LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 104, 15 February 1950, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

HospitalisationUn New Zealand

The incidence of hospital treatment in New Zealand seems alarmingly high. According to a return which gives hospital figures for the year ended March 31, 1949, nearly 120,000 people had hospital treatment of shorter or longer duration in that period.

Nature’s Prodigality A vacant section in the business area of Ashburton, which certainly has had nothing planted on it by human hands, is covered with vegetation. There are samples of two kinds of clover, three of thistles, two of dandelions, and cocksfoot, barley grass, ryegrass, wireweed, shepherd’s purse, poppies, chickweed, plantain, convolvulous and fathen.

To Run In Australia Three New Zealand Empire Games athletes, J. M. Holland, J. Borland, and M. Marshall, have been invited by the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association to run at a special meeting in Melbourne on Saturday, says an Auckland Press Association message. The next Saturday they appear at a meeting in Sydney. The New Zealanders will leave for Australia by air on Thursday.

Hospital Costs A comprehensive report on hospital maintenance expenditure, detailing average costs of .hospitals of over 100 occupied beds daily (for the year ending March 31, 1949) was before the Ashburton Hospital yesterrday. It showed that Ashburton figures work out favourably with those of comparable hospitals, and that hospital costs throughout New Zealand are still rising.

Ashburton Presbytery The youth director of the New Zealand Presbyterian Church (the Rev. Walter Hendrie) will -visit Ashburton on March 13 and 14, according to a report made at a meeting of the Ashburton Presbytery yesterday. Mr Hendrie will address youth gatherings on March 13. The Rev. G. Densem (Hinds) was welcomed to the Presbytery by the Moderator (the Rev. D. Shaw) of Methven.

Magistrate Injured Under physical difficulties, Mr M. B. Scully, S.M., presided as usual at a sitting of the Magistrate’s Coui’t in Wellington on Monday. He had received fairly severe leg injuries when knocked over by a young cyclist while walking along the wharves with his daughter on Sunday. “It’s just as well there were no hit-and-run cyclists up before me or I might have been prejudiced,” jocularly commented Mr Scully, as he was assisted from the Bench after the sitting. i

Flying-boat Taken Ashore The Catalina flying-boat which sank in Evans Bay on Tuesday of last week when struck by a big wave was removed- by the Wellington Harbour Board’s floating crane yesterday after unsuccessful attempts on several days. The aircraft was lifted on to the Shelly Bay wharf. Investigations are being made to determine the cause of the failure of the forward hatch, which Avas stove in, after which the Catalina Avill be dismantled and scrapped.—P.A.

Minimum of Applause When a batsman in any _ class of cricket reaches his 50, it usually greeted with an outburst of applause. This recognition of achievement was conspicuously absent at the Domain Oval yesterday when Canterbury was playing Ashburton. Three of the Ashburton team reached the half-century, but in no instance was this performance accorded a handclap, even though, since there was a cluster of onlookers about the scoring table, the fact must have been knotvn. New Zealand’s Imports “Importing Goods into New Zealand” is the subject of the latest PostPrimary School Bulletin. Reasons for imports, and. the whole complicated procedure of importation are clearly set out, and for students taking commercial courses the information given should be most valuable. It may come as a surprise to some New Zealanders to learn that “consumer goods” are not nearly as important as producers’ materials, that is goods which are used in further manufacturing processes.

Revelry at Ardmore i The Empire Games village at Ardmore had an air of revelry on Saturday night as athletes celebrated the end of the games. In the small hours of Sunday morning groups returning from night clubs, parties and dances drifted into camp and were reluctant to go to bed. Some' of the more hardy, reacting against weeks of training and regular hours, declined to retire at all. At 5 a.m. there were still people out and about. The revellers were, however, on the whole well behaved. An inspection of the camp on Sunday revealed no damage.

Wheat Committee Membership Representation on the Wheat Committee is being sought by the New Zealand bakers. Delegates to the conference of the New Zealand Federation of Bakers and Pastrycooks at Invercargill yesterday were told that the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr C. M. Bowden) had agreed to investigate the composition of the committee. “At present the Wheat Committee includes two representatives of wheatgrowers and a similar number of flourmillers,” said the president (Mr A. T. Robertson). “We consider that bakers have as much right to representation as the wheatgrowers.”— P.A.

Letter From Former Matron At a meeting of the Hampstead Red Cross yesterday several letters of thanks for food parcels sent to Britain were received, two of the most interesting being from Miss E. J. Watt, a former matron of. the Ashburton Public HospitSl but now residing in Aberdeenshire, and the other from the secretary of the British Red Cross, Miss Freda Bowring. The secretary (Mrs C. S. Hawkey) stated that, as several children who contributed tins for fat had received letters of thanks, she would like to know if others had, so that the address of the recipients of food parcels would be known. Mrs J. Robinson presided.

Mr W. Moore, F.S.M.C., England, representing Procter’s (Opticians since 1877), Christchurch, arrived in Ashburton to-day on a professional visit. — (Advt.)