BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2842, 8 March 1888, Page 2

BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

A meeting flf the Trustees of- the North Wairarapa Benevolent Society was held yesterday, present;— The Rev; J.N. But. tie (in tho Chair, and Messrs W. H. Beetham, J. B. Keith, and J. Macara. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The Treasurer reported a credit balance of £22 128 2d. .. . Accounts amounting to ill? Is ]l<J were passed for payment subject tafends being available. W Messrs J. Payton and R. M. Galloway were appointed Trustees in the room of the Revs, W, E, PafreatidD. Fulton, . Messrs W H. Beetham and $, T'ayton authorised to sign cheques on hehalt of the Trustees, in conjunction with Ms\ J. ,B. Keith, the Treasurer. A i The Relieving Officer reported as. fojT Jews No. I—was the case of a woman deserted by horhqaband, who left her in July. 1886, and had not since been heard of, She was left' with seven children aged 12,11,9,8j SJ, 4,1|, the youngest being a complete invalid requiring constant nursing. Four of the children at.tended the public school, Relief was continued at the rate of 25s per week. No. 2-A young man who wag in the last stage of consumption. He was married ;no children. His wife was frequently ill, and his . mother-in-law lived with them and assisted in nuraitig tho invalid. This arrangement allowed the wife to go out house-cleaning or washing when able. Relief continued at the rata of 15s per week. ifc t No. 3.-The mother-in-law refect to in the above case. She was upwards of 73 years of age, and occasionally was employed in- house work.. Relief was continued at the rate of 5s per week. No. 4 was that of a wife deserted by Jiey hpband 14 months iinw,, Ufo

seven children, all healthy and strong looking, Their ages wero 10, 9,8,7, 5, 3, and 2 lespeetively, Five attended tho public school. The husband had been traced by the police to New Plymouth, whro he waa undergoing a term of imKprisonment, Tho wifo stated she had received no help outside of the Society; that-she waa not stron? onough to go out washing, but waa willing to undertake needlewurk or other light employment at homo. Rolief was granted at tho rato of 15a per week (to include houso rent), No, 5 was a widow, whose health was precarious, Slio had four children. He*' eldest son, married, with one child, gavo her iWCasiimal help. Another son, aged 15, was at present out of work. Her daughter, aged 20, was at homo, and another daughter, aged 12, waa attending school. Thfy were under a rental of 8s per week. It was decided to discontinue i relief in this case. No. (i was a widow with two children, aged (i years and 5 years. One of tho children had been taken by an aunt; the other attended school. The widtw had recently suffered severo illness, but nuw much stronger, and able to take in washing, which she obtained from ono or two families, and hoped to bo able to s increase her means of livelihood by • jfe- undertaking nursing, Sim had been in receipt of 15s per week from the Society. It was decided to reduce the amount to 10s. No 7 was another caso of wife desortion. The husband had been absent for a year . and a half, during which time ho had jkiwice written to her. In Ausust, 1886, $o had sent her £5, and in May, 1887, £(i. Since then she had heard nothing or him In reply to an enquiry from tho Inspector's Office, Wellington, in this instance, the Government of New South Wales had written that "a man answering to tho description of the person, and of tho same name, had been engaged in mining on the Neriga Gold Field, until tho 3rd October last, when he sold his tools, tent, etc., and left the field, atatiug his intention of returning to his family in New Zealand." Ho had not yet, however, turned up. There were four children, aged 10,9,5, and 3 years, The two young onc3 had been lately very ill with low fever, and one of them, tho youngest, had still to be constantly nursed, This prevented tho mother from eoing out to work, She was able to earn by washing and office-cleaning an average of 10s per week. Sho was under the low rental of 2s Gd per week. Relief at the rate of 10s per week was continued m this case, with necessary medicines, No, 9 was a widow with three children, a boy aged 14 years had just gone to a farm on trial, a girl aged 12 was at home, and a boy aged G was also at home. Tho mother partly gained a livivg by going • washing and cleaning It wna ided to discontinue further relief in this case. No 10 was tho case of a woman deserted by her husband last Juno. No tidings had been heard of him since. There were three children, girls, the eldest aged 14 years was at Bervico and earned Cs per week, tho other two, aged 11 years and 8 years, attended school, One of the y'ounger children was suffering from chronic disease of tho eyes ard partial deafness. The mother undertook plain sewing and mending, her average earnings bping 5s per week. Relief waa con- ; tinued at tho rate of 5s per weok. ! No 11 was the case of a widow with \ five children aged respectively 9, 8, G, 5, • and 3 years. The three elder attend ;d tho public school, A special subscri| ti >n ' had been raised m this case and handed to the trustees for disbursement at tho ■ rate of 203 per week It wis decided to ' continue the grant at the same rate, until tho noxt regular meeting at which time it would expire, and tho caso was then to be reconsidered, No 12 was a caso in which the wifo t IM been deserted sinco October, 1884, ' rfl|fthich time the husband had left for , Melbourne in search of employment, '■•Jjpt There had been no trace of him since, r There were three children, aged 11, 9, I and 8 respectively, and they attended the . public school Tho mother went out 1 washing and house cleaning three or four times a week, her average earnings being 12s to 14s per week, out of which she paid a rental of 6s, It waa decided to continue relief to tho extent of 10s per week. No. 13 was tho case of a man suffering . from acute lung disease from which there was not much prospect of recovery. Ho had a wife and six children, the latter aged 21,19,15,12,10, and 7 years res- ' pectively. The eldest was a son who : assisted his parents to the extent of £ls a year, and helped to clothe his younger brothers. Tho next waa a daughter whowas at service, but did not earn sufficient to render any pecuuiary assistanco. Tho next girl (15) was at home helping her mother. Tho other children attended the public school, a distance of five miljia , from their home, The family lived on a 63 aero bush section in the Waipoua Block which they hadaright to purchase for£2oo, They had borrowed £lO upon the land and built a whare, The interest on the tnrion was £ls per annum. They had " fWcowa which helped them to eke out an existence. It was decided to continue the grant in this case at the rato of 10b L per week. In all oases the reliet was m-'unly granted until next sitting. ••V? This concluded the business.