LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 November 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tlio supervisor reports that the appeal to telephone subscribers to use the telephones as little as possible, in order to spare the small staff available, produced little effect. Yesterday ten out 0?. the staff of fourteen were away, so talkative people are again requested to exercise a little self-denial.

At a meeting of the Hospital Board held yesterday morning, the chairman reported that the Old People's Home was clear of influenza cases. A request had been made to, allow the inmates to have a glass of ale at dinner time. He had acceded to the request, and his action was heartily supported by other members of the board. The Government intends to forward to the High Commissioner a weekly summary of New Zealand news to be handed to the London papers for publication. Thi3 service will be worked in conjunction with that supplied by Mr. Atack, manager of the press Association, to the New Zealander, published at Home for the use of soldiers, and wiE supplement the news cabled by him.—Press Assoc.

Some of our runs are disorganised consequent upon, the regular runners being down with illness, and we have to ask our readers' forbearance for a little whils. Our Stratford-Awatuna-Kapo-naa-Matapu-Lowgarth motorist is amongst the sufferers, and the delivery consequently is later than usual, but we expect to resums the regular runs in two days' time. A sad case of a mother and father dying from the effects of influenza and leaving behind four young children, two or whom are ill, is reported from Otahv.hu (says the Auckland StarJ. The father, thinking he had shaken off te malady, left is bed. A relapse set in, and he was taken to the Auckland Hospital. The following day his wife, who was also a sufferer from influenza, died at her home. The husband succumbed the following morning.

The relief committees are doing splendid and unselfish work in connection with the epidemic, but sometimes are imposed upon. The.lnglewood Committee was yesterday requested to provide help at a certain place whose inmates were down and uiiaule to fend for themselves. One of the committee went out, straightened out things, cleaned up the place, cut wood, etc., and, on leaving, said that if more help was wfented to ring up the office forthwith. A little later the ring came all right. Could someone go out' and cut the lawn The committeeman who got the message had hardily recovered from his surprise late last evening.

Though the influenza epidemic is severe enough in Taranaki, conditions in the Main Trunk district are ten times worse. Writing to a New Plymouth friend, a settler from one of the Main Trunk towns says tilings there are something terrible. He relates a case in point- A settler, his wife, and two chil drcn were down. lie could not get medicine or a doctor, for none were available, tit did his best for his wife and ciiildren. One of trie children died. Ho tried to get an undertaker, .out could not do so. He buried the child himself on his own place. Then the other child died, followed o,uickly by the mother. He buried them iboth in the same place. And now the father is expected to succumb. It is one of the most harrowing incidents that has ever been recorded.

Ur. Makgill made to a DommTun reporter on Monday a statement of great importance to thousands f citizens. It amounts to a condemnation of the use of formalin by individuals, and would affect any of the inhalation chambers which use it. He says:—"The use of Tfritating antiseptics, such as formalin, is to be deprecated, owing to the fact that they cause irritation and rawness of the mucous membrane, and therefore induce bacteriological trouble- Formalin especially has been used, and is causing a great dea* of unnecessary suffering. For h\T or three years now in military camps experiments ha\'c been carried out, and the only satisfactory thing found is a 2 per cent, solution of sulphate of zinc used in a steam spraying apparatus. At the same time, other things are not-to be despised, such as washing the. throat with a weak solution of table salt, or a weak .boracie solution, or other remedies of a like na-