NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2762, 24 July 1924, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

Stimulants used in tlie Auckland Public Hospital last month included 2290 ounces of brandy, 872 ounces of whisky, six ounces of cherry, 951 ounces of port, 25 pints of ale, 190 pints of stout, 444 syphons of soda water, 24 bottles of lemonade, four pints of champagne and 49 bottles of puriri water. The stock of. 20,000 red reflectors imported by the Christchurch C'itv Council for use by cyclists has now been distributed to dealers who 'm turn are rapidly disposing of the reflectors to cycle owners. It is estimated that there are well over 30,000 bicycles in use in Christchurch and suburbs, and 50 cycle shops. One dealer stated that he had been allotted 500 reflectors from the council’s slock, and lie had now only a few left.

To stM-lire siillieienl hardwooc idles olid totara linilier for tin completion of the new wlmrf at New Plymouth within a reasonable time is proving a very dillicall mailer for the Harbour Board. Tin original contractors did not delivoi the full quantities within 'the specified periods, hut, as some timhei was still being sent, to ranee! tin timber contracts immedmtclv am enforce the penalties was not regard-

ed as wise. The original emit raid for the piles was cancelled, and tin new contractors undertook to giv( di livrrv within two months.

In his annual report to the Palmerston North Hospital Board tin chairman (Sir Jas. Wilson) slates ■‘The Board has perhaps been lenient in the collection of fees dining the lean years which we lniv< just passed through, bm are now taking active steps, wherever tin palienPs circumstances enable bin to meet his account, to ensure collection. However, those concerned mav rest assured that fullest inpuirv is made in cadi case by tin Board before any pressure is brought to hear.'’

“Has he had a thrashing?” asked Mr 0. R. OiT-Walker, 5.. M.. at the Wellington .Juvenile Court oil Saturday, when a hoy was brought before him on a charge ol converting a bicydc to bis own use. “Yes, I gave him a good thrashing, declared tin* mother of the hoy. He wants more than a thrashing from a mother.” observed the magistrate. 1 know that these mothers’ thrashings, they don I hurt at all.” Tlie mother returned: “Well, I don’t know about that, 1 left some marks on him. The young offender, together with another youth who was implicated was lined Ids.

A remarkable discovery was made in the Christchurch hospital when an X-ray examination of the chest of a six-year-old. hoy was being made. It was found that his heart mid stomach were- on tho right side instead of in their noimal position on the left. A further examination showed that the right lobe of the liver was also on the wrong side, so that practically the whole of tile organs were reversed. A medical practitioner stated that previously lie had never seen the abdominal organs turned about. Frequently tbe heart was found to be out of place, but not the other parts. The lad is cx•ceptionally healthy and strong, and all his organs are perfectly normal except for their transposition.

One hundred thon.-and pounds, i is thought, will have to lie expended before the task of remndi Ring and rebuilding the Brisbane general hospital is aecn.mplisbed. Che work, which is to he eommeheshortly, has been m cessitajed on account of the existing buildings being widely scattered, and in some cases, not being ns modern ns they should he. A new modern hospital block, complete, in itself in ihe matter of wards, operating theatre and other details, will be erocied shortly. After that old bailarc to lie demolished, and in iheir stead two additional blocks erected. The expenditure of the r 100,000 is to he spread over a period of 20 to 25 years, and then the establishment should contain four limes as many beds as at present. The education of girls in New Zealand was not proceeding on tight lines at all. said Canon Per-

,-ival James, at the annual meeting ~j- the Girl Guide movement in Auckland. It was a waste of time to be teaching algebra, arithmetic, and other ahstni.-e subjects to

eirls and then send them forth mioi|iiippcd for tlie great duties nt homemaker and mu!herhond. The wlnde system needed remodelling on -.aiie lines. Modern lack of parent - id control was also deplored by the 1 leaker who stated that many hoys ml girls were morally orphans, as regarded parental care. and. the sooner people faced facts the hetIt would lie. Freedom very ~l‘jcn passed into licen.-e, and for this reason there was cause for thankfulness that so good an influence as that of the Girl Guide movement had at las! been introduced.

fl is estimated that ihe fori nightly series of auctions of rnhbitskins bv all the Dunedin brokers resulted in sales totalling between £40,1)1)0 and £50,000. Owing to the exIreme mildness of the -easim. Ihn ,jiiality of the skins was below tlm average, (he proportion of Ihe btM grade* skins being very small m comparison with oilier >e.i-ons. Nature dues not nroiide a tlml. ( .<,at if a thinner one will do. Nov - ertliolcss there wins a keen demand, especially from American buyers and this eagerness on the part ot ibe Americans brought about an unusual feature ‘in the unctionsnamely, that “bucks" were more sought after than “dues," the explanation being that the United Stales manufacturers prefer the heavier pelts. The trapping this season has covered an exception ally wide area, seekers for new country having to go very far hack into the west.