Te Toa Takitini 91

 

 

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TE REO O AOTEAROA

WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED TE TOA TAKITINI

Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper.

Number 91.

Hastings, March 1929.

 

LENT

 

We are in the days of Lent when the Church asks us to fast. These days continue up to the seventeenth day of the month of March. Sometimes they continue into April. The forty days before the seventeenth day are the days of Lent. These are fasting days, days for penitence. The Church prescribes the observance of these days as a time to enter into the sorrows and sufferings of Christ. It is for each person to determine how much he complies with this command. The Church does not have a rule about this. Some people are very lax about this and only give up something that they really like. Others really fast during this time. Although a person may not struggle with this time, the important thing is to have a contrite spirit and to suppress the flesh and its desires. Since we dwell with Christ in his Kingdom it is right that we should share in his sufferings, you and I together.

 

This has been an old teaching of the Church going back 1,400 years. Irenaeus spoke of the difficulty of observing Easter, ‘But it is not only Day of Resurrection that presents problems: it is also the question of fasting. Some say one should fast for one day, others for two, others for three, and so on.’ Socrates said: ‘The Romans fasted for three weeks before the Day of Resurrection, except for the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day.’The Greeks and the people of Alexandria fasted for fifteen days in the course of six weeks. Origen wrote of fasting during the forty days before Easter. Gregory the Great decreed that the Church observe the days of Lent, six hundred years after Christ.

 

Published by the Rev P Hakiwai and P H Tomoana and printed at Cliff Press, Queen Street, Hastings, HB.

 

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Te Reo o Aotearoa

With which is incorporated Te Toa Takitini.

The Price of the Paper is 10/- a year.

Address letters to ‘Te Reo o Aotearoa,’ Box 300, Hastings.

 

Fasting is a treasure for the Christian. For the believer it is something to be valued. It is the weapon with which Christ defeated the Devil in the desert. Christ gave important teaching about fasting. ‘Do not look dismal, but wash your face, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.’ [Matthew 6.16-19]  This can only be done by prayer and fasting. [Mark 9.29] This was the Apostles’ weapon whereby they manifested the power of God. It is also the way whereby we receive the power of God. It is also this that enables us to face the many challenges of the world. As we learn we find that our desire for food is not overwhelming. It is also clear that if a person is fat then the muscles and the heart are lazy, as is the spirit, which sleeps. The true believer finds the way unencumbered. Therefore, during Lent, suppress the desires of the flesh so that the spirit can be alert.

 

Remember Christ and his sufferings which were for me and for you.

 

AN INVITATION

 

Bishop Eru Tumutara of the Ringatu Church has invited the Bishop of Aotearoa to the Hui at Te Poroporo, Whakatane. He said: ‘Welcome, my son. Come to the stone of the grandchild of Ngatoroirangi. Come on your canoes, Matatua and Te Arawa. Our ancestors brought Christ to Maketu in 1814. For one hundred and fifteen years they longed for their own bishop; now they have you. Welcome, Bishop of Aotearoa. You are the Bishop. I am nothing. I was put in place by Apirana. But it is the Missionary Church that has the tradition. Mine came after that. Potuatini or Tunuioteika said, ‘Whose is the tradition?’ When the Gospel of Jesus Christ came to us Maori it came from the Missionary tradition. The Ringatu was established by Te Kooti to deflect the bullets when he was being hunted by the Pakeha. Therefore, come, my nephew, welcome to your Church.’

 

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THE DESCENDANT OF McLEAN

 

On 7th February, Sir Douglas McLean died at his home in Napier. He was 77 when he died. He was the son of the McLean [Donald] from past times. He was a wealthy man, and kind-hearted. He was a lawyer but gave that up to become a farmer. He was an expert at raising various fine breeds of  sheep, cattle and horses. He owned the famous station called Maraekakaho.

 

His Will.  He left £750,00. Some of his bequests were: £500 to the Hawkes Bay Agricultural Society; £1000 to Napier Hospital; £1000 to Waipukurau Hospital;

£100 to the orphans; £100 to the Scottish Society; £1000 for the Pension Fund for the Clergy of the Diocese of Waiapu; £1000 for the Pension Fund for the Clergy of the Scottish Church; £3500 for the McLean Scholarship.

 

He left a large amount for annual payments to his friends and those who had worked for him for more than forty years. He also remembered the children of his workers who had been born on the Station. The remainder of his money and possessions he left to his two daughters and their mother. One of the daughters is married to an Admiral from England. Douglas’s son was a captain who died two years ago. It is known that he gave £50,000 to the recent Great War campaign.

 

He instituted the Scholarship for Maori children in memory of his father, Donald McLean. For his many works he was honoured with an OBE and the KCMG.

 

There were many expressions of sadness for this elder who thought highly of the Maori People. Farewell, Sir! – Editor.

 

ODDS AND ENDS

 

It has been confirmed that King George is recovering well from his illness.

We have learned of the death of Sir Charles Skerrett, KCMG, KC, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He died on board a ship near America on 13th of this month.

 

Bob Tutaki, Inspector of Shearing, reports that the largest number of sheep shorn in a day in his area was 356. They were shorn by Turei Tuhi on Te Rerekopae Station. What about the vague reports from Dannevirke that Hapi has shorn 410?

 

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THE TE AUTE COLLEGE STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION.

 

In October last year (1928) a branch of this Association was set up in Auckland. Chairman: Archdeacon H A Hawkins, Deputy Chairman: Stubbing, Branch Secretary: A E Prebble.

 

This is a revival of the Association of the Students of Te Aute College. The hope is that the young men who have finished their schooling at Te Aute will endeavour to set up branches wherever they live throughout the country. The Head Teacher, Mr E G Loten, has agreed that the Secretary of the Auckland Branch, A E Prebble, should be Secretary of the whole Association for the present. When a combined meeting is held then the officers of the Association can be elected. The Head Office which will direct all the business of the Association will still be at Te Aute College.

 

When the meeting of the Auckland Branch was held the following motion was passed.

‘The Secretary is to send to Te Reo of Aotearoa a notice informing the Old

Boys of Te Aute that a Branch of the Association has been set up in Auckland, and asking that any who are free to come to Auckland tell the Secretary so that they can be welcomed as older and younger brothers.’

All who have been educated at Te Aute are asked to send the Secretary their names, their addresses, their occupations, if possible, and the years they attended. The hope is that a magazine can be established to spread abroad information about those who were educated there and those who are being educated there. It is right that you are aware that this Association is only for boys who were educated at Te Aute.

 

This Association will flourish and grow if there is strong support from those educated at Te Aute.

 

Send what you know to the Secretary, Te Aute Old Boys’ Association, 4 St Stephens Avenue, Parnell, Auckland.

 

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UNVEILING OF A MEMORIAL

 

On 31st January the Memorial Stone to Meihana Pouawha of Te Poroporo, Whakatane. He was one of the leading chiefs of Matatua Canoe. He was 65 when he died. For his extensive work and for his help to the Empire it fell to the Government to erect this memorial. The Rt Hon J G Coates, Leader of the Opposition, unveiled the Memorial. He was attended by the Bishop of Aotearoa, Bishop Tumutara, Ringatu, Sir Apirana Ngata, and Chief Justice Jones. Pouawha’s stone is made of white marble from Italy and is very beautiful. The greatness and every aspect of Pouawha during his life is described on the stone.

Nearly 1500 attended this hui from Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata and Mahaki, Ngati Porou, Apanui, Whakatohea, Ngaitai, Ngaiterangi, Te Arawa, Maniapoto, Waikato, and Tuwharetoa, besides the local people, Ngatiawa and Tuhoe.

The Formal Welcome to Mr Coates.

We tell below of the chiefs who welcomed the Hon Mr Coates and the important parts of their speeches.

Rakuraku (Matatua: ‘Welcome, Mr Coates, the man who loves the Maori People and who tended the wounds of Matatua.’

Mita Taupopoki (Te Arawa): ‘Hello, Mr Coates! Hello, Maui! You hauled the country up. But I am not sorry at the defeat of your Government. What I regret is the lack of loyalty. Now the it is the people who weighed you down who, since then, have been cutting up the whale.’

Akonga Mohi (Kahungunu): ‘My forebears, in times past, dreamt that the wrongs done to the Maori People would be set right. You personally brought this about. While you were minister, Apirana was your colleague and friend. Now that there has been a reversal of positions do help and support him.’

Taiaho (Ngaiterangi):  ‘For seventy years now the land confiscations have been coiled up in the thoughts of the Maori People. Now at this time you have brought them to life.’

Kopu Erueti (Apanui): For me you are still the Prime Minister. You opened up the darkened world. At last the deep-blue can be seen.me. One immense benefit it will be impossible to repay. You brought the light to Tuwharetoa.’

Henare Ruru (Rongowhakaata Mahaki): ‘It was you who restored Patutahi and Mangatu to me. Although we are apprehensive

 

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at the fall of your government, you will not forget to speak to the new government urging them to be good and kind to your Maori People.’

 

Along with this there were also greetings from Chief Justice Jones, Raumoa Balneavis and the Bishop of Aotearoa

 

The Hon J G Coates: ‘I salute the local people together with Sir Apirana Ngata for giving me the honour of unveiling this memorial. It is as if Pouawha were standing peacefully there as I look at that memorial. Were he alive his heart would be throbbing at the distress caused to his Maori People. He was not involved in the events that led to the confiscation of Maori lands. Rather, he was loyal subject of the King. Had it been a Pakeha whose land was wrongly taken there would have been war, or loathsome things would have been done.  Pouawha was stouthearted and hopeful and trusted in the Treaty of Waitangi to set right the wrongs.

 

I am advising you that we should trust Sir Apirana Ngata. He will be able to unravel the tangles relating to Maori lands. He will also seek the well-being of Pakeha and Maori.

 

There are three canoes that carry the work of the Dominion. There is Ngata with others out in front, and there is ours, with me as captain, close behind, and another. We have the same vision, and my officials make up the crew. Although there is little difference between our canoe and others, I tell you truly that we shall not let the business of parliament prevent us from helping to grow and benefit the Maori People of New Zealand.

 

Sir Apirana and I agree. The confiscations must be dealt with first. That being done we must turn to today’s problems. The important thing is to help the young Maori so that they are able to grow together with the Pakeha folk.’

 

Sir Apirana Ngata:  ‘It is right that the Maori should be very grateful to the Hon Mr Coates. This man has committed himself to working for the Maori People. He has cleared the way and borne the heavy burden; now it is for me to carry them to the conclusion.  Although we may be gratified that our party is now in government, I am sad at the cutting short of his time working for the Maori People. He has dealt with the Rotorua lakes, Taupo, Aorangi, Patutahi and Puketitiri. He has dealt with lands wrongly confiscated. He has consolidated titles and simplified the rates. He has set right surveys that were wrong. He has loosened the strings of the government purse to enable Maori to become farmers

 

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and to enter the country’s universities. He has supported the ethnological group looking into Maori origins and the School for Native Arts and Crafts which seeks to hold onto Maoriness in these days of Pakeha culture.

 

As for the Confiscations, this is a huge matter. What we need to to bring this about is a spirit of accommodation and calm. We must leave behind our attitude of superiority. The Pakeha are as eager as we are to soothe things. We are dealing not only with confiscated land but also with land which the Government says has been bought but which Maori say was wrongly taken. The thing that is extremely difficult is battering the government to loosen the ties of past decisions. There has been a long period of peace when it has been good to look at the doings of the past, whazt waw right and what was wrong.

 

The difficulty is the huge amount of money that would be appropriate as reparations for the confiscations. The Commission decided on £5000 for the Taihauauru and for Waikato, £3500; for the Bay of Plenty nothing except for Opotiki. But it is right to give consideration to these areas. It lies with me to express the Government thinking. I have to address the special committee. Hauhauism did not begin here. Rather, it began in Taranaki and other parts. It would seem that what is right for Taranaki and Waikato is also right for us here.

 

It is right that the Pakeha are clear on this matter. Maori are not asking for their farms to be returned. What they want, rather, is an investigation of the contentious matters coiled up in Maori breasts. If the Government is wrong they should pay. They could pay from the money of the two peoples kept in the Consolidated Fund. But you, the Pakeha of Whakatane, have £500,000 in that fund. You have buried it in the swamp at Rangitaiki. Therefore, I ask the Government to address the afflictions of the Maori People. If these are cleared up then the Maori will be able to go forward.

 

The Maori have some young people who are capable of farming. They also need land. Likewise if Maori are given the same land titles as the Pakeha they will have strong rights and they will be able to pay rates.

 

OPENING OF A CHURCH

 

On 10th February the Church at Tangoio in the Parish of Moteo, Heretaunga, was opened.This was an important occasion in Heretaunga.  Two Bishops officiated, the Bishop of Waiapu and the Bishop of Aotearoa. After dinner the collection plate was put in place. The fund stood at £870. The hope was that a further £400 would be contributed to pay off the church. £209 is needed to erect the tower later. Heretaunga have given £111 and have exhausted their resources. The debt on the building itself has not yet been paid.

 

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It was thought that other parts of the Bishopric would help with this. [? Tena ko tenei koreha’.] But that is alright. Perhaps we are saying that we should leave off acting together for our churches. People who are [? pau puku] think only of themselves, and later perhaps of Te Aute. Remember that while Te Aute comes first, others come second, and you come third. Does this saying encompass it? [Mahi atu, mahi ake. -  ? Work done for others is work performed quickly and with ease.] We know that this is something that will benefit people in times to come. If you’ve simply forgotten, then send in your contribution.

 

When they were united the people of Tangoio gave £800 for their church. Ratanaism came and upset everything. Of more than eighty people only five remain faithful to the Church. A tug-o-war started over their money. Those five people called on their grandchildren to build the church lest the money be squandered. It was also thought that those places which had not been split apart by the activities of Ratana such as Turanga, Waiapu, Rotorua and Matatua would respond to a request for help. In the event, the building has not been paid for. And it has not been consecrated. It was simply opened by the Bishops.

 

It is right that these difficulties be remembered by the remaining Christians under the Bishopric of Aotearoa.

 

Peni Hakiwai,

Minister of the Parish.

 

TE AUTE COLLEGE

 

On Thursday, 13th Dccember, the pupils of Te Aute and the friends of the school gathered in the School Hall.

 

The Chairman of the Hui was Dr Wi Repa. The Bishop of Aotearoa presented the prizes to the pupils. These men praised and gave words of guidance to these growing young people. The Bishop congratulated Sir Apirana Ngata on his appointment as a Government Minister.

 

The following is a a list of the classes and the recipients of the prizes.

 

Prize List

Te Aute College, 1928.

 

Dux of School                       John Bennett

Proxime Accessit                  Edwin Paku

Form VI

1st Prize                                  John Bennett

2nd Prize                                 Edwin Paku

3rd Prize                                 Hirone Wickliffe

 

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[A photograph of the new College buildings.]

 

TE AUTE COLLEGE

Principal: E G Loten, Degree (Agriculture) ACT

This is the new college building, built to the new and beautiful designs of our day.

On 16th February, 1926, it was opened by Lord Jellicoe, Archbishop Julius, and Ta Whekihana. Three principle matters are taught: (1) Matriculation, (2) Agriculture, (3) Commercial Studies.

Fees: £39  15s  a year.

 

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Special Prizes

Geometry                              Pohokura Turei

History                                   Hirone Wickliffe

English                                  John Bennett

                        Form V

1st Prize                                  Abraham Waaka

2nd Prize                                 Ruhi Pene

3rd Prize                                 Norman Prebble

Special Prizes

Mathematics                         Ruhi Pene

Geography                             Joe Tuhiwai

Agriculture                            Abraham Waaka

                        Form IV

1st Prize                                  Walter Corbett

2nd Prize                                 Tuahau Wickliffe

3rd Prize                                 Takirau Pene

Special Prizes

English                                  Tuahau Wickliffe

Science                                   Tuahau Wickliffe

N Z History                           Wiremu Hanita

                        Form III

1st Prize                                  Paul Rangiwaia

2nd Prize                                 Tutu Wi Repa

3rd Prize                                 Haere Parata

Special Prizes

English                                  Tutu Wi Repa

Mathematics                         Paul Rangiwaia

History                                   Henry Bird

Drawing                                 Haere Parata

Science                                   Tutu Wi Repa

Geography                             Paul Rangiwaia

                        Agricultural Form

Section A

1st Prize                                  John Greening

2nd Prize                                 Opera Piper

 

Section B

1st Prize                                  Pera Te Ngaio

2nd Prize                                 Mokena Kohere

3rd Prize                                 Stephen Ngata

Section C

1st Prize                                  Taylor Toatoa

2nd Prize                               Iwa Soloman

3rd Prize                                Henry Morete

 

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                        Six Specials

                        Divinity Prizes

Form VI         Bishop’s Prize           John Bennett

Form V           Chaplain’s Prize       Abraham Waaka

Form IV         Williams Memorial  Charles Bennett

Agri.Form A  Chaplain’s Prize       John Greening

Agri.Form C  Chaplain’s Prize       Taylor Toatoa

Form III         Williams Memorial  Haere Parata

 

TYPHOID FEVER

T Wi Repa MB, ChB

·        

This word ‘fever’ is used by the experts of diseases where a person has a high temperature. The word ‘typhoid’ which is linked with it is a pakeha word. It is not the same as the word some of us use for a ‘ghost,’ a ‘Taipo.’ [See Williamstaipo.]

 

This is a fever common amongst Maori over the past fifty years. I am not sure whether they suffered this illness before the arrival of the Pakeha. In the first year of St John’s School in Auckland, around 1850, the pupils contracted this fever. One of the children, the son of Williams the Brother, the first Bishop of Waiapu, caught the illness and died of it.

 

In 1019, 177 people contracted the fever; in 1920, 389; in 1921, 451; in 1922, 539; and in 1923, 276. I think that of the 2132 people who caught the fever between 1919 and 1923, perhaps 2000 were Maori.

 

This is one of the illnesses that must under the law be notified to the Department of Health. It is an infectious disease. It is a preventable disease so that people need not catch it.

 

This disease occurs in countries with a temperate climate such as New Zealand, America, England, South Africa and [?Mia]. Wherever in the world it occurs it has the same symptoms. But I must point out that we know little about the ways of this illness. Although there is a large outbreak of the disease there is also much ignorance of it in the Health Department. We are well-informed as to how one promotes health, namely, if we have clean homes the disease disappears. The cause of the illness is a germ. It is one of the well-known germs and is called ‘bacillus typhosus.’ What encourages the breeding of the germs is the fouling of rivers with the effluent from the village, or a lack of sewerage

 

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Secondly, the germ can get into the drinking water of the village or town. But it is effluent that really encourages it; that, together with people living closely together and not allowing fresh air into the living space and the bedrooms. Sometimes the germ clings to the hands of those who are caring for the sick person. If those hands are not washed with disinfectant the germs can reach the mouth and be swallowed so that those people too become ill. It can also happen that some of the germs settle on food. If it is eaten the person catches the disease. It is the case that flies also carry large numbers of the germs of thia disease. If people evacuate their bowels outside when they have already caught the disease, the fly will settle on their excrement. The seeds of the illness will stick to that fly. The fly will will go and land on someone’s food. The seeds will transfer to that food. If the person eats it they will contract the disease. You must be aware of this: a person’s excrement is what facilitates the growth of the germ of this illness.

 

It is not only our country that is suffering from this disease. In all parts of the world one finds people living with filth – in their homes, in their drinking water, their milk, their house, and their village. It is not the Taipo, that is, the ‘ghost’ that gives people this illness. Perhaps we should say that the great ‘ghost’ is ‘filth.’

 

In 1903, 3347 people died of it in England and Wales. In 1900, 35,379 peo0ple in America died of this illness. In the conflicts before the recent Great War, more people died from this disease that were killed by bullets.  In the war between America and Spain, 20,738 American soldiers died of this affliction out of a total of 107,973. During the fighting with the Boers, 7991 English soldiers died of the disease and 7582 werw killed by bullets. The reason why the number of these afflictions was so great during these wars was that people, even the doctors, were ignorant of ways of preventing the illness.

 

In the fighting between Japan and Russia it was seen that the doctors were aware of various means of combatting the disease. In the battalion of General Oku (Japanese), only 133 got the fever.

 

By the time of the recent Great World War there were great advances by the doctors in all areas. Among the millions who took part in the war very few contracted the fever. It was a disease which was widespread throughout the world. It prevailed when people were ignorant. With the spread of knowledge the disease was suppressed and its teeth were broken.

 

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In some countries it is most severe in the summer, in others it is autumn. Here on the Tai Rawhiti it is worst in winter.

 

From the age of fifteen up to thirty is when people are most susceptible to the fever. There are reasons why people of this age are susceptible. A few children from one to fifteen get it. The elderly from 40 to 60 also get it. But we must be aware that young people from fifteen to thirty are particularly susceptible.

 

The Parts Affected by the Disease.

 

The place in which the disease manifests itself most strongly is in the small intestine. At a time when a the intestine is not infected, if it is cut into one sees growing there things like small limpets. They vigorously spread to the remaining part of the intestines. They are soft to the touch, but they become harder in some parts of the intestines. Those things start at one end of the small intestine and eventually reach the join with the large intestine. The name give to those things by the specialists is ‘Pegers’ Patches.’ Peger was the first man to point out these things to the medical world. These ‘patches’ are similar to ‘lymphoid tissues’ such as ‘tonsils.’

 

The ‘Peger’s Patches’ are the seed-bed for the germs of the illness, typhoid fever. They land there and gather together. Secondly, they gradually decay. Thirdly, they settle on living flesh which bleeds. Fourthly, it destroys that place. That is why the stomach of a person with typhoid fever swells up. The intestines are infected with the disease, The person becomes weak and is unable to do what he should, namely, expel foul air and excrement. The wind stays inside; the stomach is bloated. In time the ’Peger’s Patches’ are strongly abraded and the patient has diarrhoea. The skin is hot, he has a headache and a burning sensation in the constipated bowels. This provides the doctors with the basis of their treatment of those with typhoid fever – knowing that it is a disease of the intestines and that there is much abrasion there. If it isn’t treated then the untreated intestines will burst and the patient will die. The doctors are not playing when they say do not give the patient solid foods such as meat, kumara, potatoes, puha, or bread. Nor are they thinking to kill the patient by stealth. When the doctor comes upon a person suffering from typhoid fever he will think: ‘There is irritation of the bowels. Solid foods are not to be given. If solid food is given the bowels will burst and the patient will die. The patient is not to be given strong laxatives lest the bowels are damaged and burst.’ So you can see how wrong it is of Maori to give the person with typhoid fever a strong laxative such as flax water right to the end. Out teaching is not to give the patient castor oil or epsom salts or other

 

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strong laxatives. So why do some people give a person suffering from typhoid fever flax water? The people suffering from typhoid fever I have attended and who have died are those whose families have given them flax water and solid foods behind my back.

 

It is not the case that all the intestines suffer abrading. And it can be known which parts have abrasions and which do not. And the decreasing severity of the disease can be known from the abrasions and the ruptures of the bowels. Therefore, the caring proceeds with caution lest in the end there is the feared outcome. Sometimes the patient fed with food does not die. We have to make our own judgements. If the severity of the illness is lessened, then our decisions will not be condemned. It is the severity of the illness that leads to death.

 

The Symptoms of Typhoid Fever

 

There are many symptoms of this illness. These are the ones I will write about here.

First: a hot skin [a high temperature]. If the skin is hot for three days, be observant; after four or five days, go to the doctor or the nurse. If the temperature is high for a week, the patient has typhoid fever. Second: a headache. It will not stop in one, two, three, four, or even five days. After a week that headache should begin to disappear. Third: nose-bleeding in the first week. Fourth: a swollen tongue. It will be white on top for three days. After four days the tongue will look dirty. Fifth: diarrhoea. But the important thing is that temperature. If it continues, then show it to the doctor or nurse. The original name for this illness was ‘Continuing Fever.’ It can last for three to six weeks. Therefore, a person should make this his rule: take the temperature of the sick – remember this. If the temperature stays high for two days, go to the nurse. There is no charge for going to the nurse or calling her. Even if it proves not to be typhoid fever there is nothing wrong with being cautious. Don’t play around with this illness. So, if you are feeling ill, don’t go to work. That is the extraordinary thing about this illness. Don’t let anyone boast that he is very strong and will be strengthened by some deep breathing. This will only strengthen this illness. The more vigorous the breathing, the worse the disease. Those who breathe vigorously at the beginning of the disease are likely to be killed by it. This is a firmly established law of typhoid fever.

 

The Serious Symptoms

 

1.      Swelling of the stomach.

2.     Delirium.

 

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3.     The skin temperature climbs to 104⁰F for more than three days.

4.     Blood is excreted from the anus. The blood will be black as charcoal.

5.     Inability to sleep at night or by day.

6.     Diarrhoea. More than six movements a day.

 

Care and Medication for those with Typhoid Fever.

 

This is one of the diseases that can be stopped - an illness called by the experts ‘a preventable disease.’ It is not right that people die from preventable diseases. If a person in a pa contracts one of these diseases and there have been no efforts to prevent it, if the person dies of the ‘preventable disease’ it is right to be sad because the fault lies with those who could have prevented it. The first thing we must have in mind is preventing the disease.

 

I have been a doctor for twenty years. During those years I have treated over 200 people with this disease. Of these, three have died under my sole care. I wrote down how they were cared for and what I wrote stayed in my mind during the years I was caring for these 200 patients. So it is right that you should take the advice of a doctor who has been treating this disease for so long.

 

First Matter: Hedge in the disease so that it cannot spread. If someone in the family or the pa catches the disease it will remain infectious for at least three weeks, perhaps even for six weeks. This is a long-lasting disease. So our task is to confine it to that person and to fence off the remainder of the family or the pa lest they get it too. This requires some skill. If the house has only one room then put up a tent for the patient some distance away. Make sure the tent is firmly set up so that it will not rip or be blown over by the wind. If the house has four rooms, then set aside one room for the patient alone. One or two member of the family should be designated as carers. The little ones in the family should not be allowed in that room.

 

Food Vessels: The patient should use separate eating utensils – plates, knives, forks, spoons and other things. When the patient has finished eating or drinking water or milk, what is left should be put in a container such as a kerosene tin. His dishes and cutlery should be boiled for ten minutes in water. When they are dry they can be put on a separate table in his room. The remaining food or water should also be boiled for ten minutes in the kerosene tin before being thrown out.

 

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The patients’s tea-towels and face cloths should be used only by him. The plates and utensils used by the patient are not to be washed in the same water as is used by anyone else.

 

The Carers:  The best situation is for a certificated nurse to care for someone with typhoid fever. She will have been taught how to deal with this disease. Therefore, if there is a nurse nearby, call her to come and care for the patient or give advice. This advice is for those far from nurses and doctors, that is, those in Maunga Pohatu, Te Whaiti, Ruatahuna, Maraenui, Omaio, Te Kaha, Raukokore, Whangaparaoa and Potaka. First: Clothes. Sew a calico gown to cover the carer’s clothes, something like the white surplice of a minister. The gown is to be put on whenever one enters the sick-room and taken off on leaving. Second: The hands. A separate basin should be put aside containing water and disinfectant with which to wash the hands. If there is no basin, an ordinary kerosene tin will do. Fill it almost to the top with water, then pour in Jeye’s Fluid. One can say that the probable amount should be about a tablespoon full. The hands should always be washed after touching the patient. Do not ignore this instruction. If it is ignored the germs of the fever may cling to the carer’s hands. Do not touch food or it will be contaminated. If that food is eaten those germs will enter his body and he will be infected. However if he has previously had the disease he is not disqualified from doing this work. Typhoid fever does not afflict a person a second time. Although his job is to carry urine or excrement, or putting on the patient’s clothes, he must still wash his hands afterwards. He must have his own towels. Third: The drinking water and the milk drunk by the rest of the family should be boiled first to kill germs of the disease. Fourth: The best procedure is for no other person to go into the patient’s room. If someone does go in there should be no hongi or kiss. Wash the hands after shaking hands. Fifth: Those of the people who have not caught Typhoid Fever should go to the nurse to be injected with the medicine provided by the Department of Health (Inoculation). But do not go if one of the family members or someone in the area has the disease. That injection is to ward off the disease. The nurses are diligent abut this work. But if it is done when Typhoid Fever is in the vicinity, and a person who has recently been inoculated catches it, that medicine becomes ‘an enemy,’ and the person is in trouble. So only go to be injected if any outbreak of the fever is far away. Sixth: Cover the food of those who are well to prevent flies from getting on it.

 

[951]

 

Cover it with butter-muslin or [?paranoe sic ? brown] paper, or with a towelling bag, or with clean cloths, so that flies cannot get to the food. Flies are one of the carriers of the germs of Typhoid Fever. For those things that they may get at, build a cupboard with perforated tin or wire gauze for the sides. Anyone who is soon to have the Typhoid Fever injection should not ignore these instructions.

 

As for the Patient.

 

The patient should lie in bed and not get up for six weeks. There should be two people to look after him – one at night and one during the day. Do not leave the patient lest he do something wrong. He should not get out of bed to excrete or to urinate. Give him a ‘bedpan’ so that he can excrete and urinate while he is laid up. For urinating there is a bottle specially designed for this with a bent neck. If you can, get one of these. Sometimes the patient will be exasperated, saying that he cannot urinate lying down. Do not be in a hurry to get him up. If he really cannot urinate lying down, then sit him up carefully on the side of the bed. But the rule is, do not let him get up.

 

The Excrement

 

Care about this is the most demanding part of nursing someone with Typhoid Fever. In the excrement are the germs of this disease. Therefore do not just throw it onto the marae, or the garden, or the paddocks, or into a stream. Some bury the excrement. This is wrong. These germs survive for a long time if they are buried – up to nine months. If the soiled is turned up by the plough the germs may still be alive. Some may seep into the drinking water of the family or the pa. If the water is drunk then some may discover the disease developing inside them. Therefore do not bury it. The right procedure is to boil it in a kerosene tin for half an hour. Afterwards it can be emptied out wherever you wish; all the germs will have been killed by the boiling water. Have a separate latrine for the excrement. Pour Jeye’s Fluid or Lysol or Kerol into the latrine and cover it lest the flies get in. The hands of the carers are to be washed in disinfectant in a separate basin every time they have touched the patient. Boil all the sheets and clothes of the patient.

 

Washing the Patient

 

Wash the patient in the morning and evening. Arrange times. This is a task for a skilled person. If there is a Government Nurse nearby she can wash the patient or

 

[952]

 

teach the carer how to do it. The patient should not be got up but should be left lying down. Set apart a washbasin for the patient and a piece of flannel for washing the body. Place a towel under the patient. You will need a dry towel for drying the body.. Put warm water in the basin. Soap the flannel and wash the body, then turn it over. Afterwards dry it with the dry towel. Take care that the water does not get onto the pyjamas or the bedding. When the skin is dry rub the skin with methylated spirits. After this rub the skin with borasic powder. The purpose of this is to harden the skin so that it does not flake off.  If the skin of the patient does rub off it means that there is a serious problem. One can buy the above things in all the country’s shops. Brush the teeth and wash the mouth and tongue morning and evening. Buy a brush for the teeth. Cotton wool is good to use for washing the tongue and the gums as it is soft.

 

Feeding the Patient

 

We have described above the state of the intrestines. Because this is so it is not right to feed the patient with solid foods. Therefore the experience of the past twenty years has taught me that water is the best food. The patient is lying down for  long time. We must maintain his strength with the appropriate kinds of food and not solid foods. The right foods are those that do not form much excrement. Those foods are tea, coffee, cocoa, soup, chicken stock, puha water, rice water and milk. If the patient doesn’t want milk, there is no rule about this.  It is not the most necessary food. Give him some milk in his tea, coffee or cocoa. If he is given milk, mix it with barley water or lime juice. If solid milk appears in the faeces, stop giving this food. If the patient has diarrhoea then stop giving him milk. A good process that the nurses know about is called ‘pasteurisation’ of the milk. Lemon juice is a good drink. The patient should drink liquid at least once every two hours. Give the drink in the ‘Feeding Cup.’ The shop will have this. Although the patient may be becoming thin and he could die of starvation, these drinks will keep up his spirits until his temperature goes down. Secretly eating solid foods could kill him. Three days after the temperature has gone down  one may try feeding him with arrowroot boiled in milk. Some three days after this he may have bread softened in warm milk. The bread should be well mashed. Soon after this he may have a boiled egg; it should not be hard-boiled. After this he may have jelly. These foods are sufficient during the first fourteen days after the temperature has gone down, that is,

 

[953]

 

egg, boiled rice, bread and milk, and jelly. After the temperature has been down for fourteen days the patient may try minced meat and potatoes. Don’t turn feeding solid foods into a battle. Take care with the process of feeding.

 

(To be concluded.)

 

WISE WORDS

From Judge James Wilson.

 

R[eweti] T K[ohere]

 

(The first part of this article appeared in the February edition. This is the conclusion.)

 

Judge James Wilson contends in his book that we Maori are a people who do not give praise; we do not know about praise; so se do not have a word for praise. [Whakawhetai, express thanks, is a word introduced from Tahiti. -  Williams]

 

Let me set down here some words most people are familiar with, a speech found in Shakespeare which supports Mr Wilson.

 

            Heigh-ho! Sing heigh-ho, unto the green holly,

            Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.

            Then, heigh-ho, the holly!

            This life is most jolly.

            Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

            That dost not bite so nigh

            As benefits forgot;

            Though thou the waters warp,

            Thy sting is not so sharp

            As friend rememb’red not.

             Heigh-ho sing, etc.

 

So we have a word of Shakespeare for this edition. He has much to say about ingratitude, about the absence of a praising heart, as if he himself had been badly bitten by the lacerating teeth of ingratitude.

 

In the days of the Hauhau wars in 1865 an eminent chief supported the Government side. The Hauhau were defeated. The Hauhau would have been destroyed by a loyal chief were it not for that chief. This is what he said to the Hauhau: ‘Let each hapu return to light, each one, their own fires.’ Although these people were Hauhau not one acre of their land was confiscated by the Government, as was the land of other Hauhau tribes. The Government tried

 

[954]

 

to take the land but that chief prevented them from doing so. The Government wanted to give a large sum of money to that chief for the expenses he incurred during the war, but he said, ‘This was my fight, a Maori fight; it was not for you Pakeha. Take away your money.’ Nor did that elder stand before the Maori Land Court.

 

There was no love like his, but it was not remembered. Not a single acre of the land he liberated was allocated to him. So be it, the bereft descendants of that elder were distressed by the rulings of the Maori Land Court. The lands for which their ancestor had strived was taken, along with three burial grounds and the bones of their ancestors and parents.

 

            Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

            That dost not bite so nigh

            As benefits forgot;

            Though thou the waters warp

            Thy sting is not so sharp

            As friend rememb’red not.

 

Explanatory Notes.

 

(1)  If a man blows he blows out his cheeks so that eventually they will burst, Similarly King Lear calls upon the wind to blow so hard that his cheeks will burst.

(2)  The roosters are not real roosters but wooden ones such as are put on the steeples of churches. Because of the wild storm, King Lear calls again for the floods to cover the land, the land that had dealt so badly with him.

 

Read carefully these wonderful words of Shakespeared and treasure them. These words are learned by wise people of every nation in the world.

Do not touch food or it will be contaminated. If that food is eaten those germs will enter his body and he will be infected. However if he has previously had the disease he is not disqualified from doing this work. Typhoid fever does not afflict a person a second time. Although his job is to carry urine or excrement, or putting on the patient’s clothes, he must still wash his hands afterwards. He must have his own towels. Third: The drinking water and the milk drunk by the rest of the family should be boiled first to kill germs of the disease. Fourth: The best procedure is for no other person to go into the patient’s room. If someone does go in there should be no hongi or kiss. Wash the hands after shaking hands. Fifth: Those of the people who have not caught Typhoid Fever should go to the nurse to be injected with the medicine provided by the Department of Health (Inoculation). But do not go if one of the family members or someone in the area has the disease. That injection is to ward off the disease. The nurses are diligent abut this work. But if it is done when Typhoid Fever is in the vicinity, and a person who has recently been inoculated catches it, that medicine becomes ‘an enemy,’ and the person is in trouble. So only go to be injected if any outbreak of the fever is far away. Sixth: Cover the food of those who are well to prevent flies from getting on it.

 

[951]

 

Cover it with butter-muslin or [?paranoe sic ? brown] paper, or with a towelling bag, or with clean cloths, so that flies cannot get to the food. Flies are one of the carriers of the germs of Typhoid Fever. For those things that they may get at, build a cupboard with perforated tin or wire gauze for the sides. Anyone who is soon to have the Typhoid Fever injection should not ignore these instructions.

 

As for the Patient.

 

The patient should lie in bed and not get up for six weeks. There should be two people to look after him – one at night and one during the day. Do not leave the patient lest he do something wrong. He should not get out of bed to excrete or to urinate. Give him a ‘bedpan’ so that he can excrete and urinate while he is laid up. For urinating there is a bottle specially designed for this with a bent neck. If you can, get one of these. Sometimes the patient will be exasperated, saying that he cannot urinate lying down. Do not be in a hurry to get him up. If he really cannot urinate lying down, then sit him up carefully on the side of the bed. But the rule is, do not let him get up.

 

The Excrement

 

Care about this is the most demanding part of nursing someone with Typhoid Fever. In the excrement are the germs of this disease. Therefore do not just throw it onto the marae, or the garden, or the paddocks, or into a stream. Some bury the excrement. This is wrong. These germs survive for a long time if they are buried – up to nine months. If the soiled is turned up by the plough the germs may still be alive. Some may seep into the drinking water of the family or the pa. If the water is drunk then some may discover the disease developing inside them. Therefore do not bury it. The right procedure is to boil it in a kerosene tin for half an hour. Afterwards it can be emptied out wherever you wish; all the germs will have been killed by the boiling water. Have a separate latrine for the excrement. Pour Jeye’s Fluid or Lysol or Kerol into the latrine and cover it lest the flies get in. The hands of the carers are to be washed in disinfectant in a separate basin every time they have touched the patient. Boil all the sheets and clothes of the patient.

 

Washing the Patient

 

Wash the patient in the morning and evening. Arrange times. This is a task for a skilled person. If there is a Government Nurse nearby she can wash the patient or

 

[952]

 

teach the carer how to do it. The patient should not be got up but should be left lying down. Set apart a washbasin for the patient and a piece of flannel for washing the body. Place a towel under the patient. You will need a dry towel for drying the body.. Put warm water in the basin. Soap the flannel and wash the body, then turn it over. Afterwards dry it with the dry towel. Take care that the water does not get onto the pyjamas or the bedding. When the skin is dry rub the skin with methylated spirits. After this rub the skin with borasic powder. The purpose of this is to harden the skin so that it does not flake off.  If the skin of the patient does rub off it means that there is a serious problem. One can buy the above things in all the country’s shops. Brush the teeth and wash the mouth and tongue morning and evening. Buy a brush for the teeth. Cotton wool is good to use for washing the tongue and the gums as it is soft.

 

Feeding the Patient

 

We have described above the state of the intrestines. Because this is so it is not right to feed the patient with solid foods. Therefore the experience of the past twenty years has taught me that water is the best food. The patient is lying down for  long time. We must maintain his strength with the appropriate kinds of food and not solid foods. The right foods are those that do not form much excrement. Those foods are tea, coffee, cocoa, soup, chicken stock, puha water, rice water and milk. If the patient doesn’t want milk, there is no rule about this.  It is not the most necessary food. Give him some milk in his tea, coffee or cocoa. If he is given milk, mix it with barley water or lime juice. If solid milk appears in the faeces, stop giving this food. If the patient has diarrhoea then stop giving him milk. A good process that the nurses know about is called ‘pasteurisation’ of the milk. Lemon juice is a good drink. The patient should drink liquid at least once every two hours. Give the drink in the ‘Feeding Cup.’ The shop will have this. Although the patient may be becoming thin and he could die of f starvation, these drinks will keep up his spirits until his temperature goes down. Secretly eating solid foods could kill him. Three days after the temperature has gone down  one may try feeding him with arrowroot boiled in milk. Some three days after this he may have bread softened in warm milk. The bread should be well mashed. Soon after this he may have a boiled egg; it should not be hard-boiled. After this he may have jelly. These foods are sufficient during the first fourteen days after the temperature has gone down, that is,

 

[953]

 

egg, boiled rice, bread and milk, and jelly. After the temperature has been down for fourteen days the patient may try minced meat and potatoes. Don’t turn feeding solid  food into a battle. Go slowly and take care with feeding.

 

(To be concluded.)

 

 

WISE WORDS

From Judge James Wilson.

 

R[eweti] T K[ohere]

 

(The first part of this article appeared in the February edition. This is the conclusion.)

 

Judge James Wilson contends in his book that we Maori are a people who do not give praise; we do not know about praise; so se do not have a word for praise. [Whakawhetai, express thanks, is a word introduced from Tahiti. -  Williams]

 

Let me set down here some words most people are familiar with, a speech found in Shakespeare which supports Mr Wilson.

 

            Heigh-ho! Sing heigh-ho, unto the green holly,

            Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.

            Then, heigh-ho, the holly!

            This life is most jolly.

            Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

            That dost not bite so nigh

            As benefits forgot;

            Though thou the waters warp,

            Thy sting is not so sharp

            As friend rememb’red not.

             Heigh-ho sing, etc.

 

So we have a word of Shakespeare for this edition. He has much to say about ingratitude, about the absence of a praising heart, as if he himself had been badly bitten by the lacerating teeth of ingratitude.

 

In the days of the Hauhau wars in 1865 an eminent chief supported the Government side. The Hauhau were defeated. The Hauhau would have been destroyed by a loyal chief were it not for that chief. This is what he said to the Hauhau: ‘Let each hapu return to light, each one, their own fires.’ Although these people were Hauhau not one acre of their land was confiscated by the Government, as was the land of other Hauhau tribes. The Government tried

 

[954]

 

to take the land but that chief prevented them from doing so. The Government wanted to give a large sum of money to that chief for the expenses he incurred during the war, but he said, ‘This was my fight, a Maori fight; it was not for you Pakeha. Take away your money.’ Nor did that elder stand before the Maori Land Court.

 

There was no love like his, but it was not remembered. Not a single acre of the land he liberated was allocated to him. So be it, the bereft descendants of that elder were distressed by the rulings of the Maori Land Court. The lands for which their ancestor had strived was taken, along with three burial grounds and the bones of their ancestors and parents.

 

            Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

            That dost not bite so nigh

            As benefits forgot;

            Though thou the waters warp

            Thy sting is not so sharp

            As friend rememb’red not.

 

Explanatory Notes.

 

(3)  If a man blows he blows out his cheeks so that eventually they will burst, Similarly King Lear calls upon the wind to blow so hard that his cheeks will burst.

(4)  The roosters are not real roosters but wooden ones such as are put on the steeples of churches. Because of the wild storm, King Lear calls again for the floods to cover the land, the land that had dealt so badly with him.

 

Read carefully these wonderful words of Shakespeare and treasure them. These words are learned by wise people of every nation in the world.

 

TUHITIO TAREHA

 

On Tuesday, 26th February, Tuhitio, the wife of Te Roera Tareha, died at Waiohiki. She was a direct decendant of Te Hauwaho who was famous for seizing his axe at Te Ramaapakura and Pareihe.

 

She leaves Tuiri, her  [?tima sic ?sister] and grandchildren. We send to Te Roera and to them our greetings and commiserations.

 

On Thursday, 28th, Ripeka, wife of Te Keepa Winiata, died at Ngatarawa

 

Farewell, Kui, as the two of you depart from the world of light and life.

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