PENSIONS GRANTED

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2680, 28 January 1916, Page 6

PENSIONS GRANTED

SOLDIERS AND DEPENDENTS N AN ANNUAL CHARGE OF ' £22,822 this week's meeting of the War Pensions 28 claims were considered, 17 being from soldiers and 11 from dependents. Seven soldiers were granted pensions, 6 allowances, while one application was declined, and three were adjourned, to permit of further medical reports. Five of the pensions are of the value of £26 cadi; the physical disabilities from which the applicants are suffering being of a less serious character. One is afflicted with slight deafness, another has lost a large too, a third is suffering from the incapacitating effects of an attack of pneumonia!, and the earning capacity of>a fourth has been affected to some extent by a heart ailment. The other two pensions granted were at the rate of £1 per week, the applicants both suffering from gunshot wounds, one in the shoulder and one in the thigh. Of the six soldiers 'who received allowances, one was granted the full amount, 355. per week, for six' months. Three others were awarded the full allowance for three months. The object of the allowances is, of course, to enable the men' to pay their way until the board is in a position to decide whether pensions should or should not be granted. One of them is neurasthenic, as a result of his experiences in the trenches, and another nas a dislocated cartilage of the knee. Of the dependents, 9 were granted pensions, while one claim was rejected and another was withdrawn. The full pension of 255. per week was awarded to the wife of a private. The marriage, it appears, tool: place after the husband had enlisted.. The wife of a captain was, granted a pension of £117 for herself and £13 for an only child. She will also, it is stated, receive £31 per annum as superannuation, £18 being for herself and £13 for the child, while her husband was insured for £1000. Three mothers and one father were granted 10s. per week each, a mother £30 per annum, and a father and mother who had lost their two sons were granted 1,55. _ per week each. A mother who had previously been granted 10s. per week had her allowance increased to 15s. per week, fresh facts being placed before the board. The following is summary of the cases dealt with by the board to date:—

Allowances have been made io the number of 98, the amount payable being £280-1.

Soldiers. D'p'nd'ts. T'ls. Pensions 82 425 507 Allowances 102 2 104 Declined 31 38 69 Adjourned 13 4 17 Cases in hand ... 27 14 42 255 483 738 Pensions are being paid as follow:— Annual Value. No. £ Soldiers 82 4337 Wives 98 8614 Other dependents ... 327 9871 507 £22,822