FROM THE TOWER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 219, 15 September 1928, Page 6

FROM THE TOWER

(By

“SENTLNEL”)

Palmerston North is patting itself oi the back because it has let a tender foi the erection of a two-storied block. accommodate 50 additional patients, t the hospital. The x ice •; £17.781. There is little to rejoice over in this extravagance of £355 a bed. No wonder the hospital rat ok press heavily upon those who must pay the j. New Zealand is notorious for extravagan a the building of hospitals. The>e places are built as though they arc to last forever; in a generation they may bo considered as hopelessly out of date—and they will be i. the medical profession continues to be the home ut faddists. In any case, why aim at permanence in a hospital? Those who look after the public health should hitch their waggon to a star and aim at the abolition of hospitals; for if we all lived natural Jives, there would bo precious little need foi thes.e institutions. When doctors prescri’ e foods instead of drugs (and proscribe some foods) it will be a healthier and happier world. • ♦ • • It is learned that there arc now 27 million sheep in the Dominion, 14A million in the South Island. This is nearly 14 million more than last year, ami the highest in the history of Now Zealand. With this increase in ir flocks (and in our herds, too, by the way), with high prices /or wool, hides, meat, butter and cheese, why worry f We have entered another era of prosperity. * • ♦ • One of the most significant signs of returning prosperity is furnished by the totalisator returns. When money began to “tighten” some years ago, it was soon noticeable that the totahsatoi returns began to shrink in proportion. The “tighter” were the times, the less were the “tote” figures, and meeting after meeting saw a dimunition, until some of the country clubs were threatened with financial disaster. And with all the fluctuations in finance, the “tote” figures fluctuated, too, until the “tote” has come to be regarded as a most reliable financial barometer. At the Wanganui course on Thursday, the figures furnished a most satisfactory index to the improved financial situation, the amount passing through the machine being £22,700, compared with £19,218 for the same day last year.

One of the most wonderful things about the Tunney-Hceney fight, in the opinion of one review, nas the fact that Heeney’s father and mother, waiting anxiously in Gisborne, should hear Toni’s voice over the wireless assuring “the old folks at home” that he was quite unhurt. This was very fine, of course; but it will be improved upon as wireless improves. The boxers may be able to stay home by mummy’s knee and fight each other by wireless. Mummy could then apply the balm at every blow. • • a • | It is said that some of the most gentlemanly and expert pick-pockets of Europe and America made Amsterdam their Mecca during the Olympic Games. One of the competing athletes was called away to the telephone while sitting in a cafe one evening. He left his gold-mounted cane to keep his place at the table, and beside it a pencilled note which read: “This stick belongs to the Champion Heavy-weight Boxer of the Olympic Games. And h.e is coming back.” When he returned the stick had vanished, and instead of his own note he found one which read: “Your stick has been taken by the Champion. Sprinter of the Olympic Games. Am l he is not coming back.” * ♦ ♦ ♦ What was it the poet exclaimed—“O woman, in your hours of ease, uncertain, coy and hard to please?” Something like that. But he was an oldtime sentimental poet. To-day, his remark would be applied to the fashions, for the hard-to-please sex is responsible : for the most sweeping changes every few months. It was stated in Auckland last week, for instance, that changing fashions in ladies’ footwear constitute one of the considerable difficulties against which the boot and shoe industry has to contend. In the shoe business it is impossible to make a forecast with any degree of certainty. Just at present the price of hides is fluctuating; but the ideas o£ women on footwear are always fluctuating, and the seller of shoes never knows when ordering stock of the newest design whether it won’t be out of date by the time he receives it. Such is the cross borne by those who wait upon the whims of women as any husband will tell you. English people reading the brief cabled announcement in the London newspapers that Pummcr time had been abolished in Now Zealand must have raised their eyebrows a little, particularly if they remembered that a generation ago New-Zealand enjoyed a reputation for innovation (says the “New Zealand News,” published in London). It is safe to assume that fear of the farmers’ indignation had a considerable influence on the Parliamentary vote in an election year, but the number of absentees and the smallness of the majority arc significant. The medical profession had approved Summer time and there was even a considerable body of farmers who appreciated its benefits. Nobody with any experience of the working of the reform in this and othei countries, where the only demand is foi ' an extension of the time of operation, can fail to regret that Now Zealand rejects the measure after an qiiate a trial. The farmers in tnu country have long sinco grown accustomed to Summer time, and, if we may judge- from the sheep returns mentioned above, Nature herself docs not revolt against it, even in New Zealand, as some of the convinced opponents of the measure seemed to think!