ASHBURTON.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18095, 10 June 1924, Page 12

ASHBURTON.

PERSONAL. The resignation of Miss M. Little as matron of the Malvern Maternity Home was received and accepted at yesterday's meeting of the Ashburton County Hospital Board. The resignation will take effect from June 30th. Mr A. Stewart Christie, of the stool; department of the National Mortgage a;jd Agency Company, Ashburton, has been transferred, to the position of agent of the firm's Mayfield branch. Miss E. McDonald, the Canterbury organising secretary for the British and Foreign Bible Society, is at present in the .Ashburton County in connexion with the work of the Society. The Eev. D, McCosh, M.A., of East Taierij conducted the morning a?id evening services at the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church on Sunday. There were good attendances at both services. Dr. W. Bayburn, of Dunedin, has been appointed house surgeon at the Ashburton County Hospital,' Subject to the iipproval of the Minister of 'Health. Dr. Kayburn succeeds Dr. Sutherland, who is shortly to go on medical mission work in India. Mr E. A. O'Malley, who was president of the Celtic Football- Club during its first three years of existence, was presented by the members' at a smoke concert 011 Saturday night witli a travelling rug in appreciation of his services. The presentation was made by the president (Mr J. Bland). General News. The bicycle- shed at the Ashburton East School, funds for which a euchre party and dance were held some weeks ago, has now been erected, and has accommodation for ~48 machines. The lack of accommodation at the East Ashburton School was the subject of a recent letter from the committee to the Education Board. The latter body lias now replied that the communication has been forwarded to the Department'with a recommendation that , its. contents be given effect to. A gun accident occurred on Sunday afternoon. whereby Edward Brophy, aged 20 years, had the thumb and forefinger' of his left hand blown off. He was attended to by Dr. W. J. Mullin and taken to the County Hospital. He is employed as clerk in the office of the Ashburton Permanent Building and Investment Society, : and resides in Beach road, Hampstead. The Ashburton High School memorial library will be officially opened this afternoon by the Hon. W. Downie Stewart. The memorial tablet to those old pupils >vho fell in the Great War will also be unveiled by the Minister. There will be- various representative speakers at the' function, to which the public are invited. A collection will be taken up in aid of the library equipment fund. The Ashburton branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society has made four awards in connexion with tho recent competition among schoolchildren for essays on "The Life History of John Wyclifle." The subject matter of the essays is appropriate in that this year is the sixth centenary of Wyeliife. Each prize-winner was given a Bible handsomely bound.. The successful essayists are as follows:—Master H Montgomery 1, Miss E. Money 2, Miss" Gwen Silcock 3, Master W. E. Broom 4. Hospital Board. At the monthly meeting of the Ashburton Hospital Board, held yesterday there were present: Messrs Chailus Reid (chairman), W. T. Bruce,

A. Horsey, W. G. Gallagher, A. J7 Magson, W. Bryant, and F. "Watt. The treasurer's statement showed a credit balance of £663 10s Bd, i.uuV subsidies due £IOO7 7s, making a total of £1670 17s Bd. Amounts received since,the last meeting totalled £14(19 2s 6d, including the County Council's lew of £IOOO and patients' fees 'of £304 15s. The chairman reported that there was a mild outbreak of scarlet fever, spread over a wide area.. For . tho month of M&y there were reported in the bbrough three cases of scarlet fever, otherwise the borough had a clean bill of health. Qiltside . the borough eight cases of scarlpt fever wore reported as follows: Willowby 1, Mayfield 2, Tinwald 3, Windermere 1,- Ka.ka.ia 1; T.B. meningitis, "Methven (fatal) 1; two T.B. cases at Allenton, and one case of erysipelas at liakaia. It was reported that whooping cough was prevalent in a portion of the district. The Building Committee reported that the architect had been asked to prepare a sketch plan and give an estimate for the extension of the nurses' dining-room, the present" space being quite inadequate. The. chairman of the Building Committee (Mr F. Watt) said that regarding the sleeping accommodation, it was resolved to refer'the* matter to the Health Department for an expression Of opinion before anything' was done. It was also decided to instruct the architect to draw up plans * for the nurses' dining-room,- so that' a'concrete proposal could be put before tho next meeting. , The report of tho medical superintendent (Dr. H. S. Billcliff)' stated that 63 -patients remained in the institution at the end of May, 56 having been admitted and 30 discharged. The report also stated that the number of cases of scarlet .fever was, definitely on.the increase. Eighteen such patients, were at present under treatment. The cases were not from any definite area, but from all parts of the county. Many of the' case's were extremely mild. He stated that these were the dangerous eases, as they were liable to bo overlooked by parents, and the fever was thus, liable to spread. Tho superintendent further reported that it would be greatly to the ;iinrintage of the public, private practitioners, and. the nursing staff if . the hospital's course of nursing;training- could be so arranged as to include instruc tion not only in medicine and surgery, as at present, but also in midwifery. The report went on to outline the <"dvantages of the scheme. A suitable response had been obtained in reply to the advertisement for blood donors. Up to' the present eight' persons had been'examined as to their suitabilitj-, and several others had still to be tested. The above reports, together with those of the matron, Malvern Home, Methven Home, Rakaia Home, gardener, engineer, architect, and the Waipiata Sanatorium were adopted. The chairman was appointed' to attend the next meeting of the Waipiata Sanatorium Committee. Votes of thanks were passed to Mrs W. T. LilPand Mr B. A. Collins for gifts to the hospital. , It, was resolved' that the matron-in charge of each cottage" hospital should decide whether any. of the: staff should attend outside cases, and that the old scale of fees for district nurses . be adopted as the basis of charge for services rendered by any of the staff to outside nursing cases. St. John Ambulance Association. At a meeting of the Ashburton. SubCentre of the St. John Ambulance Association, Mr H. M. Jones presided. It- was reported that both the ladies' and men's first aii classes were being well attended. So far nothing'had been done in connexion with the Canterbury Centre's request to form first aid classes in country districts, and it was found

very difficult to move.- any. district to take up the. matter. However, the residents of Wakanui had expressed a desirq to have a course of lecture?, the arrangements to be left in the hands of the secretary. ' : Mail Notices. . Mails close to-day:— , • For Northern Ports, at 5.15 p.m.; late fee letters, 5.30 p.m. ; guard's van, 6 p.m. OUTGOING OVERSEA MAILS. (Approximate dates oniy.) Mai's for Fiji, . Apni, uli d 3'ago Pago, per Tofuie, will cfo.io at AsJiburtoii on June 12th, at 5.15 p.m. I Mails for .Australian btates, South Africa, .! and tho East, -per. Marama, at Wellington, ' will close at Aahburton on June. l!2th, at 5.15 p.m. Mans for United Kingdom, Europe, and ! Central America, via. Piteairn Island and lanama, per Kotorua.' will close at Ash- , burton "on June 18th, at 2.45 p.m. (Speci- , a.ly addressed correspondence only.)