"RIPENING AT EASE."

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 458, 17 March 1909, Page 8

"RIPENING AT EASE."

VISIT TO OHIRO HOME. SATISFIED TRUSTEES. At the Ohiro Homo over a hundred whitohairod men and women learn to "ripen at their ease, growing on the sunny side-." Thy homo clings to tho sharp hillside, bathed in sun, and looks out over the bustling city to tho quiet, blue, rippled harbour. Some line crops of fat onions and tall locks, and bright geranium beds, which mako a scarlet glory of tho hillside, show that tho old people at tho homo are not altogether idle, though their days of strenuous toil nrr passed. They will grow more vegetables this season than their own needs will consume, and further back, where a new ward is to bo erected, they have inoved several tons of earth, and probably saved tho trustees an expense of i)3O or £-11), in preparing for tho foundations. A Dominion representative who went over the homo yesterday in company with tho trustees found the aged inmates apparently well contented with their lot. Tlio long dining rooms and sitting rooms aro well arranged to take tho sun, that cleanliness is next to godliness is plr.inly part of the home creed, and tho old people seemed as enmfortablo as, under the circumstances, they could be. Tho trustees who visited tho homo wero Mr. J. Smith -(chairman), tho Hon. A. W. Hogg, Miss M. Richmond, tho Rev. W. A. Evans, Messrs. D. 1\ Loasby, It, W. Short, J. Wakehara, and D. Robertson. With tho exception of the Minister, who left early, theso sat down' to tho ordinary homo dinner, appetising and. substantial, and calculated to givo an inmate tho most cheerful view of his surroundings. A meeting was then held, at which it was open to any of tho inmates to appear and niako complaints, but no complaints wero made. Mr. Short, as a new member of tho trustees, said that he was more than satisfied with the condition of the home and happiness of its people. Mr. Loasby, of Carterton, who is also a new trustee, said that the visit had been an education to him. He moved that tho trustees, having inspected the home, found everything satisfactory, the place scrupulously clean, and grounds' well kept, and that the master (Mr. Truebridgc), matron, and staff bo commended for their coiiduct of tho homo. . Mr. Short, in seconding the motion, expressed tho opinion that if tho public saw more of the Lome, they would tako more interest in it. He thought that some afternoon function might be arranged there for an early date, to which prominent citizens should be invited. Ho could not say too much in praise of tho way in which- the homo was conducted. Mr. Loasby said that an old man, whom ho had sent to the homo from the country, had confirmed, in conversation with him that morning, highly satisfactory reports, which he had given by letter. Miss Richmond also expressed her gratification at the way in which the homo was kept. Tho motion was unanimously adopted. Mr. Robertson said that a great many of tho country people thought that the trustees wero very extravagant in regard to tho homo, but such was not tho case. He referred to the excavation work done by tho inmates, which ho thought was highly creditable to them. An old lady in the homo had made a beautiful floral device, which the trustees could not but admire. Hβ moved that the trustees record their appreciation of the industry shown by the inmates. Tho motion was adopted unanimously. Tho new ward which is being erected will accommodate 40 patients. It is badly needed, as tho homo is nearly always crowded.