No. 2 HOSPITAL SHIP MAYOR'S EFFORT TO RAISE FUNDS '

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 86, 9 October 1915, Page 5

No. 2 HOSPITAL SHIP MAYOR'S EFFORT TO RAISE FUNDS '

AN EARNEST APPEAL. There is still £3000 required to be made up as Wellington's quota for the equipment of the hospital ship Marama^ The Mayor has already £333 lls. Included in this is £50, the gift of Pastor Nield and members of the Tabernacle, Tasman-street, Wellington. In his letter covering the cheque, Pastor Nield writes : " Those who are dying and others who are returning wounded in their efforts to save our lives and property surely deserve all the comfort and attention we can bestow upon them." The Mayor to-day pointed out to The Post the fact that, notwithstanding the tardy response so far made for the Marama, there was a large surplus left over from the No. 1 Hospital Ship Fund, the public giving with the utmost freedom and spontaneity. The call for another hospital ship is every bit as urgent as the first, and if Wellington cannot raise £3000 for such an object there is something amiss. The Mayor is intensely disappointed at the failure of his appeal, and is altogether at a loss~"to know why at such a juncture in the Wellington military area (which extends as far north as New Plymouth on the one coast and Gisborne on the other) this particular claim has been almost totally ignored. Believing that some may be under the impression that the sun? required should be paid out of the Maheno's surplus, ' Mr. Luke states that His Excellency the Governor, acting in concert with the Hon. James Allen (Minister for Defence) and BrigadierGeneral Robin, has already allocated the surplus moneys in the following manner, viz. : £10,000 for the extension of the hospital work at Mount Felix, Walton - on-Thames, which is doing splendid work for our wounded in England; £1500 for hospital work in Egypt; and £10,000 has been set aside for reconditioning the hospital ship Maheno on her return to New 'Zealand at the end of the year. As all this money i 6 for hospital purposes, it practically carries out the wishes of the donors. As far as. the No. 2 hospital ship i» concerned, the call made on the public purse was a modest one — only £3000 from half the North Island. Auckland sent down its cheque, immediately the demand was made, but owing to the manner in which the funds Have been tied up in Wellington there is no one fund from which such a large amount could be taken with propriety. In again asking the people of the whole of the Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Wanganui, Taranaki, and Poverty Bay districts to send their mite, the Mayor of Wellington expresses the hope that the money will be readily forthcoming. The secretary of the Dominion Belgian. Relief Fund (Mr. R. W. Shallcrass), with a view to helping the No. 2 hospital ship equipment forward, has addressed a circular to all branches in the Wellington, Taranaki, and Hawkes Bay districts. Ife points out that £12,000 is required, of which. Wellington's quota is £3000. In cases where funds held by various patriotic committees can only be devoted to specific purposes, no grant can be made, but in others it may be possible to allocate some of the moneys in hand to meet His Excellency's appeal for the No. 2 hospital ship. Mr. Shallcrass commends the appeal to the favourable consideration of committees who have funds in hand which can be made available, and should there not be any moneys available any separate action taken to assist the 2nd hospital ship movement would be greatly appreciated. With regard to the Belgian Fund, Mr. Shallcrass states that the funds available are sufficient for some .time to come to keep up the Dominion's regular contribution to Belgian relief.