THE SELWYN HOME FOR OLD MEN

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1297, 16 May 1878, Page 3

THE SELWYN HOME FOR OLD MEN

[from the press.J More than one application has been made to the Government by Mr March, as administrator of charitable aid, pointing out the urgent necessity of increased Government assistance to the Refuge for infirm and destitute old men at Selwyn. These applications have not been made a day too soon, as the condition and accommodation of the Refuge are anything but creditable to the Government. No advocacy is needed on behalf of the charity, if the necessity for its maintenance is once conceded —and that is apparent from the fact that it has always as many aged and necessitous inmates as it can possibly accommodate, even when crowded to its fullest capacity—it follows that it is a mere matter of duty that the Home should be at least something more than a mere “refuge for the destitute ” in its fullest and most vulgar meaning. In point of fact, no amount of money could be profitably expended in patching up or renovating the ruinous building which has been successively a railway station, a refreshment room, an immigration depot, and now the home for the aged poor. What is really wanted is a convenient, commodious building, specially constructed for its intended purpose, not necessarily costly, but at least a comfortable place, where the remaining days of those whose circumstances unfortunately compel them to seek its shelter may be passed in decent comfort. The Selwyn Home scarcely comes up to this standard. The building, which stands on the railway platform, contains altogether eighteen rooms, thirteen of them being dormitories. The remaining five comprise the private apartments of the master, Mr J. S. Baylis, a kitchen 25ft. long by lift, wide (the largest apartment in the place, and used as a sitting room for the inmates) a washhouse and a lumber room. The sleeping rooms are of an average size of about 14ft. square, and contain some two stretchers, and some three, where the_ trifling extra dimensions warrant placing a third bed in. All these rooms stand sadly in need of renovation. Some of them have been at one time whitewashed, others pannelled with Kauri, and one or two painted, though it must have been during the transition stage of the Home’s existence as a railway station. The only means of ventilation is by means of a window in each room, and considering the feeble state of health of some of the occupants that is not at all times available, especially during the winter months. The rooms are kept as clean as can be expected by the inmates, a regulation which is rigidly enforced by the rules of the Home, and insisted on by the master. There is no stint in the quantity of the bedding allowed, and the dietary is also on a sufficiently liberal scale. Each man receives daily 11b bread, 11b, potatoes, half ounce tea, and half a pint of milk ; for fire days in the week the allowance of meat is three-quarters of a pound of mutton, and the remaining two days the same ration of beef. An allowance of two ounces of tobacco is also served out weekly. There is therefore no reason for complaint on the score of either the sufficiency or the quality of the food. The twenty three present inmates of the Home are divided into three messes, or rather two, of nine and ten men respectively. The remaining four are termed the odd men, and entertain peculiar opinions on the subject of cookery, and have elected to mess by (bfgn tlwft wti wprt in the

two messes acts as chef-de-cuisine for his mates. The kitchen, as remarked before, serves the double purpose of a refectory and recreation room, which is by no means a desirable arrangement, or conducive to the comfort of the inmates. Here the old men lounge, read, cook, smoke, write their letters, and pass away their time in the various methods most congenial to them. At the rear of the building is a plot of ground, about one-eighth of an acre, where vegetables are grown for the use of the Home, but it presents a very desolate appearance, everything having been destroyed by the blight, A flower garden has been laid out with some pretensions to taste, and as the master stated, presented a gay appearance in the spring and early summer, its care mainly devolving on the matron of the establishment, Mrs Baylis, who takes great interest in it. She also does all in her power to promote the comfort of the refugees, a work in which she is heartily seconded by Mr Baylis. A serious drawback is the want of a room adapted for a temporary infirmary, as in case of sickness the invalid must, under the present arrangements, share the same room with his usual companions until he can, if seriously affected, be sent to the Christchurch Hospital. The master has a small stock of simple medicines which ho prescribes and dispenses in trifling cases of ailment, but in the event of an urgent demand for medical aid serious consequences might be apprehended, as there is no medical man residing nearer than fourteen miles from Selwyn. Efforts have been made to induce a practitioner to settle in Dunsandel, If miles distant, and the Government at one time offered a small yearly stipend to any gentleman who would periodically visit the Home. Up to the present time, however, no one has considered that Dunsandel and its neighbourhood present sufficient inducements for a medical man to settle there. There is an equal lack of the clergy, two visits only having been made by clergymen of the Church of England during the last two and a half years, and an occasional visit by a Wesleyan or Baptist lay reader. All denominations nearly are represented in this little community, and, as the master observed, “ Some of them don’t believe in anything at all.” The master has a small collection of books, which are eagerly read and re-read by the inmates, and the Home is supplied with occasional gifts of newspapers and old magazines. Contributions of this description would he gratefully received, and would help to while away the tedium of the old men’s lives. During the past year thirty six men were accommodated in the Home. At the present time there are twentythree, but the average number all the year round is about sixteen. In conclusion, it may be said that no exception can be taken to the manner in which the Home is conducted. The master and matron do all that lie in their power for the comfort of those under their charge, and as far as actual shelter, and a sufficiency of food is concerned, there is no fault to be found. But the plain truth is that the place is not suitable or in any way adapted to its purpose, and it is hoped that Mr March will persevere in his laudable endeavors to obtain substantial assistance from the Government towards either the construction of a new building or such radical improvements in the existing one as will remove the objectionable features pointed out. Christchurch once had a name in New Zealand for the excellence of its charitable institutions. Other localities now bid fair to surpass her in this respect, and in the matter of the help and comfort bestowed upon old men, as exemplified at the Selwyn Home, there is at least one institution in the colony that already does so.