NEWS AND NOTES

Levin Daily Chronicle, 27 October 1917, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES

Mr H. A. Mackenzie, son of Professor Hugh Mackenzie, of Kelburn, is the Victoria University College nominee for the Rhodes Scholarship this year. Mr Mackenzie has had a brilliant career at both school and university. He was head boy of Wellington College when only sixteen years of age, and won the Turnbull and Rhodes scholarships, besides numerous prizes. At the univei\sity he graduated B.A. last year, winning the senior university scholarship in both Latin and French. He has been in camp since January, and having won a commission will be leaving with the 31st Reinforcements.

| In America (says a writer in a Philadelphia newspaper), the modern tradesman seeks to satisfy his customer, and not to force on him anything he does not want, or to take advantage of him. "A few stores of the better class aim not to employ any girl who has blondined her hair, because of a theory that, inasmuch as blondined hair is a faked article, a customer may unconsciously associate the idea of faking with the goods sold over the counter."

There is a considerable worry looming ahead in the matter of cornsacks and woolpacks, writes "Agricola" (South Island correspondent in the Farmers' Advocate). There is a threatened shortage of these requisites, and it behoves every farmer and pastoralist to be careful of the sacks and the packs that they have on hand. There is usually a good deal of waste in these respects on most farms, and an endeavour will have to be made to sort out and mend up any sacks that can be made to hold grain or grass seed.

Under the heading of Tuberculosis the October number of the Journal of Public Health states: — "This disease shows a decrease in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch Health Districts, but there is an increase of thirty-six cases as compared with the previous month in Otago." Other reports show that there has been a satisfactory decrease of diphtheria in the Wellington district, except around Waipawa, Taranaki, and Wanganui, where more eases were notified during September than during August. There was evidence of scarlet fever throughout the whole of the Wellington district during September.

There are few things which demand a heavier toll of lives than camphor. The reason for this is that the mountainous parts of the island of Formosa, from which the world gets most of its camphor, are inhabited by head-hunting savages, whom the successive invaders of the island have been unable to subdue. Since the Japanese look the island after their successful campaign against China in the 'nineties, the.v have been carrying on a carefullyconceived plan of gradual penetration of the valuable camphor regions. They make paths Oft. in width through the virgin forests. At intervals of every 120 yds. stands a guard-house, and every fourth or fifth guard-house is a small fort,

entrenched and defended by barbedwire entanglements. Telephonic in-ter-communication, machine-guns, and all the resources of Western military science are employed.