THE SAILORS’ HOME.

Evening Star, Issue 4144, 8 June 1876, Page 2

THE SAILORS’ HOME.

This morning thg, following gentlemen, (members of the committee of the Sailors’ Home, waited upon the Superintendent Messrs H. Ramsay, and Capt. (Thomson. t ... ' Mr Houghton said the Corporation fre; quired the site on which tbe Sailors’Homil ' stood, and the iustitionwould Shortly have ■to be removed, their tenure being only from month to montlj. The. deputation,.there*. | fore, waited on his Honor to ask if the Govemment could assist the committee in obtaining a new site.. They had no funds to -buy land with, and it would be cause fpitregret if an institution that had Veen sP successfully carriedoutso far,and so greaciy ■appreciated by. seamen . should be allowedl to collapse for want of a site. The master furnished- statistics showing that up to date 775 'seamen -had entered the Home, and ' 762 left it ; while the receipts had been L7B per month, and' the expenditure LBB. This showed a loss of only LlO per month, and that could easily be made up if the Home were settled mi first-class building of its own, and without the heavy ground rent of L 8 per month which they now had to pay to the Cpippration. The speaker thoughi the Government had some land to spare between,the railway line and the jetty. J His Honor said that unfortunately the Government had not a single site.belouging to them; it had divested itself of all its reserves. , The land referred’ to by Mr Houghton was in the h*hds of. the Harbor Beard, to which body deputation had better apply. In fact be thought the duty of assisting the Sailors’ Home specially devolved upon the Harbor Board. Mr Ramsay said a site had been suggested at Pelicbet Bay/but that would be-too far away from town for b;>th sailors and the; captains of vessels in want of hands. The : Home was required near where seamen were i discharged and engaged. The committed : would almost undertake, if . a site were granted, to erect a suitable building thereon. It was useless to ask the Coiporation to charge only a.nominal amount for the present site, for that was against that body’s principles—it did / ttot r believe in nominal rents/ '■ ;i ■ ■ -s■ ■’ ■ : Mr Houghton asked if there was nota ; reserve aldfag the railway line that could be obtained.

His Honor said there was,'but it was kept with a view| doubtless,' of rdakiugtholinte double atsome-f uture date. He asked if the! utilised fear the purpose* of a Bailors’ Home..

Captain possible. Hia Honor said it wotdd dje ' ]>ities if thsliutitntioa fbe &dnotflwh#w the oomm^fretr tion or thcnHafbor Boaril, Which had get bands ue Mi* * . serves about Dunedin; mubb foMhe commu^^r i should be danger of the Homh ceasing to exiift. Mr Houghton supposed it wotiTd be useless to ask the Government for pecuniary assistance. % His Honor said they could obtain no n. Government were in a positjon to mye was the sale to the committee" o&baay terms of theJnmigiuats’ -cpUagea alKea-. Smgton. Tue deputation inspect these cottages.aml afterwards call upon liia Honor