NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2397, 25 February 1922, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

Two Christchurch residents recently sent .several carcases of frozen sheep to friends in a Horae town for distribution as a Christmas present. By last mail they received letters of thanks, one of which read as follows: “Everybody appreciates your great kindness and thoughtfulness. It means a great thin<? for the ex-soldiers and their relatives to be remembered at this time, and they are deeply grateful. The mutton arrived in perfect condition, and among the men who helped in the distribution were several butchers. They did the cutting up, and they say they have never seen finer mutton. It went to between 140 and 150 houses, and it proved the greatest blessing to the people. You have provided a grand Christmas dinner."

Several visits paid by a Palmerston North resident to the bedside of hospital patients have convinced him that the house-fly, apart from its germ-carrving capacity, is the cause of more discomfort in the aggregate than disease itself. This prompted him to supply to the patients of one institution a dozen of those^little instruments known as the American fly-swat. Killing competitions amongjlle patients are the delight of sunny days, and soon bring relief from the pest, and a welcome diversion from the monotonous suffering.

An unusual golf incident was recorded on the course at Kirkfield, Ontario, when a match was decided on the last green in a totally unexpected manner. P. McGregor and 11. Dowe were all square going to the home hole in the final round, M’Gregor needing to sink a long put to win the match. He played the ball cleverly, but it rolled around the lip of the cup and apparently missed. At the same instant a large grass-hopper landed squarely on the ball from a distance, and the impetus of its flight caused the rubber core to drop into the hole and decide the match in favour of M’Gregor.

“From what I have seen of the country, I think New Zealand has very great prospects in front of it,” said Mr Ralph of Sydney, in conversation with a Post representative. “The only need, lam sorry to say, is that you have not enough brain powe^ - , or money power, to push the- place ahead. Your tramways are a long way behind the times in the facilities provided, and in the appliances used. Of course, it means considerable expense to improve them, but the expenditure would surely warrant the outlay. Your street lighting is.also very backward. I think that if your municipalities were to take the matter up of improving your water frontages by laying down tramlines and establishing proper ferry connections, New Zealand would be one of the finest places in the Southern Hemisphere.” Tuataras on Stephen Island, Cook Strait, stated the Hon. W. Downie Stewart in Christchurch, are increasing much more rapidly than generally is believed. A party that visited the island this year has reported to him that the I’epliles, in some parts of the island, are present in great numbers, it has been suggested that those parts should be fenced off, in order to give the tuataras morn protection even than they are given at present. Their worst enemy on the island seems to be the harrier hawk. The Minister (states the Lyttelton Times) has been advised to place some of the Stephen Island tuataras on other islands near the coast, where there are few natural enemies. The party took bach to Wellington specimens of / the Stephen island frog, Liopelma Hamutoni, discovered by Mr ilamilLon, of \\ elliugton, a few years ago.

Some quite amazing results have recently Deen reached by doctors by giving preparation of certain glands as medicine, The most wonderful eUect lias followed a dose of "pituitary, ' a giand that is the cause of "giantism.' if the living giand is r too active m a growing person, he or she may reach a colossal statue before the abnormal development proves fatal, a sLunted, dwarfed child was treated recently with doses of pituitary gland by a provincial doclor, with results that surprised himself. ihe child grew instantly at a quite fantastic pace, iihe ’’Alice in \\ onderiand when she nibbled the right edge of the mushroom, and though- the doses were small, the treatment had to be discontinued because the hands and feet showed a tendency to excessive size. Great developments in medicine and in .knowledge of the human mechanism are expected from further investigation with the many glands, thyroid, pituitary, and others, which are less known than any other part their influences.