CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 September 1916, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

PHYSICALLY UNFIT, Returns of the medical examinations for twelve months at the central .station of (lie Canterbury district show that out of 2C-37 men examined, 74,S were classed as unlit, and !)!)3 as temporarily unfit. Of the 74S unfit men, 184 were rejected for poor physique, 170 for defective sight, fiG for flat feet, and 50 for deformities, 45 for heart troubles and :i3 lor hernia. The Citizens' Defence Corps, which maintains a recruiting station iu Chrislclmrch, and has handled 1 a large number of recruits, reports that the rejections have been 45 per cent. Lieut,Colonel Anderson, the principal medical ollicer, has sent a very interesting and rather alarming report 011 the subject to district headquarters. "The poor physique and various deformities and de i'ects noticed at the examinations have been a revelation to the e.vaminers. Hundreds of youths have been rejected whose maximum chest expansion was under 8.11 inches, and whose muscular development was no more than one would find in a girl of 12 or 14 years of age. The M.O.'s consider it incomprehensible that, in a country with such facilities for gymnastic training, so many absolute 'weeds' could be found. It is surprising to learn that in this country, where there are so many facilities for outdoor recreation, 011 questioning many of these .recruits it was found they had never

participated in any of tho. ordinary outdoor panics, had never done any military Iraiiiin;;-, lir<'d ii shot, ridden a horsy, or, in t'aei, done anything a yout h is ally supposed to do. With such material it was cxcuodintfly diflieull to select, men jit for active service.'' Many people ufc Home. \vhi> regard the colonics as place* inhabited almost exclusively by stalwart hiinbnrnt t-heqi farmers, would, be mudi surprised to road this passage.