THE VETERANS' HOME

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 254, 24 October 1907, Page 3

THE VETERANS' HOME

YEAR'S WORK REVIEWED. (By Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. A very satisfactory position has been disclosed by the annual report of- the superintendent of the Veterans' Home, at Auckland, which has been presented to the board of governors. The average number of veterans in the institution during the past year was 40, and accommodation for two additional veterans has been provided. The annual subscriptions were not quite so numerous as in the previous year, but owing to tbe invaluable efforts of Mrs. Wigram, the sum of £262 was collected in Christchurch, and assured a successful year. The Government gave a subsidy of £ for £ up to £500' on voluntary ocntributions during the year. Many of tho veterans who are in receipt .of special campaign and other pensions, have contributed in proportions to their means to wards their own maintenance. The establishment is conducted on the lines of a comfortable home. The invested funds have been increased during the past year from £6200 to £(5900. The land, buildings, and furniture are all paid for. The clergy of different denominations hold services at the home, and medical men generously give the inmates the benefit of their' skin free of cost. The legal business, also, has been done gratuitously.

It is interesting, to note that amongst the veterans in the home are men who served at the siege of Acre, in IS4O, in tbe New Zealand wars from 1845 onwards, in Burma in 1852, in the Crimea and the Baltic in 1854, in the Indian Mutiny in 1857, and in Ashanti, Afghanistan and Egypt. The average cost of maintenance per resident is 12/4| per week, and as tuat sum includes uniforms, clothing, footwear,- tobacco, etc., it is a proof of the careful administration of the superintendent, and the excellent direction of the Auckland committee. The board is most anxious to double the amount of the invested funds, so as to place the. institution in an absolutely independent position, and to ensure a home in their declining years for the deserving though poor soldiers and sailors of the Empire living in the Dominion, most of whom in the future will he New Zealanders.