NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22569, 24 February 1948, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

i High School Boarders ; Arrangements for the reception of 1 boarders at the Gisborne High School l rectory and hostel have been made by the rector, Mr J. Leggat, with a view to having all boarders present at the afternoon session on Monday, March 1. Parents of new boarders will be received at tiie rectory and hostel on Sunday next, or on Monday morning. Hospital Finances File receipts of the Cook Hospital Board for January exceeded its expenditure by £250, the respective totals being 1-18.330 and Cl 6 882. The receipts included £2432 from local bodies' levies and G 10,909 in subsidies from the Health Department on local body levies. Payments to the board by the Sociai Security Depariment for the month aggreaa’ed £3501. Trees and Grass Burnt

Thought to have originated through i the i verhoating ot a compost heap, a j fire broke out at 315 p.m. yesterday I which necessitated the attention ol the j b.-'borne Fire Brigade. Tiie outbreak was on the property of Mr F H. Bull, Russell street, and although some fruit irees ana about a quarter of an acre of grass were burned, there was no difficult',' in extinguishing the fire. Gifts to Institutions Gilts of fruit, games and reading matter to the Cook Hospital, acknowledged by Miss E. M. Daly on behalf of he lady superintendent, at yesterday's j meeting of the Cook Hospital Board, were received from Mesdames Shackleton, J C Huston, Wright. A. Paget, M. W. Craig. G. R. Black, and Litchfield; Misses M McLachlan, Shirley Mitchell, D Wise Gill and Sanders; and Messrs 1 M Stewart and Watson. A number ot donations of reading matter to the Memorial Home were acknowledged by the custodian. Mr F. .J. Butler. District Nurses Services Appreciation of the excellent services rendered by a district nurse, concerning j whom a grateful letter was received at yesterday’s meeting of the Cook Hos- | pital Board, led to' a discussion of the l difficult conditions under which these nurses carried on the service. It was stated that they were on call 24 hours Per day throughout the full week, and that no provision couid be made for allowing time off in compensation for additional hours worked. Members of the board agreed that every incentive should be given to district nurses by way of home conditions, and as an' earnest of this desire to improve the living conditions the board authorised an expenditure of up to £l5O on necessary repairs and equipment for the Te Karaka nurses’ living quarters. Use for Old Tyres A use for old motor tyres, suggested by Mr E. J. Salisbury, missionary on furlough in New Zealand from the Belgian Congo. At Luanza, his headquarters old tyres were immediately pounced upon by the natives, who stripped the cording from them, Mr Salisbury told the Herald yesterday. The strands of the cording were then separated, joined and woven by the natives into very strong fishing nets. Many types of fresh water fish were plentiful in the rivers and lakes near Luanza, said Mr Salisbury, and some of the more enterprising natives were buying up the caught fish, packing it in ice, and transporting it 400 miles down river and overland to the nearest big market, Elizabethville. Fish hooks were excellent barter material for fresh fish.

★ —- their merits, and that the board had a right to deal with them as it thought fit. He could not acquiesce in that view. The board was now faced with a worse possibility he added, as the people concerned were taking steps to get their letter and the board’s reply published. _ Functions of Members Regarding the function of a member of the board, outlined by previous speakers, Mr. Barker stated that that was exactly what Hitler had said. It was the beginning of a totalitarian regime when people could say: “We are here and we are going to do what we think fit!” He criticised the chairman’s ruling on a member’s right to discuss in open board what had been said in committee and repeated his assertion that the best protection the board could give its staff was the knowledge that complaints would have to be publicly substantiated. He added that he was prepared to accept Mr. Tombleson’s amendment provided it included the words “and will be” after the words “has been.” In reply to Mr. Armstrong as to whether any good purpose could have been served by publication of everything disclosed in the committee discussion, Mr. Barker said that what he now thought was that a carefully prepared statement should have been submitted by the complaints committee for approval by the board, and published with the board’s authority. Mrs. Scott: Do you consider the patient is still complaining because there was no publication? Mr. Barker: Yes. The chairman: There is nothing to stop them publishing the whole matter if they wish to. Mr. Barker: Unfortunately, that is what they are doing. Mr. Trafford: Do the complainants propose to put their case into the sensational press? Mr. Barker: I believe so- We are trying to persuade them not to. The chairman: There was nothing to stop them at any time. We have nothing to fear. Mr. Barker: You read their letter and our reply, and see how they appear, put baldly like that! Mr. Williams: Well, of course. I am not in their confidence! The amendment was put to the meeting in a form assuring the public that there had not and would not be unnecessary concealment of business, and was supuorted by Mesdames Scott and Kurzweil, and Messrs. Tombleson. Trafford, Cooper, Barker, Hall, and Kohn. Dissenting votes were recorded by the chairman and Messrs Dodds and Armstrong. '