COMFORTS FOR THE PATIENTS AT THE WHAU ASYLUM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7644, 22 May 1886, Page 3

COMFORTS FOR THE PATIENTS AT THE WHAU ASYLUM.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Readers of your paper will have seen the description given by the inspector of the accommodation provided at the Whaa Asylum. It is to be hoped that those who are responsible for the plans for the new buildings will remember that ugliness and darkness are not necessarily oheap qualifiestions, and will be at some pains to provide for sightliness, and for the letting in of that great healer, the sunshine. Meanwhile it is possible to do something towards making the present gloomy rooms a little more cheerful. A lady living at a distance sent for this purpose an ornamental j»r, which she had ingeniously constructed from shells, coral etc. This I took to the Asylum on Wednesday, and only wished the sender could have witnessed the pleasure it gave. Many of the womdh were busy with plain needlework and one or two with knitting or crochet; but one after another came up to admire the jar , and there were many expressions of delight that anyone should have thought of them and taken the trouble to make and send so pretty a thing. «' It is so kind of the lady ; we ought to send her a vote of thanks.'* Then came the question of where this treasure was to be placed, and the discovery that it ought to have a mat to stand upon. For this the means were at hand, thanks to the kindness of Mrs. Shakspear, who had sent a quantity of bright wool, and one of the patients eagerly undertook the work. Another lady, and also a gentle, man, had each sent a parcel of illustrated papers and magazines, and as these were opened out they were greatly appreciated. By the advice of the matron, who kindly proposed to have some of the magazines covered to make them last the longer the greater part were left where they were likely to receive the best treatment. For the inmates of the next room we were to visit a few sheets of pictures and an odd number of a paper were picked out; and if these should since have received rough usage, they have yet performed their mission of carrying a little b-ightness. One poor woman, an apparently hopeless case, took up a picture of a scene in a garden, and pointing to the shrubs exclaimed, "Oh the lovely bit of bush ? What a pretty bush, and think of all the living things in it V For a few minutea she was quite taken out of herself, interested and delighted with what she saw, and others, though not quite so demonstrative, iharsti the pleasure. Here also the wool was useful, the bright colour attracted the. attention of one of the younger women, •* girl with an eager, pathetic face, who evidently enjoyed being allowed to handle the soft pretty stuff, though the matron said she would not make anything of it In thia room, the Heats, with few exceptions, consist of wooden benches without any backs If the lives of any of us should be darkened by so sad an affliction as has befallen these poor people, should we not feel it hard to be left without such alleviations M are po , s ible? Ought we not, therefore, to do what is in our power for the sufferers who are so unable to help themselves? Many persons who ui.ght otherwise visit the Whau, are probably 1 Z'k u° m dO,n L g 80 b y the distance and the difficulties of the way, for between the two routes there is only a choice of badness, while any whose homeward path leads along the Mount Roskdl Road must be prepared also to endure the very evil stench with which someone in that region appears to think it an honourable and decent action to afflict his neighbours. But for most Anok. landers it is not far. at some time or other, to the shops of Messrs. Champtaloup and Cooper, C. Kelsey and Co., and Murray and Spencer, all of whom have kindly agreed to receive subscriptions to the Whau Comforts l< and, to be spent as I have indicated. It is hardy possible to go among these poor people without being led to reflect on the causes which have brought them to their present state. With some, no doubt, » sudden shock or long-continued strain may have upset the mental balance. In many cases however, it is certain that the want of a habit of self-restraint is at the root of the misohief, and it is a root which begins to bear fruit very early in life. Parents who give an infant what it cries for, and who as years go on, never teach it that most essential lesson, to give up its own way, lay the foundation for misery of many kinds, one of whica takes the form we are accustomed to call madness.— l am, &0., Mart adman Aldis.