NOTES FROM OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 32, 1 November 1907, Page 5

NOTES FROM OTHER CENTRES.

."'./ AUCKLAND. ~;'.■. October 31. With rtgard to the statement made re-coritty-by Professor Segar, of Auckland, that Wellington is actually nearer Panama than .AuckHud, and will, therefore, benefit to a .larger extent by the opening of the now trade route, a correspondent writes to the "Hermd" saying:—" I venture to doubt the Profcisi'ir's dictum. Now Zealand is to tho .south-wrst of Panama. Wellington is, roughly, 300 miles south of Auckland, and not at all to tho east of it, so that even on a gl-jbe Wellington will bo found .further 'a'wajv i'he practical difference between Panama/and the two ports 'is trifling. I would not. ha. vc written, merely to state my view, ■but ti-ere are other important and interesting issues that must be discussed within the next few jea:'s. At present, the Professor says, ''Wellington affords the shortest route on to .the /'eading ports of Australia. , By means of tho Manukaii-Waitemata cannl this state ofaffai-s could bo altered, and it is worth Auckland's whilo to strain every nervo to do it; fcfUit nny thoughtful pp-son who looks at a' niap oi Austrajasia and its islands can see ; that, -while Wellington has tho advantage for 'peal distribution, Auckland is the natural centro o f a far more extended area, and if 1 is/certainly nearer Sydney via Manukau.". Fishing! The r fishing season for the Auckland Accliinatir-ation Society's district, and also for. the Rotorua district, will open on November I.''So far as tho Auckland district is 'cqnccrwd, the Society has, it is stated, made ample provision for the sale of licenses in .all'parts of tho district. The genoral license .of. £1," available for the whole season, can be used all over the Dominion. Tourists, con;sequent.Hywho are passing through Auckland, ■ arid taking the first of their fishing in the AuCklmJ-district, are advised to select this class iif license as being the most economical and. convenierit. As. to. the prospects of the season, the advices already received are that fish', are abundant, and' are frequently scon whole course of the Waikato River, particularly between Ngaruawahia and Mcrcojr. , 'J. he Auckland Society has for some Vears, anticipated that the fishing ai the 'lowerVWaikato would prove successful. It is .said, that fish are'abundant in tho Thames River from Te Aroha upwards as far as Matamata/. No ,doubt tho streams about Okoroire, ; Oxf6rd, and Lichfield'wll attract a good 'numbor'of anglers, as has been tho casci in past years, but very littlo' spebific information' hue been received so far as the quantity 'of trout available there is concerned. Trout arc also said to be not uncommon :h the ,tribuuirics of thei Wai pa River above Otoro•harigaV r.nd also in,the.Punui stream, which can ! be - easily reached from Te Awamutu or ■Kihikihi. • Then again, there are tho tribu■taries;'of the.Upper Mokau and the WangaViui Rivers, all of which have been repeatedly stocked-by the Auckland Society in''past :ye'ars-.' It.is- very difficult to say niuch about the abundance of trout or the prospects of any'piitieular streams until they ; have beon actually tried by the anglers. Such information should be available in another .fortnight's time.: , ■' "'''•■• ■ Auckland Hospital. , ; r ',At ii meeting of tho AucklariQ Hospital ißoardj the'Tecent progressive policy of bring--■ing' < lie /Hospital up-tb : date was considered, arid only -tlio chairman and tWee'members' .voted'.against'--a resolution adopting l the vc? port of the Committee' of Investigation, .rhiclv doclarod certain works.to bo too costly,"and six supported the sahi«. : During the discussion, which : lasted four hours,-Dr. Robertson (chair -lah of the honorary medical stall') made a strong plea for=a continuance of the oolicy was"eventually coritlemned.- ■ Ho did hope, he ; said,\ that the Board would riot stop in j its efforts to improve the Hospital. Some central body should set 'up , a standard of hospital modernising, and then-there would bo no furoiior quostion: The improvenionts wero very slow.'' ' Dr.' 'M'Gregor 'condemned' the towors and basement many 'years ago.' Last yoartha basement was closed down), but it had lo te used again. It was a disgrace to civilis-ii ion that such a place as the basement should have to be used. It had alv/ays boon n -terriblo want at the Hospital that there were no-single rooms in'which the dying or the, seriously ill could bo placed, and .this had been a matter of-great, pain. very often tu tho staff. It was only a corner of one; of the auxiliary wards that would have to'no removed for the administration block. .The basement of the main building.must be cloiired cut In fact, the whole building had been condemned internally, and the. baso;mont t-i-uli , not be cloaretj out till room.;was provided for the doctors' offices, .otc. He had found a/man with "pneumonia, ■and a/child with diphtheria in a draughty' :.'pnssa r ?e,; because there was nowhere else, to put,. | t , 'ij'Ti. He had them put into room.ilV the building,, which the'.henci-ary staff hill tho use of, and which was alsi used for .visitors. Things had occurred in that Hospital'through lack of facilities arid, accommodation ■ that tho public would not ;tblc"fiite.if it knew of,them., At the time of'the plague scaro, arid on account, of tho, want af a proper observation cottage, .•hero, 'vroro'thirteen children in one: ward, and of ■ the,! thirteen, eleven contracted, measles, and three, of them, died. If there had been a •proper" observation co'ttace that might not have Recurred. .' " , ,-,. Mr. ; ; Bruce: But .there are hundreds of eases.of rDMsles outside. . ..... ', Dr. . 4 Rcbertson: These childrcn-wer,-} not adniitta.d for measles. . They were.already sufferiilg from serious illnesses, and; thereford, ii'.uch more likely to be infected by moaslos; and you must have a.separate place--in: hospitals for measles, otherwise it .will run through whole wards. We have had to put a '.consumption oase and a typhoid case close togothor—a . most dangerous thing. ~ ■ The Doctir also mentioned a; case of infection 'arising! ; n oiio of the fomale wards, and went 'on.'.to say that the staff, which had to fightdisease.daily and hourly at the institution, 'felt,su«h things very, much indeed. -He hoped .Hip Bo ml' would go on steadily and got the 'ivories outlined in its schemo done. He considered what was already done was absolutely .necessary, and ho hoped the Board could start .soon on tho main building ■ improvements: The administrative block-had to be gone on itvith;.' before tho basement could be pulled .outi-and tho work was urgent.

i The .Chairman also strenuously fought the :iCQiisatioii of extravagance, lie contended that' rho general public did not appreciate the. advance in surgical and Hospital .- methods compared with ten years ago, when ipeople:.dicd who could '.low have been saved ;witn : the conveniences and knowledge now in 'ypgue. That being so, it wns necessary to ,givß,thi- staff the best facilities possible. A .'ehbeso-oaring.policy would mean the running of grave risk, and if the feeling was that ■'Hip .Methods of fifteen years ago were good ■bhbu'gh. for the Hospital to-day, he was prepared to leave the Board , to these who : tii6ught>. so . . ■ :'. Despite those and other strong arguments, however, the party of economy won the day. Tlicro is. every likelihood that the matter will not be allowed to rest here, and rumours of resignations are in the air. Short W eight. ■ -A "correspondent sends a growl to one of Hic'rlailics about short weight hread. As a moth id of redress he suggests the inauguration of a plan he saw worked successfully '■in'.Copenhagen. "There it was found," he writes, "that the milk vendors were increasing their vend of milk by a too frequent supply from tho cow with the 'iron tail.' Complaints were made by the consumers, and inspectors, mostly policemen, I believe, wero appointed to go round in the early niorniiijis, and again in the afternoons, provided with a milk-testing appliance, the name of which I cannot remember, and when the milk was not up to the correct strength for now milk ithey 'wore empowered, after the test was made i'i the presenco of a respectable witness, to throw tho milk into the street gutters. This might bo called wasting good food, but it soon btopped the adulteration. The same, mothod might bo instituted in ■ Auckland, or othor places, by inspectors being appointed to weigh the bread in the bakers' carts or shops, and, if found short weight, tho bread could hi. confiscated, and sent to tho_ prisons or hospitals for consumption. I think this_

would soon effect a change, and save such as myself, who have to buy nine to.',ten- loaves per week, on which I am defrauded about (3d. per week." DUNEDIN. October 31. There was an unusual sight in the harbour this morning, about two hundred wild swans taking their sport in the water. No doubt thoy wore caught in the heavy fog and settied down quietly till the clearing of the weather permitted them to resume their flight. The first hothouse tomatoes of- the season came to hand to-day, and realised Is. 9d. per pound. It was stated by Mr. C. Keast at the meeting of the Bottlers' Asooiation this afternoon that the nearest. bottle manufacturers (Melbourne) had enough orders in hand to keep them employed until the year 1909. nroac! at Eishtpence. , To-day flour rose another £1 a ton, making it £14 ss. for sacks, and, in consequence of this second rise of £1 in flour, bread will be up to Bd. to-morrow. On the last occasion that flour increased £1 in price the bakers left the price of bread at it was, namely 7}d. Some millers have hardly sufficient wheat in. hand to keep, them, going another month, and with wheat so firm they see little chance of getting their requirements. The New Tariff. Concerning the revised tariff, which comes into operation to-morrow, a leading grocer tolls the " Star " that the average man will save about 6d. or 7d. a week. The abolished duties on sugar (which will be Jd. a pound cheaper) ;.on rasins and currents (Id. a pound cheaper), are the main revisions affecting his table. Other reductions such as those on figs, prunes, pepper, and spices, do not affect him to any degree.