ST. JOHN AMBULANCE

Evening Star, Issue 22689, 1 July 1937, Page 17

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE

OTAGO CENTRE ENCOURAGED VALUE OF WORK APPRECIATED. financial support sought While it was strikingly obvious at last' night’s annual meeting of the ■Otago Centre of the St. John Ambu- , lance Association that this valuable social organisation made considerable progress during the year and that its various, activities were widely appreciated, an appeal was launched by the ; mayor (the Rev. B. T. Cox) for greater financial support from the public m order that the work might be developed still further. “ The object for which the Order of St. John of Jerusalem was originally founded, was the relief of human suffering, and throughout a long Instory of nearly 1,000. years that object ijas held the pre-eminent place in its programme/' sAjd the Mayor, in moving the adoption of the committees , annual report. Nearly a century ago. it was recognised in' Great Britain that the Red Cross Societies could only perform their du.ti.es with real efficiency if they were propeily, organised and trained in time of* peace. The more, the, question was sideredof how best to develop an or(gahisation fitted to , render efijcieiit aid to the sick arid wounded in war, the i raore dearly, it was realised that there waq equal need for Bitch an organisation capable of dealing with the accidents of civil life. It was_ also clear tfiat. if an efficient, organisation existed for the normal requirements of civil life, there would'be. no serious difficulty in adapting it to the needs of war. “ From thp time of this, decision,’' said the Mayor, " the work has grown -until today there, is. no great centre df industry that it without its proper equipment and its, band of fully-trained and efficient, voluntary workers, and no 'sports gathering is suffered to go with- • out the attendance, of qualified' men on ' duty. “It is quite impossible to estimate s the value of this work in a community j and; in an age, where, the, possibility of accident has been so greatly increased by the inevitable increase of speed. The aggregate of pain, and, suffering has been greatly diminished by the , promptness and' efficiency of the atten- ; tipn, given.

“The Knights of St. John are proud of these modern soldiers of their venerable, order who work in the sacred : cause of humanity with the same zeal and patience as, their ancestors fought under the knights of old in defence of their faith, and the members of the brigade, are. proud, to. servo under the ■venerable banner of the most ancient order of ; chivalry, ip the. werid; an order i that exists for one., purpose alone—to j-relievo human suffering,” A strong appeal- was made, by the Mayor for the public of Dunedin to the need of- financial support, _ While the, association was fortunate in, regard to the financial side of ■its building scheme* more finance was ,still required, and- he desired citizens ;tb recognise the great organisation i that was in thejr midst. ENCOURAGING CIRCUMSTANCES. ■ “We meet to-night under very enJcpuraging ci,rcupi?ttincesj’’ sqjd the ■president (Mr John Ash), in seconding ■the motion, During the last 18 months the association, had shown great progress. The visit of Colonel Sleeman 'had helped the, association tremendously, as he had disseminated valuable information concerning the operations : of the order,- overseas. Colonel Sleeman had spoken very highly of the work in New Zealand, hut expressed the view that greater development was necessary, particularly in country districts. It was necessary lor the association’s activities to be extended throughout each province, and the whole work linked up in one organisation. In the near future the association would be housed in a new building, providing adequate accommodation for the many services which it conducted. There was little need to say authying further about the great girt of Mr S. Saltzman, but it seemed to him that it had come at the psychological moment. He paid a tribute to the work done by the honorary secretary (Mr A. Peters), and concluded by emphasising the immense value of the comprehensive work being carried out by the association. HOSPITAL BOARD GRATEFUL. Mr J. W. Dove, as chairman of the Otago Hospital Board, expressed the board’s gratitude of the work being done by the brigade. The board was doubly sensitive of the value of the association’s efforts in providing volunteers for blood transfusions, which were instrumental in saving or assisting the lives of unfortunate individuals in the board’s institution. The wonderful work accomplished in the Hospital by the hostess was also greatly appreciated, not only by the board, but by the patients. The association was extremely fortunate in having business men in the city to act in an administrative capacity, but so long as its honorary secretary held office the association would go from success to success. Appreciation or the brigade’s work in the field of sport was expressed by Mr H. Harris, who said that the various sports organisations of the city owed a deep debt of gratitude to the brigade members who gave up their time every Saturday in order that their services would be available if required. He wished the association success in its efforts to enlarge the membership of its brigade. OFFICE-BEARERS. The following office-bearers were appointed —Patrons—Sir Percy Sargood, Sir Louis Barnett, Mr S. Saltzman, and the mayor (the Rev. E. T. Cox); president, Mr John Ash: vice-presi-dents—Messrs T. Somerville, G. Moir, H. Harris, A. M'Hutchon, Dr W. H. Borrie, and Mrs G. M. Davis; committee—Dr A. Falconer, Colonel P. H. Morey, Dr N. Speight, Messrs A. C. Laing, D. C. Cameron, R. H. Price, J. C. White, P. S. Anderson, H. L. Paterson, P. C. Wilkinson, and W. Pirrett; British Medical Association representative. Dr R. Fulton; Hospital Board, Miss Farquharson ; Trained Nurses’ Association, Mrs W. Ewing; hon. auditor, Mr R. Crooks; hon. solicitor, Mr A. I. W. Wood. The President, in returning thanks for his re-election, said he desired to express appreciation of the services ren’dered to the association by its secretary, Dr Falconer, and Mr M‘Hutohon (chairman of finance). They put in a tremendous amount of time in the association’s interests and bore the brunt of the administrative side of the work. FIRE BRIGADE’S ASSISTANCE. On the motion of Dr Falconer, it was decided to place on record appreciation of the co-operation of the Fire Board and the voluntary assistance of the late Mr J. J. Salmon and members of the brigade in carrying out the as-

sociation’s work. The partnership had now com© to an end because of circumstances over which neither organisation had any control. Mr R. H. Price, Fire Brigade superintendent, briefly replied and drew attention to the part played by Mr Napier when the services were first coordinated. A comprehensive vote of thanks was carried by acclamation on the motion of Mr M'Hutchoji.