The fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Dunedin Training College was formally celebrated at a function in the Allen Hall on Saturday morning. The principal (Mr J.A. Moore) presided over a large attendance of past and present students and teachers, representatives of the University of Otago, the City Council, the Education Board, the Otago Educational Institute, inspectors and ex-principals. Telegrams and letters of congratulation were received in large numbers and were read by the chairman. Among the apologies for absence were communications from the Governor-General (Sir Charles Fergusson), the Minister of Education (Hon R.A. Wright), the Director of Education (Mr J.A. Caughley), and Mr P. Goyen (late senior inspector of schools). Sister institutions in the north forwarded telegrams of congratulation and goodwill. Intricacies of car washing A hose is essential for washing the car. A strong jet of water may have the effect of driving the dust into the varnish, and producing minute scratches. After the body work has been well sprayed the surplus water should be wiped off with a sponge and then with a chamois leather. These leathers should be kept free from oil or grease. After the coachwork has been dried, the car should be polished with a dry leather. If the varnish is dull or scratched it may be renovated with one of the preparations designed for the purpose. Upholstery should be wiped with a damp cloth. There are numerous renovators for leather materials. Oily dressings to waterproof the upholstery should be used very sparingly, as a warm day will cause them to exude again from the leather. Why so gum chum In connection with the distress among the gum diggers in the far north it has been pointed out that the unstable position of those people's finance has not been realised fully. The conditions are equally as bad for the Maori and European diggers as for the others. With the absence of ready money among the people it is almost impossible for them to consider agriculture as an alternative. To make this successful State aid on a large scale would have to be inaugurated, and in any case it would perhaps be years before some land even started to show a return. Realising that the position demanded attention, the Government stepped in when prices for gum fell and took over Blocks valued at about £75,000, but as no sale could be found the money virtually amounted to grants to the diggers who would otherwise have obtained no return at all. Nature, nuture or birth method In his report respecting the Mental Hospitals of the Dominion, Sir Truby King recalls a statement that was made by him twenty years ago to the effect that, if mothers were rendered more fit for maternity, and if the use of instruments at child-birth were obviated, “the main supplies of population for our asylums, hospitals, benevolent institutions, gaols, and slums would be cut off at the sources.” There seems to be no positive proof of the existence of a relationship between the instrumental delivery of children at birth and the incidence of mental disease. Nevertheless, there are some respects in which Sir Truby King’s warning receives support from experience. It is interesting, therefore, to observe that certain statements in the report of the Director-General of Health go to show that the proportion of cases in which obstetrical complications occur are greater in the Dominion than elsewhere. It is suggested, also, that there is a growing tendency on the part ot medical practitioners to resort to the use of instruments in order to deal with complications of this nature. The view is expressed that, if fuller knowledge were imparted by trained nurses to expectant mothers, the effect would be to lessen the extent to which obstetrical complications at present occur. But the whole matter of the extent to which instruments are employed to assist deliveries, and of the effect which the practice may possibly have on the health of the patients, merits the consideration of the medical profession. — editorial — ODT, 23.8.1926
