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A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Quarantine Forty-live passengers of the Aorangi have been released from quarantine in Sydney, after having been detained as a result of a smallpox case on board the ship. The term quarantine was originally applied to the old sanitary preventive system of detention of ships and men, unlading of cargo in lazarets, fumigation of susceptible articles, and so on. It was practised at seaports on account of the plague, in connection with the Levantine trade. It is now a thing of the past in Great Britain and in the majority of other States. But, in common usage, the word !s applied to the sanitary regulations which are the modern substitutes for quarantine. Effective quarantine was not established in England until 1720, so the disappearance of the bubonic plague some years before that date can scarcely be ascribed to its institution. Now all ships entering a port are required to obtain a bill of health, showing the absence of infectious diseases. Without this the passengers are detained until absence of the symptoms of the disease allow them to be released. In the larger ports special quarters on land at a quarantine station are usually provided for them. Quarantine stations before the war were limited to maritime ports, but were set up after the war on the borders of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and the Baltic States for the supervision of travellers arriving from countries contaminated by exanthematic typhus and relapsing fever. Three model stations, set up by the International Red Cross committee a: Narwa, in Estonia, Riga, in Latvia, and Inio, in Finland, dealt with the teception. supervision and disinfection of thousands of prisoners arriving from Russia on the convoys of repatriated prisoners between 1919 and 1922. Radium. The Wellington Hospital holds £15,000 worth of radium, some of which is used in the direct treatment of cancer. Radium Is the best known and most important member of the radio-elements, discovered by Professor and Madame Pierre Curie, and G. Bemont, of Paris, in 1898. The principal minerals containing uranium, and therefore radium, are pitchblende, carnotite and autunite. The first of these consists of the oxide of uranium, more or less pure, and is found principally in Czechoslovakia and in the Belgian Congo; the second is a vandate of uranium and potassium, mined in Colorado, Utah and Australia; the third is a phosphate of uranium and calcium mined in Portugal and the United States. A strong source of radium, if left on the skin for some time, causes sores which have the appearance of burns; prolonged exposure to the radiations leads to atrophy of the part affected and perhaps to cancer. Under suitable conditions, however, the. rays from radium have been successfully used in the treatment of cancer and are undoubtedly beneficial in this and similar conditions, though it cannot be said that radium is a cure for all forms of this scourge. Even when it cannot be averred that the rays heal, it is established that they relieve pain in cancerous conditions. A strong soiirce of radium can destroy the vitality of seeds and kill the bacteria which causes typhus, cholera, anthrax and similar diseases; even caterpillars have been killed by the rays. It was claimed in 1906 that the rays from radium could cause spontaneous generation, a claim that was never eon-; firmed and is now looked upon as fantastic. Dredging For Gold. A dredge which, when completed, will be the largest of its kind in New Zealand is being brought out from England and will commence operations on the Molyneux River toward the end of the year. Gold mining, next to coal mining, is the most important mining industry in New Zealand, but dredging is at present the least important of the operations by which gold is obtained. Dredging yielded 22.045 ounces of gold in 1933, valued at £160,033; the total value of gold obtained was £1,099,579. There were seven productive dredges at this time, 51 quartz mines and 2410 alluvial mines. The dredges gave employment to 120 men, quartz mining to 1561 men and alluvial mining t0'4531 men. In fact, gold dredging has rapidly declined in importance, the number of productive dredges having decreased from 167 during 1906. Of the total dredge production £146.941 was won by four dredges on the West Coast, the largest producer of which wAs the Rimu dredge, with £110,671. One dredge in Otago won gold to the value of £9llB. Renewed activity is being shown in this branch of gold mining and during last year the number of dredges in operation was increased by three. Kidnapping - in America. The trial is proceeding in the United States of Bruno Hauptmann, the alleged kidnapper of the child of Colonel Lindbergh. Despite all efforts of the Federal and State Governments, kidnapping in the United States is a very common crime. It is considered that there are more kidnapping incidents than are ever brought to light. The kidnappers usually warn the family of a victim that to communicate with the police means death, and in a large number of cases this warning is taken seriously, the ransom is paid, and nothing more is said about the matter. In Hollywood most of the picture stars have armed bodyguards, and their homes are equipped with all sorts of electrical anti-burglar devices. If they have children these are the object of esspecial care. The situation is also particularly bad in the Middle West. This territory contains the two ’bings kidnappers require—good roads for fast travel, and plenty of wild country where they can hide with little fear of discovery. In many States the crime inow punishable with death, and this is true everywhere if a State boundary is crossed with an abducted person. The Austrian Chancellor The life of Dr. Kurt von Sehuseantgg the Austrian Chancellor, has been threatened. Dr. von Schuschnigg wapractically an unknown politician oiv side his own country prior to his sinceeding to the Chancellorship after th; assassination of his great friend. Dr Dollfuss. He is the son of Genera' Artur Edler von Scliusclinigg, and is 3s years old. He wa-> educated at the University of Innsbruck, and was or. active service during the war from 191.1 almost to the end, being captured by Italian troops shortly before the Armis tice. When he entered the Australian Parliament in 1927 he was president of the Catholic National Association for the Tyrol. He has always been a mod erate in politics and is generally popular. He was Minister of Education in the Dollfuss Cabinet, and Minister of Justice in the Buresch Cabinet of 1932 He is a traditional monarchist and an excellent speaker.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19350129.2.50

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 106, 29 January 1935, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,107

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 106, 29 January 1935, Page 7

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 106, 29 January 1935, Page 7

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