LABOUR OF LOVE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1563, 5 October 1912, Page 13

LABOUR OF LOVE.

TWENTY-THREE YEARS' PUBLIC SERVICE. MR. E. C. KIRK'S WORK. The resignation of Mr. R. C. Kirk from the Wellington Hospital Board, aftor twenty-three years' service, reminds one ■Hint in that scoro of years many great changes have taken place in the fine institution where sick and maimed aro cared, for, "Tho fust work which I remember," said Mr. Kirk, in an interview yesterday, "was the building of the original Children's Hospital. That was about twenty years ago. Following on that came the erection of wards ii and (i, at a cost of abuut £6000; Then, on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, a fund was raised in Wellington which helped (o provide the Victoria operating theatre. At the time when that was built and equipped it was certainly the best in New Zealand, and one of tho best in any of the colonies." Tho next work of great importance was tho erection of the Nurses' Home. The question of a site wns a matter which •caused a great deal of discussion among tho members of the then board of trustees. Mr. Kirk brought forward a scheme —which was at length adopted—by which the board acquired tho sevoral acres of land which now constitute the hospital frontage to Ecvans Street. Mr. Kirk's idea was to cut down a hill which rose about fifty feet above the ordinary ground level, and with the earth thus obtained to fill in tho swamp which then abutted on to Rcvans Street. The idea was put into effect. Nearly .£2OOO was spent in getting away the hill, but the result was that a site for the Nurses' Home was provided (where the hill used to be], and the reclaimed area was greatly enhanced in ,valun. Afterwards, the Nurses' Home was erected; and this entailed an expenditure of about .£17,000. ■ Opened by the Queen. "The Victoria Home for Chronic Invalids was the next work of importance," Mr. Kirk went on. "The bulk -sf the funds, were provided by way of subscriptions, and a large- bazaar. This department was opened by her Majesty the Queen when, as Duchess of Cornwall and York, she.wa's visiting New Zealand. The cost of that undertaking was in the neighbourhood of XBOOO. Pull equipment of X-rays and electrical appliances were then installed in (ho hospital. Soon came the campaign inaugurated by Drs. Newman and Valintine, by which a large sum of money was raised to fight consumption, and, as a result, the Seddon Shelters for Consumptives wero provided iu the hospital grounds, and the largo sanitarium at Otaki was provided by the District Hospital Board. The Otaki sanitarium and the Otaki Hospital, the site for which was. pegged out by the architect and myself when I was chairman of the District Hospital Board in 1898, occupy about ninety acres of land. The cost of tho two sanitoria (Seddon Shelters and Otaki) ran into close upon £20,000. "We had for years been anxious to get a new and up-to-date Infectious Diseases Hospital, and the site was the main difficulty. After protracted negotiations with the Government, this was at last evercome by an exchange of some hospital laud facing Revans Street for a block of land in Coromandcl Street, upon which latter the Infectious Diseases Hospital was built. It was opened about two years ago, and the cost of it was about £13,000. The.Last Great Campaign. Our last big undertaking was the erpttion of the Children's Hospital. Through tho generosity of the people of Wellington, the efforts of the then Mayoress (Mrs. T.M. Wilford), and the enthusiasm ■ of Mr. Hugh Ward and his associates, the sum of £16,000 was raised. And the present delightful hospital for children stands as a monument to this public spiritedncss"Of course, enormous improvements havo been made in the interior irrangements, and in the appliances at the institution in the last twenty-three years. As instances, there have been the inauguration of tho laundry and the :nstalla- | tion of electric light throughout the place. I reckon that since I joined the board, in 1883, there has been a capital expend!' ture on hospital work with which I have been connected of at least £100,000. "The work has always been a great delight to me, as 1 was fortunate enough to have been associated with men who dealt with hospital administration in a public-spirited and unselfish manner. And by our united efforts we have undoubtedly managed to keep clear of any serious trouble, a;ul have seldom been subjected to unfavourable criticism by the various State inspecting officers. "Our training school for nurses has always been regarded as the leading one in New Zealand, and a number of women trained there havo left well equipped to serve the. public in other capacities." "One Grows to Love the Work." Besides his hospital' work, Mr. Kirk was for many years concerned in the administration of charitable aid in the cits'. For some time ho was chairman of the United Charilablo Aid Board, whose functions wero taken' over by the present board. Of tho work generally, Mr. Kirk said, "It has always been amazing to me the amount of time and attention •the members of those bodies have,given to the public service. One grows, certainly, to love the work, and no department of the public service gives such solid satisfaction to those who give tho necessary time- and study to it. So much time given to, the .public in this way necessarily makes huge inroads upon one's time for business. And if one occupies at all a responsible position,' such as chairman board, chairman of the • Hospital Committee, or chairman of the Finance and. Property Committee, which latter deals with very largo and important endowments, it is a great tax i;pon one's thoughts and energy, apart alto-, gethcr from the time entailed. This ex-, ponditure of time and energy I am, unfortunately, no longer able to spare from my own "business. I shall feel most keenly having to cease to take an active part in matters which aro worthy of tho attention of tho best of our public men."