Brave girl
An instance of the amazing fortitude of children in pain, and especially where head injuries are concerned is to be found in the case of a little girl from the Chatham Islands, named Dorothy Vera Jacobs, at present in hospital in Christchurch suffering from severe injuries to her head, which have necessitated the removal of a small portion of brain and a part of the bone in the front of the head.
This little sufferer is only three years old and has just arrived from the Chathams for treatment. About a month ago the little girl received a kick from a horse, which broke the middle part of the forehead to such an extent that a part of the brain had to be removed. The child was quite conscious when found, and did not lose consciousness except for a short time after medical treatment.
The little girl has been treated in Christchurch, but it will be some days before an attempt will be made to remove a piece of dead bone which is still in the wound. It cannot be ascertained yet whether the little sufferer’s intellect will be affected or not. The doctor in attendance says that children can bear head injury much better than adults.
However, what is most surprising to those who come in contact with this patient is her cheerfulness and patience. Nurses and doctors find her most intelligent and happy, despite her injury and tender years. The passengers also remarked the same qualities in the child on the voyage over.
Let the show go on
The correspondence which has been published in our columns upon the question whether the Exhibition should be partially opened or wholly closed on Good Friday does not incline us to alter the opinion which we have already expressed on the matter.
In advocating that the Exhibition should be open on Good Friday we fully agree that the directors should make proper concession to religious convictions and susceptibilities by excluding the element of mere entertainment from the proceedings. It is not fair to say that this recognition of the sanctity attaching to the day involves an admission that all secular pursuits should be vetoed. We are aware that one or two Christian denominations consider Good Friday to be more sacred, more gloomily sacrosanct, than a Sunday. Other denominations do not share this view, and in these circumstances it is hardly for a section, perhaps a minority, of the religious community to arrogate to itself the right of general dictation.
What weighs with us is the question of the convenience of visitors, who should not be deprived of the opportunity which might be afforded to them on Good Friday of quietly enjoying the serious features of the Exhibition. In the Art Gallery and in the exhibit buildings at Logan Park their time would be happily and usefully occupied, surely without detriment to their chances of ultimate salvation. — editorial — ODT, 18.3.1926
