CHARITABLE AID.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 904, 25 August 1910, Page 3

CHARITABLE AID.

NEW ORGANISATION WANTED. OHIKO .HOME UNDERSTAFFED. With the purpose of'devising in. some practical way such "a general organisation o£ the work -of charitable aid as would result in the co-ordination and effectual supervision of all charitable aid," the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board at its meeting on Tuesday authorised its Charitable Aid Committee to invite representatives of all Wellington societies, associations:, missions, and churches engaged iu the distribution of charitable aid, in whatever form, to meet its own members in conference to discuss the whole question. The report of the Charitable Aid Committee stated that during the period under review- indoor relief had been given to 140 persons, while 273 persons had benefited by the outdoor relief system. Anion;* the recipients of outdoor relief 36 were married, 2S were widows, seven' were single, while there were two cases of deserted wives. The contributing causes of destitution-were, in tho case of thirteen, lack oE employment; "no male support" was the reason'given in twenty eases; twenty-nine pleaded sickness; five physical defects; in one case the breadwinner, of the family had become insane, while in another hs was stated to be m prison; two had been deserted; there was one instance of inteiuiiorauco; old age accounted for eleven casss. As showing- the. marked development which had taken place in the work of theUeuevolent Institution at Ohiro, the chairman of the board, speaking in support of a proposal to augment the stuff, stated that three years ago the iiimnres at the home numbered 71; now, the total was 124, and the daily average was 11!/.. In 1907 none .of'tho iiimafts rwiuircd the constant personal attention o£-the. stuff; there were 1 now 21 of these. Throe, years ago there .were 24 inmates over 70 years of age, and one over SO; to-day there were 38 septuagenarians' and eight who had reached four score. In 10(17, all the inmates' were capable of attending :to their personal) ablutions; in the homo today no .fewer than <f0 worn linabin to perform this.simple office. There.was no infirmary ward at tho home three years ago; since then.Voue had been provided, and at the present time 10 patients were receiving treatment therein. Of the inmates in the home to-day, 25 were phj--sically unable to take a bath without assistance; three years ago all .could do so. Then Iho' speaker crowned his arguments with the statement that whereas in 1307 the home had a staff of six, today the staff numbered seven! Tho Costley Home in Auckland., with. 182' inmates- , .a staff of .29; Wellington, with 182 inmates, had a staff of nine. In the charitable institution iu the Hawke's Bay district, there, were 83 inmates' and a stafi of 13 was kept up. ' . ; The board, without further, comment, adopted'tits'following recommendation of tha Charitablo AidCominiftiie:— • '"Tluit, in/view of the great increase in the. numbers of infirm and disabled persons in the home, an additional'male attendant be engaged at a commencing' salary of- .£5 16s. Sd. per month, with board and residence; arid that Miss Truebridge bo appointed ns an' assisKnt at a commencing salary of 155.. per week."