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IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Dublin, and the R.A.M .C. Memorial.

A PUBLIC meeting was held last week in the RoyalCollege of Surgeons in aid of the Royal Army MedicalCorps Memorial Fund. The President of the Collegewas in the chair, and among those who spoke were theLord Chancellor of Ireland, the Primate, the Presidentof the Royal College of Physicians, Major-GeneralGerrard, A.M.S., and Colonel William ’I’aylor, C.B.It was originally intended that the funds collectedshould go in part to the erection of a memorial in

London, with replicas in Dublin and Edinburgh, andin part to provision for the widows and children of themen of the Corps wlio had lost their lives in the war.It appears that it has been necessary to abandonthe latter purpose, and it is now intended to devoteall the funds received to the erection of a memorial ormemorials.

The ]ril57L Nursing Council.The constitution of the first General Nursing Council

for Ireland was announced last week in the Dublin Gazette. It consists of 15 persons, of whom five aremedical men and nine are nurses. The medicalmembers are: Dr. E. Coey Bigger, Colonel Sir Arthur Chance, Colonel W. Taylor, Mr. R. J. Johnstone, and IDr. P. T. O’Sullivan. The representation of the various Inursing organisations appears to have been fairlyarranged.

Nurses’ Salaries.

The Belfast Board of Guardians have decided toincrease the salaries of probationer nurses as follows :First year, to £15 ; second year. to £20; third year, to.E2.5 ; fourth year, to £30. The average salary paid tonurses in a large number of infirmaries and hospitalsin the United Kingdom was £121. while the presentsalary in the Belfast Workhouse was £59. by far thelowest as compared with any institution in England orScotland. The average now proposed will amount to£90. By revising the dietary of patients and officials inthe workhouse the Belfast guardians are effecting asaving of £3500 per annum. It was stated at the

weekly meeting on Feb. 10th that the week beforethere were 230 scarlet fever patients ; 21 had since beenadmitted, 34 discharged, 1 had died, so that on Feb. 7ththere remained 216. Purdysburn scarlet fever wards arealso full at present. It was also decided to form afurther dispensary subdistrict in Ballymacurett, a

crowded working-class district of Belfast.Feb. 17th.

SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND.

AN appeal has been issued by the Labour Committeeof this Fund to labour organisations, calling attentionto the urgent need for sending relief to the children inthe famine areas of Europe. The labour organisations inne’utral countries, such as Sweden and Switzerland, havealready done much by feeding and housing children fromthe famine areas. Although it is assumed this cannot bedone here, nevertheless there are many ways in whichhelp can be given. The appeal says :-"The position in the coming winter, even in Great Britain, will

be difficult, with the high prices of milk and other foods, but what-ever difficulties have to be faced here are not to be compared withthe suffering which thousands of children are undergoing in thedistressed countries. We feel sure that your organisation will mostreadily help in this matter. If all the members of each labourorganisation would give something, however small the sum, theresult would be to save not merely the health but actually the livesof great numbers of suffering children. Nor could any act providea more genuine demonstration of the solidarity of the workers theworld over."

It is suggested that the fund raised through this appealshould be permanently maintained, and made applicable tothe alleviation of the needs of the children of workers in this as well as in other countries. The appeal is signed amongstothers by Mr. W. Adamson, M.P., Mr. J. R. Clynes, M.P.,Mr. George Lansbury, Mr. J. H. Thomas, M.P., Mr. ArthurHenderson, M.P., and the secretary, Mrs. Pete Curran, whocan be addressed at 28, Tavistook-square, London, W.C. 1

HOUSING NOTES.

The " Daily Mail " Exhibition at Olympia.

THOSE interested in the many amenities of the

up-to-date house will do well to set aside a whole dayfor their visit to Olympia. They should plan theirarrival for the early morning and visit the more popularexhibits first ; by midday there are queues waiting foradmission into some of the houses, and exhibitors arefar too busy to give away more than a small proportionof the interesting information at their disposal. Thusthe all-electric house, and the sectional wooden housemade ly- the Norwegian House-Building Co. are

amongst the exhibits which should be seen before11 A.M. The Ministry of Health’s annexe may bevisited at leisure, but an attendant is required to explainthe exhibits. Those who examine the truncated model

cottages nearly all comment upon the small size oftheir rooms. This is partly due to an optical delusion,and it is to be regretted that adverse criticism shouldbe passed without any demonstrator being present tocorrect faulty impressions.Some of the exhibits are of special medical interest.

Such are the child welfare exhibit, managed by theMiddlesex Hospital; an electric " solarium," which inspite of its name is admirably appointed as a radiant-heat bath : electric sterilisers, which are efficient if

expensive-one manufactured by the General ElectricCompany, is particularly ingenious: and, finally, an

improved water-closet seat well designed to preventthe possibility of contamination by those using it.

Perhaps Messrs. Beck’s electric laundry should bementioned in this connexion; it is an economical outiitboth as regards time and power, and the larger planthas a great advantage in that the clothes can besterilised at the same time as they are cleaned.

The Ideal House.Those who are seeking the ideal house find them-

selves confronted at the outset with a wide range ofmaterial from which to select its components. Theusual brick has scarcely an advocate, because itdoes not need one. Some very tempting houses arebuilt entirely from wood. One wooden cottage in

particular attracted widespread admiration. It wasbuilt of unseasoned English elm and had been approvedby the Ministry of Health, who, despite its thatchedroof, give it the full status of a permanent building anda subsidy allowance of £150. This enables the house-three bedrooms, two living-rooms, kitchen, scullery, andstove-to be built for £300. The remarkable cheapnessis due mainly to a saving in the raw material, which isbought at something under 3d. per cubic foot. Thehouse can be ready for occupation within eight weeksof cutting down the trees needed for its construction.It might be feared that if this type of constructionbecame popular the stock of elm in this country wouldbe rapidly used up, but no one who knows anythingabout agricultural labour would share this apprehension.Concrete blocks offer a formidable rivalry to wood, andthere are many machines exhibited which manufacturethe blocks by unskilled labour "while you wait." Themost successful, in our opinion, are those which aremade on the principle of the skeletal system-hollowblocks, rigid yet light, with the advantage of theadiathermanous air-spaces.Heating and lighting form a special section of the

exhibition, coal-gas and electricity being the foremostcompetitors. The cleanliness and convenience ofelectric heating are apparent to all, but a few calcula-tions make it evident that, even with electricity at 2d.or 1½d. a unit, economy is still on the side of coal-gas.An interesting plant for heating and lighting from No. 1 _

petrol spirit should not be overlooked. Although thereport of the Coal Smoke Abatement Society publishedin THE LANCET on Nov. 17th, 1906, is quoted by one gascompany in a well-informed pamphlet on the hygiene ofgas fires, there was nothing in the exhibits suggestingthat the comfortable, extravagant coal fire has beenlargely superseded.