The Dunstan Times SATURDAY, 2th MAY, 1866

Dunstan Times, Issue 211, 12 May 1866, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

SATURDAY, 2th MAY, 1866

'Beneath the rule of men entirely jb»t, th< pen is mightier than the sword!"

The action taken by the Hospital Committee in the establishment of Local or Sub-committees in the various out-districts cannot fail being approved of by the majority of the subscribers. Everyone must be well aware that what is familiarly known as the Dunstan Mining District stretches over an area of at least forty miles square and that to thoroughly canvas for subscriptions throughout such a vast tract of country must be a work of considerable difficulty, likewise very expensive—and then it is questionable whether a collector can thoroughly visit every part. Local Committees will obviate all this.—each having an intimate knowledge of the district it will represent, as well as nearly every individual inhabitant it contains will be able to gather together considerably more funds than could be done by any unknown person who may occasionally make a tour round for that stated purpose. Another advantage to be derived from Local Committees is that there will be a larger number of persons taking an especial interest in promoting the welfare of the Hospital and it will be the means of keeping it constantly before the public, which, in the case of public institutions is one of the principal points of success. We are given to understand that Local Committees will be appointed—in addition to those at Alexandra and Cromwell at Dunstan Creek,

Black's, and the Nevis, so that none will have to complain of the difficulty of obtaining information respecting the ad* mission of patients or the receiving of donations or subscriptions.

It is a well-acknowledged fact that the Dunstan Hospital is one of the best-managed and most efficient institutions of its kind in the Province. The Committee of Management have spared no pains to secure this most desirable end. The medical officers are of the highest standing in their profession, and no case has been brought under their treatment but with which they have been competent to deal. The future success of the institution now depends upon the public themselves. It is entirely in their hands, and from the uniform liberality which has always been accorded to any demand made upon them on behalf of the Hospital, there is no fear but that the present satisfactory state of things will bo fully main tained.

To the mining community the Hospital is boon. There they hav<fa home in cases of sickness or accident; the most efficient medical skill is secured to them; they are carefully nursed; and we may safely say that were they possessed of the most ample means, no expenditure of money could command such an elaborate course of treatment as they there receive gratuitously. The stupendous scale with which mining operations are now being carried on necessarily places life and limb in greater jeopardy than when the workings were of a more primitive character. In addition to the large sluicing claims now opened, there is every probability that they will be quickly followed by quartzreefs, the working of which will further increase the liability to accideut. It is therefore the bounden duty of every man connected with gold-mining to subscribe his utmost towards the maintenance of an Hospital. No working man can say he may not require itsjjassistance,* and even should he happily not do so, he is only giving his mite towards assisting some individual less fortunate than himself and which is no more than a duty he owes to his fellow meu. The new Local Committees have a wide field of usefulness before them, and if they are only zealous in the cause, the Dunstan District Hospital cannot fail in being one of the most flourishing and useful institutions in Otago.