AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2246, 30 November 1886, Page 2

AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

TUESDAY, NOV. 30, 1886.

Equal and exact justice to all men, CM whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. __

The new Hospital and Charitable Aid Board for Waikato holds its initial meeting to-morrow, at the Borough Council Chambers, Hamilton, and though its first business must be the appointment of a chairman and secretary, a discussion as to what will be the future action of the board will doubtless crop up. We have cut the painter, and ares now afloat, depending upon our own resources. Tt has been said that the cheapest way of working the new district, as far as hospital requirements are concerned, would be to make arrngements with the Auckland hospital authorities to receive our patients, paying for these according to the acco m modation we re-vive. Ap-irt, however, from the fact that the Auckland lu'pital is overcrowded >/ith its own

patients, and that under other circumstances, even, it would not be j likely to come to any such agreement, the course would bo one quite unworthyof the district. Thenagain, the cottage hospital system proposed for the several local centres, where patients could be lodged with and attended by the occupiers, is for obvious reasons unsuitable, leaving the patients without the two great hospital requisites, first-class medical attendance on the spot, and skilled nursing by responsible nurses. The plain truth is we have entered as a community voluntarily upon certain grave responsibilities, and we must not shirk the cost and trouble of carrying them out. In separating themselves from the Auckland and Thames districts, severally, the Four Counties must provide for their own sick the advantages from which they have now cut them off. Having put their hand to the plough they must not look back. Nor need they hesitate on account of the magnitude of the task before th«m. Even at the start the expenditure for the first year will fall far short of the amount in which, but for the separation secured, the several local bodies # would have been mulcted as their share of contributions to the support of the Auckland and Thames hospitals, while for its after maintenance the proportion will be much more largely decreased. A hospital will, of course, have to be provided, but knowing as we do, the limited demand that will be made by patients upon its space, this need not entail a heavy outlay. A site suitable in every respect having been determined upon, an unpretentious, but thoroughly well constructed building should be erected on a plan which might form a portion of a larger one which a few years may render necessary. This could be constructed to accommodate half-a-dozen patients at most and the resident nurse, and need cost no large amount. The hospital with all appliances, and furniture should cost little more than half what the local bodies, under the old arrangements, would have had to contribute in a single year. Of the question of site we say nothing ; that must be decided solely upon its merits. Te Aroha has been suggested, but apart from the fact that it is not central, the people of Te Aroha, and perhaps not uuwisely, are decidedly against any such proposal, believing that the presence of a hospital in their midst, with fever patients of course amongst others, would deter numbers of invalids from resorting to their baths, and in fact destroy their prospects as a watering place, which are of as much importance to them as their goldmines. There is no reason, however, why sooner or later a branch hospital, a mere comfortable cottage with an experienced nurse, should not be provided at Te Aroha for the reception of patients from the Waikato hospital so far convalescent as to need only a course at the baths to recover their full strength and health. This, however, is an after consideration. As we have said, the fact cannot be gainsaid, that the board must face the question at once of providing hospital accommodation. The district will soon be left without the means of meeting any possible contingencies that may arise. We have separated from an unequal and unfair alliance, not in order to escape from all just responsibility, but to have the management of our own affairs, anchpay only for our own requirementvout these we are bound to fully provide for, and it can only be done by the establishment of one central hospital It is essential that patients on arrival, it may bo having suffered serious injuries, shall be received, and at once attended to by a medical man resident on the spot, and whose outside practice shall be restricted to a certain area within a prescribed distance from the hospital, so that his services shall be immediately available. If for this reason alone, the cottage hospitals purposed for various centres would be valueless. It is the ever present advantages of first-class medical skill and attendance upon the spot that constitute the great advantage of hospital treatment, an advantage which even the wealthy can scarcely command, but which is thus brought within the reach of all. The question, too, of organising a system of providing out-door relief for the destitute will also have to be discussed. Although we have no poor, according to the common acceptation of the term, in Waikato, yet there will always be cases of suffering arising from the temporary sickness of the bread-winner of the family, or from accident, which will need, may be, to be sought out (the more deserving usually are of this class), and for attending to these provision will have to be made. A sub-division of duties in this respect will probably best meet the requirements of the board. Each local authority will be the best able to exercise athorough supervision over its own people, and while seeing that the deserving, however reticent, are not passed over, prevent the wasting of public funds upon the idle and worthless, and thus prevent the Aot from becoming in our country districts at least, what it has been wittily styled, "An Act for the Incubation of Paupers." .

No business is set down for the December quarterly meeting of the Hamilton Borough LlceuHlng Committee. In last issue it was stated that the loss made by the* J?Voe?injf Company was £inO,ooo. This should be £15,000. As the result of trials in Wellington the Auckland made ammunition is found to compare favourably with that imported from Kngland. We beg to call attention to an ervoi that occurred in the Matamata race adv6rti->etrient. The money £of firs>t hor.se m the Steeplechase wus stated as " Osovs," whereas it should have been Bsuym,

Th 3 Hamilton Choral Society will meet for pr.\otice thitJ evening. Work will nmunenco at ft quarter to eight sharp. Momber-i are requested to be puuctu il. The body of Mr Rhodes, who with his little £>on was drowned in the Tauranga Htrbnur a. fortnight aero, wtw ieco\ered on SUtuiday ne.u* the Kitikati Hoids, twenty niiies from the sp)t where his son's remains ware found. The Fisk Jubilee Singers are di awing hrge audiences nightly in Auckland. Their performances are spoken of in the highest torm of praise by the local pp r esB. We aie pleased to see that Dr. Waddiugton is making rapid progress towards 1 ecu very. He was in Hamilton on S\turday, and able to get about with the < id of one crutch. The first meeting of the newlyappointed Hospital Board for Waikato, will be held at the Borough Council Chambers, Hamilton, to-morrow, at noon. The tir-tt business will be the election of a chairman. Mr Fuller who is travelling in the interests of the North New Zealand Woollen Company, with a view to placing shares, is at present on a visit to Hamilton. The company promises to be as successful as its congener* down south. The Rev- H Bull, President of the Wesleyan Conference, preached in the Cambridge Wesleyan Church on Sunday. The congregations were only moderate, the wet weather preventing many attending.' To-day, being S. Andrew's Day, at S. Andrew 's Church, Cambridge, there will be full choral service at 8 p.m. Mozart's 12th Gloria will be taken a8 the anthem, and the Roy, Mr Boler will preach the sermons. A large mob of 5000 sheep arrived in Cambridge yesterday morning from Napier. They had been twenty days on the road, and appeared in good condition. Mr McNicol (Mossrs A. Buckland and Co.) offered them by auction in the afternoon. The committee of the Cambridge Lawn Tennis Club have kindly allowed the use of their courts to enable the girls of the District High School to play a match, which will take place at 2 p.m. this afternoon. Captain Owen, of Cambridge West, requests us to state the number of signatures attached to the counter petition presented to the Waipa County Council, re forming Cambridge West into a town district, was 17. At last the Cambridge cricketers are waking up. Seventeen turned up for practice on Saturday afternoon, and in the evening a very successful meeting was held at the Criterion Hotel, when things were put in " ship shape," of which a full report will be found in our columns. The Rev. J. S. Boyd delivered a practical and logical lecture on "Hard Times" at the Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, on Sunday morning. The rev. gentleman attributed much of the present distress to over-borrowing, and deduced many useful lessons therefrom. The committee of the Hamilton Christmas Sports ha\e decided to hold their meeting on Wednesday, December 29, instead of Tuesday, December 28. This change has been rendered necessary as no arrangement could be made for the Auckland excursion train to run on the Tuesday. A general meeting of the members of the Waikato Horticultural Society will be held in the Hamilton Borough Council Chambersto- morrow, at 11 a.m., in order to arrange for holding the next annual show, and for the discussion of any other matters of interest that may be brought forward. We understand that remarkably good progress is being made in the rehearsals for the diffeient entertainments in connection with the grand International Fete to be held at Hamilton during the Christmas week. The Carnival bids fair to outshine anything of the kind ever attempted in the provincial district. Mr James Hally, of Cambridge. yesterday received the following telegram from Wellington :— " Judges pass you for barrister's general knowledge.' It having been so long since the examination took place, and the successful candidates for solicitors having been announced, it was generally thought Mr Hally had failed. However, we are glad to find that it is not the case, and heartily congratulate him upon his success. We referred lately to a demand that was steadily setting in for acquiring properties in and around Hamilton. It was reported yesterday that Mr Jolly had effected a sale of a block of about 14 acres of land near the Lake, that piece of rising ground facing towards the Hamilton railway station, and commanding one of the finest views in the country, and a magnificent site for a villa residence. We notice the Cambridge Borough Council have been greatly improving Bryce-street. This is a street that has comparatively little traffic upon it, and yet Chapel-street, one in the centre of the town that has ten times is many vehicles passing over it, is allowed to remain in such a state that every time there is a shower it is a perfect sea, and in dry weather is a mass of mud and filth. Cannot this be remedied ? The Napier Telegraph of the 22nd November remarks :— The Customs officers to-day stopped the landing of a shipment of Hobart apples, consigned to Messrs Bonner and Liddle, on the ground that a codlin moth had been seen in one of the cases. This is very smart work, and shows how vigilant the Customs authorities are. It is not everybody who knows a codlin moth when he sees one, and to detect a single specimen in a shipment of many cases is a proof of the possession of an eacrie-eye, and a knowledge of entomology denied to most men. The severe frost on the night of November 12th is proving to have been more disastrous in its effects than was at first supposed, and certainly beyond any of the experiences of the oldest settlers, A similar visitation occurred about the same date in 18GG, but as the country had only lately been occupied a few acres of potatoes were on that occasion the only loss. This year orchardists have suffered very severely. From different parts of the district it is reported that the whole crop in some orchards, consisting of plums, gooseberries, and apples, has been destroyed. This must be a serious and great disappointment to many who, whilst other farming pursuits have been so unsatisfactory, ha\e looked forward to reaping a reward for care and labour bestowed upon their fruit culture.