Town in time to embark on the Balmoral Castle, which is due to leave on Friday. It should arrive in London approximately on Boxing Day. An Intercessory Service, attended by the Lord Provost and Scottish Judges, was held in St Gile’s Cathedral, Edinburgh.—Australian Press Association.

SIR STANLEY HEWETT STAYS AT PALACE.

LORD BIRKENHEAD PAYS A TRIBUTE TO THE CROWN. (Received December 5, 1.15 p.m.) LONDON, December 4. Lord Birkenhead, at a Press Club luncheon, said that it was only at such times that the whole Empire realised how much it owed to and depended upon the personality of the present monarch. It was apt to forget that, great as was the attachment of the dominions to the character, example and achievements of the people in these small islands, it would be an idle dream to suppose that that attachment could be expressed in permanent terms unless founded on a romantic and historical conception. At the last Imperial Conference particularly the speeches of the representatives of South Africa and the Irish Free State made it plainer and plainer that it was the link of the Crown—the strength of which alone could support self-govern-ing communities—that held them together. Never to a republic could there be such allegiance. “ Only since we have felt in the past two or three days the grave risk to life of one vfho unobtrusively, by constant service, has contributed more to the fortunes of the Empire than any other ten in it, do we realise that our anxieties are shared by the men of the Empire throughout the world,” concluded Lord Birkenhead.

Although Dr L. E. Whitby, bacteriologist, was at the Palace to-night, he did not see the King, thus his signature does not appear on the bulletin. Sir Stanley Hewett is again remaining at the Palace for the night, as he has done for the past two nights. The Duke and Duchess of York dined at the Palace.—Australian Press Association. MALTA CONCERNED OVER KING’S ILLNESS. (Received December 5, 11.30 a.m.) MALTA, December 4. On behalf of the Government and people, the Governor has telegraphed expressing great concern at his Majesty’s illness, and their hopes for his speedy recovery.—Australian Press Association. SYDNEY SPECIALIST SAYS INFLUENZA GERMS MENACE KING’S LIFE. / i (Special to the “Star.”) SYDNEY, November 29. “His Majesty the King runs risks which are not taken by some Sydney men. Had he been treated a month ago with a certain vaccine, he would probably have been immune from the present trouble.” ' Such was the startling statement made in Macquarie Street yesterday morning by one of Sydney's most brillian bacteriologists. This is what he said:

“The King is suffering from a feverish cold, and a probable invasion of influenza bacillus.

“Normally the immune bodies in a person's bio.od are sufficiently powerful to hold the invading organisms in check. When he has been exposed to some factor such as a draught, a drenching, or a cold, or perhaps his resistance weakened by a chronic weak heart, the immune bodies are in abeyance, and it is said that the person’s Vesistance’ is lowered. “In these circumstances, the invading organisms gain a new lease of life, and flourish with increased virulence—in other words, they succeed as they succeed. They create a vicious circle The more the bacteria increase the more the resistance decreases —unless the patient is medically treated and the resistance fostered and coaxed to normality up to the battering point, where it can take up the fight for itself. “All that medical science can do is to build up the resistance, and this largely resolves itself into a sense of skilful nursing. “Be it prince or peasant, the will to get well is most important. impossible to divorce mind from matter. Even the most, conservative physicians recognise to-day the psjxhical effect on the physical body and the psychological value of the patient who personally determines to recover. “Supposing a patient, like the King, has a weak heart. His lungs would be in a chronic oedematous state—that is. would be partially water-logged, and, of course, the natural resistance of the pulmonary tissue would be considerably weaker than normally*. “A patient’s resistance may be artificially strengthened and built up by the reaction created by bringing about active immunity reaction in his blood. This can be done by the administration hypodermically of gradual doses of suitable vaccines.”