FROM THE WATCH TOWEER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 348, 8 May 1928, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWEER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

A DOG —GEREL His sleek hair was stroked, And his pleasure evoked; He fed upon the best, Lazed in never-ending rest. Though so carefully attended, He was easily offended; He moved with aristocracy— A lordly figure, you’ll agree. On Saturday I saw him, Looking dignified and prim, And not the least afraid — In the toy-dog parade. CANUS PARVUS. THE LITTLE DUCHESS Golf will be made more Interesting by the presence on English links of the Duchess of York, who is being coached by a famous professional. The uame of the coach Is not stated Is he an all-round expert, and will he he able to teach the language essential to the game, as well as successfully Instructing the little duehess in the various strokes? HIGHER COST OF DYING. The careful folk of Dunedin have an additional motive for longevity in the threat of extra cost of dying. The Dunedin City Council last week had the temerity to suggest a higher scale of cemetery charges—on “extra firstclass allotments” by 25 per cent., for “first-class” by 115 per cent., and for “second-class” by 33 1-3 per cent. No wonder the “Otago Daily Times” demands a thorough investigation, and condemns a suggestion that will permit the council to “reap a profit out of the disposal of the remains of citizens.” But if we know the citizens of Dunedin, the council will defeat its own purpose. The citizens will either absolutely refuse to die, or toddle off to die in some other city where graves are cheaper. * * * OPIUM FOR CHILDREN It is more than astonishing to discover that opium can be purchased openly in any chemist’s shop for infantile consumption. Yet numerous “remedies” are available containing opium, and there is no restriction on the sale of such mixtures. Baby has a pain, and a visit is paid to a chemist’s shop for one of these popular remedies —highly recommended by a friend. To the worried mother it certainly may seem a good remedy, for it keeps baby quiet. She doesn’t know it, but the opium does the trick —and sometimes it does something else, such as disguising symptoms, as was tile ease with a child at Christchurch last week. The child died, and the doctor said that its death was due to gastric enteritis, but that he had been misled in his diagnosis owing to the effect of opium contained in a medicine that he afterwards discovered had been given. The doctor urged it should be made compulsory that the fact of any medicine containing opium should be stated on the label. The amazing thing is that such a law is not already in existence.

GORSE “I hope you won’t let that bit of gorse spread too far—l have a holy horror of that stuff,” the Minister of Lands told the soldier settlers at Kopare. If the Minister were to spend half an hour looking out of the windows of a railway carriage when travelling almost anywhere in New Zealand, he should be absolutely stricken with “unholy horror.” Gorse grows all along the line. It also grows freely on Government reserves and Crown lands, and the birds eat the seeds and carry it to lands that are being cultivated by soldier settlers and others. Gorse growing on Government land doesn’t excite ministerial horror, of course. It is “holy ground,” as it were. SAILOR JOURNALIST Commander Daniel, who was dismissed from the Royal Oak as the result of a gentlemanly argument with Rear-Admiral Collard, has joined the ranks of journalism. He will write articles for the “Daily Mail” and “Weekly Despatch.” Two articles suggested are, “Naval Etiquette” and “Quarterdeck Language.” It Is scarcely fair that newspapers should compete with the cinema in securing celebrities. The murderer, Browne, under sentence of death for the murder of Constable Gutteridge, is also engaged in writing articles for the Press, from the condemned cell. Schools of journalism, apparently, are out of date. To get your diploma in future all you will need to do is to trip an. admiral. (Note: Neither is permitted in New Zealand.) RADIUM POISONING Owners of illuminated clocks and watches may be innocently responsible for much suffering. Five girls, it is reported, are suing the United States Radium Company for £50,000 each, after being poisoned by radium while painting clock and watch dials illuminated by radium. Physicians gave evidence that the girls were doomed to slow, painful deaths within three years. This is part of the flesh and blood demands of industry. Years ago, under the old methods of manufacture, many workers in match factories used to die lingering, painful deaths from phosphorus poisoning. Few people who used matches used to think of that. There were too many other people dying from other unhealthy industrial conditions to bother much about it, anyway. The workers of to-day. guarded by industrial legislation which considers their health and safety to be of greater concern than profits, have much to be thankful for when their conditions are compared with those of a generation ago. The radium-poisoning danger is a new discovery.