NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 February 1924, Page 1

NEWS BY MAIL.

OCR. DISAPPEARING CRAFTSMEN NO APPRENTICES. ] LONDON, Oct. 31. British apprentices, who have been the hack-hone of British industry, are ( a failing quantity, so much so that i n ew craftsmen are not forthcoming f -'nd the skilled trades can find no rcero its. ..More than 2,000 joiners engaged m tlm building trade in Glasgow have stopped work because of a dispute concerning the interpretation of a new working agreement drafted by the National AA'agos and Conditions Council for the building industry. This is the kind of dispute that is paralysing the building trade. There is no one to take the place of the skilled hands. The people arc clamouring lor houses, the builders cannot provide the men to erect them because the skilled worker is either going abroad or going on slrike. Everywhere the British bricklayer is "anted, and official figures show that for (-very 100 vacancies notified for bricklayers to the Labour Exchanges only lid have been filled for some time pa-l. F-ntisli bricklayers in the United ■‘■states are earning Cl 2 to I'l l a week. Tin? official rate for bricklayers in London at present is Is 7jd an hour, or 71s (id for a -J-l-hour week. There is a good deal of speculative housebuilding just now, said Air A. Brown, secretary of the London (Waster Builders’ Association, yesterday, 'nid local builders are absorbing the bricklayers and paying them higher rates than the federation members arc allowed to pay. '-?uo only remedy is to train more apprentices.

Building, engineering, shipbuilding are being throttled by a dearth of apprentices. Roys will not work live or seven years at a trade at a small wage when they can get a much higher price lor casual labour. Roys leaving school take a casual job because their parents will not support them during art apprenticeship term. The secondary schools are turning out hoys who, having ambitions above a trade, enter the overcrowded market s, of the desk men.

Builders cannot get bricklayers, shipbuilders cannot get trained artisans, farmers cannot get skilled workers, watchmakers cannot get assistants ; and everywhere is the paradox of employers wanting labour and labour unable to find employment.

PNEUMONIA SPECIFIC. ROAfE, Nov. 27. Senator Professor Alarchifava, dean ol the Italian medical profession, in ail interview to-day affirmed that a new specific cure for pneumonia had been di.-eoveied by a young Swiss. Dr Tomarkiu. The result was reached while a cure for iuhereulosis was being sought, and Dr Alarchifava said it, had been brought to a point of prafical perfection.

Dr Tomarkiu has been working under Dr Alarchifava developing his discovery. Official tests for the treatment ol pneumonia have been made in tin- Santo ,Spirit” Hospital (hiring the last tlnee months, and all the patients in one ward were treated by the Toniarkin method. The mortality in this ward is stated to have Teen reduced to zero, while in the rest of the hospii.il the mortality 0.-.eillated between :ts and -It) per cent. The treatment consists of a special application of Dr Ehrlich's theories on general sterilisation of the disease <>r-

tln tin- strength of the remarkable u-siili.s oi.taim-d hitherto, otl'cial tests arc being made of a similar treatment for tuberculosis under the supervision of professors of the Fniversity of Rome.

Dr Alarchifava believes that the prholem of a cure for tuberculosis is verv near a definite solution.

I.ICMT AF. POP.LANK’S 150 .MILES TRIE. LONDON TO WU'SSELS FOR 7s 3d. LONDON, Dec. 10 Mr Alan Cohhain, the airman, has flew n from l.onden to Rnisscls (about 1A(I miles) in a light aeroplane. Ihe machine was a De Muvilland A-'; lit ted with a (S-h.p. Blackburn engine. Air Ooblumt. writing from Brussels, says:—“L first flew from the Staglane Aerodrome, F.dgware, to Croydon. I left Croydon at 9.50 a.tn. on Saturday. although the conditions were so bad that I had to land at Lympnc at II a.til. beenusc of thick fug. By midday the conditions had improved, and at 12.5 mill. I was able to take off again and make- for the const. Passing over Dover I began the Channel crossing in fairly good weather, hut halfway across I ran into heavy rain with very low clouds. It took me 20 minutes to reach the French side, but although the rain was very heavy and the general conditions bad, the machine behaved splendidly. Passing over Dunkirk, Dixmude, and Client, I reached Brussels about A p.m., having been flying for 4 hours and 5 minutes, or about 35 minutes longer than 1 anticipated. The machine did everything 1 wanted, and considering the had visibility, cross winds, and low clouds, which considerably hampered me, it was hardly possible to improve on the flying time. All credit is due to the machine—it was simply wonderful.”

The cost of Arr Cobham’s remarkable flight is believed to be less than the 10s originally suggested for the journey. The little motor-cycle engine with which his machine is equipped uses a gallon of petrol ail hour at- a cost of Is (id. The flying time was .four hours, and therefore petrol consumption accounted for fis, while the oil used would cost about Is 3d. or a total of 7s 3d for the journey. The ordinary aeroplane such as the D. IT. 31. with its -170-h.p. engine, carrying !) passengers, at 100 miles an hour, would require 05 gallons of petrol and over two gallons of oil. costing altogether about £'s 10s. Depreciation, insurance, and other charges would also be very much