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Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 April 1935, Page 4

standingoutside a ing for it to open, 1 ‘ a man who’s going to be hanged, and I think —” “Oh, then, Father, you’re not far out there. I’m waiting for the bolt to be drawn, and then I’m sure of having a drop.” , * v. * * * Britain’SyOldest Bather. The of Mr Charles King, Britain’s oldest bather —he is 85—preparing to dive into the sea under the Hoe at seven o’clock on a rece^ morning set the teeth of chattering. Mr King smiled —then took a header. He dived again—-three times —as he has done every morning for the last 15 years except when it is raining. “It’s- the daily dose of sea water that keeps, me healthy,” Mr King said. “Some of my relatives think I’m committing suicide; but-,f t agrees with me. ’ ’ «■ * * * Women in Sackcloth. On 20tli March police held back a crowd of 2000 unemployed men and women gathered at the Health and Welfare Department in St. John’s (Newfoundland) to demand more relief. Demonstrators threatened violence and refused to disperse. Trouble ■was prevented when , delegates were promised that their demands for more food, fuel and clothing would be sanctioned at a later meeting of the. governing commission.

• Newfoundland’s plight has been rendered pitiable by the depression in the cod-fishing industry'. Babies are paying the x price of years of depression and are dying at an abnormal rate. Women are improvising dresses from ■flour sacks, with undcrclotfltig made from bran bags. All they have to live on is the daily dole of 31d permitted by the Government. * * # * Where Doctors Differ. A. doctor, giving evidence ah Westminster County Court, refused to admit that ‘ ‘ there was • such a thing as neurasthenia.” v He. said that he 'dealt with conditions of the human body and not abstract names. The term had been brought in, and it was time it was dropped. The ■witness, Dr. W. J. Adie, was giving evidence in a case concerning a claim for continued compensation to a workman, regarding whose neurasthenc incapacity to work following an accident doctors were at variance. Mr Edgar Dale, barrister, representing the applicant, a tunnel minor, said: “The Legislature has put in the hands of a non-medical man the decision 'of such a point. Someone has to decide whether a man is truthful or not, and a doctor cannot decide that on one examination.” Judge Dumas: “I cannot help laughing at the position thus created.”. Mr Where doctors disagree, what betifpf. judge between them can' there be " than a man of common sense and large experience of life?” The judge, who sat with a medical assessor, made an order for 30s a week compensation.

1, * • * .’ * On Keeping]a Diary. “A diaryis the ideal place in which to work off the pangs of conscience. It is the daily confessional from which you will emerge, if “not a better man, at least feeling a better man. And what feeling could be more enjoyable than that?” asks Mr Robert Lynd in the “News-Chronicle.”

‘ ‘ The genius of the diarist, however, liko the genius of the letter-writer, is one of the rarest things on earth. Of all the millions of diaries and letters that have been written since the art of writing was invented, the diaries and letters that are enormously well worth redding could be packed into a single book-case.

“Do not be disheartened, however, if you enjoy this form of scribbling. It is as harmless as gardening or stamp collecting, or any of the normal hobbies of mankind.

“But if you find yourself reduced to making entries about the weather, I should not, if I were go on with the diary. This would that. Nature never meant you to be a diarist. She obviously intended you to keep a rain-gauge instead. ” * * * * Primitive Life. Graphic details of a novel film shown to anthropologists at the recent Science Congress were related by Mr Gilbert Archey at Auckland last .week, who said it was a remarkable revelation of the work-a-day life of aborigines. “The natives, who slept without any clothes, were shown waking up and actually thawing themselves out -with heat,” the speaker continued, “and the children appeared to be specially affected. Then the day’s work began. Food was so scarce that none was left from the previous day, and the youngsters were pulling over dead trees and grubbing for sustenance.” As the day wore on, and the tribe wandered over the barren countryside, the women and children began to suffer from thirst, but ft was some time before strenuous grubbing by the younger members repealed the presence of water. In the course of a day, a flashing spear woul&Mfefi the death of a dingo or kangarocOr“Tlie only touch of commercialism in the hunt was the retention of the 1 dingo’s scalp,” said Mr Archey, “which is valued at 7s, although the money would be of no use to the huntsman.” With night falling, the aborigines huddled in the shelter of rocks, and what food had been secured was distributed among the tribe, the head men being served. first. They were almost like animals. some creeping away to eat their food in furtive secrecv.

The fact that anthropologists were strong champions of the cause of the aborigines was emohasised by Mr Archey, who said that action had been taken to nroteet them from exploitation. “The efforts to ameliorate their conditions so often mean collecting them in reservations,” he remarked, “nnd it is said they are not hanpy in this state. In order to live fully, the aborigines must retain their ritual, matnc and ceremonies, which are deeply ingrained and caU back to their ancestry.” '

C < '■ ’ V\ ‘M' ‘ Wednesday. stated at the conclusion of today’s meat deliberations that the Australians were satisfied that there was no possibility of the British authorities (renewing .the Argentine agreement in its present form, when it terminates in 1936, when the way would be clear for the Commonwealth to replace frozen with chilled meat. To-day’s meeting failed to produce any tangible progress.