FEAR OF "THE GATE"

NZ Truth, Issue 1207, 17 January 1929, Page 7

FEAR OF "THE GATE"

Caversham Old Men's Home Inmates Resent Withholding of Deferred Funds For 1 Extras and Comforts

MONOTONOUS MENU; JAM ONCE A FORTNIGHT

IF, as these old men allege, complaints are silenced by threats of the gates, the recent visit of a "Truth" representative was hot before its time. The chief grievance which is causing grey hairs to ruffle at the Caversham Home can be traced to what appears to be a case of ambiguous ruling on the part of the board. A few years ago it was resolved that the maintenance of an inmate at the home should be 15/6. per week, of which 1/6 would be held m trust and kept available for individual requirements m the shape of "extras and comforts." The net charge for maintenance was thus set at 14/- a week. A recipient of the old-age pension, therefore, was left with 2/- a week actual pocket-money, and a reserved fund of 1/6 for the purchase of goods, which, it was understood, had to be approved by ah official of the board before the owner could draw his allotment. This arrangement was cheerfully accepted by many of the inmates, who disliked the clothes issued by the authorities and desired the privilege of stocking their own wardrobes.

Tightening Up

It now. appears that the board is depriving pensioner-inmates of access to their .deferred funds, and some of the old fellows who have been accustomed to drawing a welcome few shillings every few months. have^ been told by the chief, clerk that this avenue of personal expenditure of their own money has been conditionally closed as from November 1 last. In explanation, replying to "Truth's" inquiries, the secretary of the board states that his chief clerk has been instructed td "tighten" up on this department of the home management, and that no further disbursements will be made to an inmate m person without a favorable report from the manager of the home and authoritative approval of the prospective purchases, which are supposed to come under the heading of "extras and s comforts.". ' Meanwhile, eighteenpence per week is posted to the credit of each pensioner, and obviously destined to accumulate m idleness until siich time as an inmate's choice of expenditure equals the required official approbation^ Thus the choice of "extras and comforts" is not left to the old pensioners; at least, only at the discretion of the officials concerned, and should an old man's fancy not coincide with that of officialdom, he has only the consolation of knowing that a slowly swelling bank account is following him to the grave. Doubtless the board authorities deemed it wise to frame restrictions on the inmates' meagre wealth m such a way as to, protect the weaker-willed ancients against themselves. As the secretary reminded "Truth," some of the inmates, on taking a jog to town and meeting old cronies, were inclined to favor the mug, and a con-

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative) | "We daren't complain—they'd show us the gate!" | | Thus, a% number of inmates of the Caversham (Dunedin) | | Old Men's Home, who declare that conditions at the Home are § | not consistent with an even-handed return for the 15/6 "main- | 1 tenance" which the Otago Hospital Board shears from each § 1 pensioner's weekly State pittance of 17/6. . ■ . 1

viction for drunkenness, of course, would jeopardise their pensions. ,No doubt, m some cases this is only too true, but, judging from what "Truth" can gather, the call upon the average inmate's skimpy purse is due, not to the ale-house, but to the cookshop and bakehouse, Avhere he spends his few pense m supplementing the home's bill of fare! Many of the old battlers who have done their part, however small, m the building of the Dominion, and now perforce must rest their oars and float whither the. tides of the State's hospitality might take them? are bitter m their resentment of the food at the Caversham Home. But they are afraid to say so. The courage with which they once faced a world of toil and trial has withered with the sere and yellow leaf of the physical, and looming ever before them is the "one dreaded word which they claim would be the answer to their feeble-voiced indignation— the "Gate."

Locker after locker was opened to "Truth" to reveal material confirmation of the assertion that some of the old chaps would go hungry from the table if they relied on the scant official menu.

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimitni^ A tin of treacle here, a bag of cakes there, pigs' trotters, a pound or two* of svgar — an assortment of stores to "fill the .gaps," as one comical old fogey declared. This exhibition was not "staged" for "Truth's" benefit. Not a soul m the Institute knew anything about the arrival of this paper's representative. Here is the home's list of victuals supplied from day to day: — Breakfast (7.30 a.m.): Plate of porridge with half cup of skimmed- milk (no sugar), bread sparsely spread with whey butter, and tea with milk and sugar ingredients mixed m the kitchen. Dinner (11.45 a.m.): Soup, meat and potatoes, with an extra vegetable, (usually cabbage) four times a week, "Hokitika" pudding (a" bread and ginger mixture with sauce) on Tuesdays and Fridays, and tea. Tea (4.30 p.m.) : Tea and bread and butter as at breakfast, with jam every other Sunday. Is- it any wonder that inmates must make eatables the main item m what the board cares to term "extras and comforts?"

No provision is made for a palate which dislikes either or both sugar and milk additions to tea— often the case with old people; and from teatime (4.30 p.m.) until breakfast (7.80 a.m.) is a little matter of fifteen 'hours!

The attention to the dining-room is carried out by inmates, there being only three members of a working staff — two female cooks and a laundress. '

The food has to be carried from the cook-house across about 60 feet of open yard m all weathers. The same applies to the transport of meals to inmates of the hospital section, which is situated nearly 100 yards from the cook-house, a sort of dinner-wagon beirig provided. Each inmate is issued with one plug (not quite two ounces) of tobacco and one box of wooden matches each week. He can, however, swell his tobaccopouch by the addition of another half plug a week by engaging m any one of the domestic duties or trade workshops about the home. By this method the necessity of employing labor is eliminated, and but for the three women connected with the cooking and laundry, the institute is wholly self-contained.

He Earns It

, Half a plug of tobacco is the full limit of the Board's acknowledgment for work done by any one of the inmates! One old fellow fills ihe bill as orderly for his ward. Each morning he sweeps out the ward, which has a floor- space of about 64 by 20 feet. Twice a week he scrubs this area and polishes the linoleum runner down the centre. He is also responsible for the cleanliness of the bathroom, with two baths, the wash-basins m the ablution-room and the ward's lavatories. For this he gets about an ounce of tobacco! Taking everything into account, it would seem that the inmate is only responsible to the board for the roof over his head, the electric light and his food — all of which should be amply covered by the 14/- net amount of maintenance. In the light of these disclosures, it is hard to reason with the board's parsimonious tactics m respect of the home's cook-house. Any boarding-house-keeper will readily agree that m wholesale catering, 14/- per head should provide a generous and varied table far and ahead of the class of meal placed before the Caversham House inmates. As to the evident anomaly arising out of the restrictions on the deferred portion of pensions, the old stagers should realize where they stand. To the average person, 14/- a week seems ample for the provision of adequate "board" for the old people, and there should be no necessity to set up an emergency fund against "extras and comforts," which, as things stand at presentj seems to be a dummy exciise for the board's guillotine to clip off as much as possible from the unfortunate inmates' allowances.