"INASMUCH AS YE DO IT."

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 374, 1 July 1911, Page 7

"INASMUCH AS YE DO IT."

To The Editor. Sir, —We are urgently needing funds in connection with the benevolent deparment of our Mission. The general conditions in the City and Dominion are unusually* prosperous, yet some are stranded in our midst by illness and misfortune, and many others by the drunkehness of the one who should be the bread-winner. What untold miseries are due to the latter cause, what humiliation, what physical pain and mental anguish. I never by any chance intentionally give temporal help to the drunkard but my heart is frequently well nigh broken by the sufferings and hardships of their womenfolk and by the pinched faces and the cold bodies of their bairns. Imagine a dilapidated little home, almost entirely devoid of furniture, bare cupboards and some halfdozen occupants. By day the children are frequently insufficiently fed and neglected, and by night huddled together to keep each other warm, theii scant covering being altogether inadequate for a temperatrue of 60 degrees, so imagine thier condition when it is well nigh freezing. The father is usually out during the day and evening, sometimes working, sometimes spending in drink the money he has earned, and at other times enjoying the hospitality of his chums who would not provide a loaf for his children, but who gladly provide liquor which will send him home in a condition which disgraces his manhood. The mother is usually out during the day working, cleaning and such like, and attending to the children between whiles as occasion offers. By night she gets such rest as is possible with the disgusting companionship of a husband who is stupefied by drink, and other nights she incessantly endures his threats of or actual physical violence, and in the morning she has to commence the weary round again without having had any rest. Imagine the foregoing, with the oassional ineviatble breakdown of the mother and the illness of one or more of the children, and you have an appreciation of the sort of home which I am frequently called upon to visit. A concrete case which is engaging our attention at present is that of a woman with A husband and several children—the youngest being a baby in arms The husband L is a kind enough fellow during his occasional periods of aobriety. He however spends considerable time in gaol, and these are the happiest times for his family* The children are prepared for school or kindergarten long before such institutions open, and they have to fill in the intervening time in cold and loneliness. The mother leaves home for the wash-tub about the same time and takes the baby with her. The cold, insufficient and unsuitable food, and work beyond her strength, with anxiety for her bairns, sometimes makes her incapable of work, and it has on several occasions been my privilege to help by providing clpthing, food, medicine and fuel. I could not do otherwise, for she is a worthy woman although she wedded to a drunkard. If space permitted I could tell of another family all worthy, including the husband, who by misfortune was reduced to temporary acute poverty. The man is now working up country, and hopeß to be able to send shortly for his wife and children. Meanwhile by the goodness of my friends I am glad to be able to help to cheer their loneliness and provide for their pressing needs. Needs such tis the foregoing freqentuly press upon me and we are urgent y needing money, food, useful clothing, etc. Will your readers contemplate the circumstances of their own comfortable homes and contrast their position with those which are referred to here, and I am sure they will be prompted to help üb. Will those who can assist please communicate with the Treasurer of our Social Fund, Mr H. E. Pacey, care Dairy Association, Weilesley street, Auckland, or with,— Yours truly, SISTER KENNETH, Auckland Methodist Mission, with which' is incorporated the Helping Hand Mission. Rose Rd., June2 71, 911.