The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, January 17th, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1197, 17 January 1914, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, January 17th, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Wk have been asked to urge upon the District Traffic Manager the necessity for keeping the local railway station open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., for the convenience ot the general public. The present hours, particularly the late opening in the morning, is a cause of complaint on the part of a number of people. If the station were opened at 8 a.m., it would give the staff and general public ample time to transact business at the station before the departure of the 9 a.m. train without causing a rush at the last minute. The same extension of lime is required after the arrival of the evening train. No complaint is made against the staff, who are courteous and obliging, but for their sake, and the greater convenience ot the public, the hours should be defi nitely fixed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., to meet special local requirements. We hope this suggestion will be given effect to by the District Traffic Manager. The Palmerston Times says the Foxtou residents will have widespread sympathy in the injustice they are suffering in regard to their port. After calling attention to the resolution passed by the Council directing the Minister for iVlarine’s attention to the state of the port, our contemporay says ; “ There is no need to recall the fact that Palmerston suffers equally with Foxtou. There were promises that this matter would be looked into by the Government, and at a conference held at Palmerston some months ago there were big words spoken, but nothing has been done yet. It is evident that the yield of the railage from Wellington to Palmerston and the surrounding district is so excellent that the Minister will do nothing that might reduce it—even if such an action gave nothing but its just dues to this local and important district.” Dk. Martin has been calling attention to the necessity for a Radium Institute at Palmerston. Three years ago be made a similar appeal, but the matter was not taken up enthusiastically by the public—it was looked upon more in the nature of a fad. Information concerning the curative effects of radium when applied to certain diseases is eagerly sought by medical men the world over and Dr. Marlin has been keenly interested in all experiments. So great has been the demand for radium by the medical profession of late that the price has increased enormously since Dr. Marlin first agitated for a supply for this district, and it is now practically impossible to supply the demand. The whole amount in New Zealand at present is but a negligible quantity. Dr. Martin points out that “the treatment of certain maladies by radium has never been a fad. Today all reasonable people must admit that it is a most valuable therapeutic agent. It is an abiding pity that we have no radium in Palmerston to-day. It is a national disgrace that there is not a radium depot already established in this Dominion. All other countries have clamoured for it and got it. Japan has purchased all she could get. Why should New Zealand stand out in romantic isolation and be without it ? We require £6ooo to be subscribed by the public. The Government guarantee would make that over £ i 2.000. That is enough to start with. Rater we can' ask lor more. Wejjfeffiflid erect , Radium North for South somewhere in thffiffjoti merstou North is ’ most central and one of the most* accessible towns in the North Island, and its claims are infinitely greater than those of any seaport town or city. We should, of course, require to put up a suitable building, engage a medical man trained in the application of the remedy, and have a staff of two or three nurses. The whole Island could contribute to the building and equipment of the Institute. I am confident that the money would soon be collected. The scheme I shall elaborate more fully when X meet the Hospital Board ou this subject. Do not at this time let us ask the question, ‘Shall we get radium ?’ but let us see how much we can get. Dr. Lazarus Barlow, director of the Cancer Research Laboratory of the Middlesex Hospital, Loudon, says: “It would be difficult tp over slate

the benefit that would be derived by many suffering from pain and inoperable cancer if 500 milligrammes were forthcoming.” For Ihe sake of suffering humanity we hope the public will immediately take up this question and that the various Hospital Boards will cooperate to establish a Radium Institute as suggested by Dr. Marlin.

; In a public farewell to a bank manager at Wanganui, speakers 1 objected to the Irequeut transfers 1 of these officials. Mr Hatrick 1 said that customers did not like the changes of bank managers. They liked to see a man ' thoroughly find his leet, and so be in a position to keep in touch with • the variation of the pulses of the 3 business men of the community. Mr Lweu Campbell, speaking as * one of the oldest customers of the : bank in Wanganui, if not in New Zealand, was quite certain it was , not in the interests of the institution that it should be constantly ? changing its manager, as had been . the case in Wanganui during the , past fifteen years. No sooner did a manager get to know his clients than he was shifted. Mr K. Tingey, who had been a customer of the bank for 40 years, endorsed 1 what Mr Campbell said, and : agreed that frequent changes were 1 not conducive to business. The ■ arguments of these gentlemen may t apply to large centres, but t certainly not to small communities. it is on record in many E country towns, particularly where r only one or two banks are operat- ' log, that changes after three years : are not only desirable but necesi sary tor obvious reasons.