LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13215, 28 June 1906, Page 3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

AN APPEAL. Sir,—The cold weather is now upon us, and i am coin ion ted with Clio special needs which attend the poor at this season of the year. Hunger and comparative nakedness is bad enough in congenial weather, but under the climatic conditions of the. past few days it is excruciating. Your readers have been generous in the past, and have thus ■enabled me to alleviate some real suffering. Present needs are possibly more pressing than, usual. That the position may be better understood 1 wish to tell ot a little woman who last week found the home absolutely destitute, both of food and warm clothing. Her drunken husband brutally illtreated her while thoy lived together, but for some time past they have been separated, and in the interval she maintained her family by washing and charring, while her strength lasted. Exhaustion, however, made a temporary halt necessary, since which the privations in her homo have been-very real. Another instance is that of a widow, who for many months has laboured inces-, santly at the washtub to maintain her family. 'Pile children attend school, there being only one daughter who was any real assistance to her mother. This considerate daughter is now sick, almost unto death, with the prospect of lingering, it may be, for many weeks. ... By" the kindness of friends I have already been able to render some help, but more is urgently necessary. Wo sometimes get pitiful appeals from a distance, principally from the gumfieids. 1 think of a family, including father, mother, and several children, who are existing on the gumfields in a. whare, hungry, cold, and with a totally inadequate supply of clothing. After ascertaining their bona-fides I sent some, clothing and groceries to them;' but even now they are in desperate straits. The mother is almost, invalided.by the privations she is confronted with. God only knows how they will get through the winter. The above are examples of the people I meet with and help. .Similar instances are constantly in evidence, and are more numerous than many comfortablyhoused people imagine. Sometimes the cause is drunkenness, sometime- incompetence, and sometimes genuine misfortune or illness. Whatever the cause it is impossible to lot children go foodless and nearly naked, or refuse help to women who have almost worn themselves out in the brave struggle for life. We 'can turn almost anything to account. Fuel, clothirg, or food will be welcome, while money is urgently needed. To ensure efficiency and economy the Helping Hand Mission and the Newton Methodist Mission have amalgamated since my last appeal •was made, and in future will be known as the Auckland Methodist Mission. Wil! the friends of both institutions please. bear in mind that this appeal is on account of both missions. Will those who will assist us in helping the deserving poor please communicate with the treasurer of our social work, Mr. H. R. Pacoy, care New Zealand Dairy Association, Welfeslev-street, or with •... Sister Kenneth, Auckland Methodist Mission. Rose Road/Grey Lynn, .June 27. , ,'. L TIRES ON WOOL SHIPS. Sir.—ln your issue of yesterday is an account of an interview with an expert, who is reported to have said. "When water gets inside, (lie bale the wool sweats, heroines increasingly hot, and then a highly-inflam-mable gas" is generated, and away .goes the, word. Tire same tiling happens with flax." This question of spontaneous combustion of flax is one in which I have for years taken considerable interest, and shall feel much indebted to the expert interviewed by you if he will mention the ease or cases that have come under his- notice where flax .has spontaneously ignited in the manner he describes. The question is an important one. and the , more information that can be : obtained on the subject the better. June 27. ' iNQimtKK. THn.GREY-STREET CRECHE. , —In your issue of to-day there is an announcement of a meeting for the purpose of commencing a creche in Auckland. Will you allow me. ic point out that there is already a creche in this city, and ir the most suitable situation in the city. 1 refer to the popular crecho recently opened by the Sister.? of the Mission of the Good Shepherd in Grey-street., Before the generous public of Auckland are asked-to subscribe for another creche I suggest that time should be allowed to prove the. success of this one. The Grey-street creche is- not crowded, although it is largely used. It answers a longfell; want v ; v , Those who .have been engaged in philanthropic work in this city have seen the need of such an institution. There are plenty of "poor mothers willing to work during the day if their children can be : eared for in their absence. And .there arc numbers of households' needing "the services of these pcot women. Now, sir, we have a. creche which I know to be excellently conducted, where the children are clean", wellfed, contented, and happy. Why start another'! ;■ The. Grey-street creche is available for mothers of all denominations. The sisters cannot give religious teaching to the babies, unless it be religious teaching to surround them with loving influences. It should be remembered that creches have been started in Auckland before, but they stopped work. They had committees or trustees who' held funds for a long time, and did nothing. At length the Sisters of the Good Shepherd opened a creche on successful lines, and now some one wants to commence another before this creche is overcrowded. T venture, to a»sk the public to wait until the. recent experiment has had a fair trial before they assist to start another. W. E. GILLAM. St. Matthew's Vicarage, June 27. I"HE TREES IN THE STREETS. Sir.—the spirit of destruction is again abroad, and, in consequence, wo are daily witnessing ono street after another being spoiled by the ruthless axe of the spoiler. Last winter it was Albert Park that suffered. This time it is: Symonds-street, Alfredstreet, and Princes-street that; are.being made hideous, by workmen cutting the lower branches off the once beautiful trees. Possibly a. very little, judicious trimming was required in some cases, but it is quite beyond the comprehension', of ordinary mortals why such beautifully-shaped trees as grew down Princes-street, near the police station, should be made so positively hideous as they now are. W. M. Ratxer. .I tine 26. THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES HOSPITAL. , Sir,l have just been reading a letter in the Herald of 26th inst., signed by " One of the Public." I think, with him. that it is a great mistake to build,the infectious diseases hospital of wood, arid for the building to have a matched lining is simply monstrous. If that is not a breeding place for microbes what is? I trust, those in authority will make further inouiries into this matter in the interest of public safety. ! ''*-' As Observed. THE SAN FRANCISCO DISASTER: AN APPEAL. Sir,— gaze of the civilised world is still centred upon San Francisco, and it is right that it should be so, for she has suffered much and tier sorrows have been great. Sudden, indeed, was the summons, for, without warning, without intimation, in the calm, gray dawn of a epring morning the Queen City of the Pacific was stunned to consciousness by the mighty throes of a. great earthquake, which, for'the moment at least, struck terror and confusion into the hearts of even the bravest. Scarcely had the trembler expended'its force than lire broke nut simultaneously from many and distant centres, and thus the initial steps were taken in a calamity which has binned deep into the records of time the story of this epoch-marking event. At such a time as this there is no desire to note any racial distinctions—no. indeed; nor do we even suggest such, for it must evei be remembered that when at last, alter many days of fire-fighting, when the red tongues of flame, toiled and baffled, were driven back, and as we stood around our chief executive, the Hon. £. K Schmttz, a tire-scorched, sinoke-begrimtned, aali-iiierusted mass of humanity, gazing upon (he smouldering ruins of our stricken city,, we were eon*cdoua that then and forever we had been made one by the baptism of tire, and our hearts fused into the unity of citizenship by the common fate which had overtaken us. If the spectacle was unique, the brothel was sublime. Misunderstand its not, if we should en}' that, notwithstanding this cohesion, there now seems "••trust upon us a responsibility it. would hardly become Us to place unmitigated upon the everready shoulders of our undaunted native-born. That there will be suffering, hardship, sickness, and destitution is a self-evident fact; the suddenness and overwhelming character of the calamity necessitates this. Many of the unfortunate are British-born; many belong to a. class, professional and clerical, which find their possibilities of recuperation reduced to the lowest ebb. Fa it right that we should remain inactive, passive, and inflifl'Ki'ent'? * >>"o! Such a condition* would lie a criminal lethargy that yon. the good people of the dear Homeland, would deem it. unpardonable for us to assume. for many years the British and American I'nion of San Fruncisco has laboured to make the rough places plain, to attract more closely into a better understanding the peoples of these".great nation*. people whom God. time, and destiny arc" interweaving into indissoluble relutinnshin. ■ Many prominent: men. such as the Karl of Boston anil Honourable Whiislaw Reid. present United States Ambassador, are honorary members. Our labours have not been in vain. Dare such a society, in the face of experiences as above related, stand idly? ; Already many care* have been brought to the society's notice, instances demanding not simply food and raiment, but, nid.'tc enable life to be taken up anew. .The association has been hard hit—everj' asset has bean absolutely wiped .

out, while new claims are flutist upon if. Kinsmen of the blood,', bring tip Hie reserves;. let us hear from you; make it possible for us to uphold thai reputation for help in time of need which is not least amongst the treasured heirlooms of our race. Send us of your liberality. ; lie a.<sured that every pound you entrust us with will be carefully expended. Hear with us a moment longer. San Francisco is «fill, with her magnificent site and beautiful, bav, ihe natural centre of the commercial, social and educational life of the Pacific slope. She is rising from her ashes to fulfil a destiny which is hers by right of the spirit of fortitude and endurance", of energy and enterprise which animates her people. What monument do you desire, that we, your representatives, following the precedent of several nationalities, should erect, not. alone to commemorate her hours of travail, but as a token of appreciation of the generosity she has ever extended to British-bom within betborders? No monument more fitting, no remembrance more sublime than a. hospital! San Francisco did not possess a British hospital, where the British-born in distress could be with their kith and km. Other nationalities have their hospitals: why not one now for the Britishers? The moment is sublime: the opportunity a duly. Deal with us liberally, kinsmen of the blood, and when one immediate necessities are assuaged we will conjoin our energies with yours and make, a British memorial hospital not the least conspicuous landmark in the -new and greater Sail' Francisco,-— Entrusting to you the honour, the opportunity, and the necessity, we are Frederick W. D'Evelys*. Edinburgh University. 1886. president British and American Union, San Francisco; Mns. (J. Alexavheu WnioJIT, president Women's Auxiliary of British and American Union. Temporary address: 2103, Clinton Avenue, Alameda, California, U.S.A.